Category Archives: East Bluff

City of Peoria, East Bluff

Peorians living in fear

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This eye-witness account is from Paul Wilkinson, president of the Altamont Park Neighborhood Association:

Tonight, around 11 p.m., a group of at least 60-70 African American youth marched down one of the side streets (W. Thrush) to the 4 lane main drag (Sheridan). They were yelling threats to white residents. Things such as we need to kill alll the white people around here. They were physically intimidating anyone calling for help from the police. They were surrounding cars. Cars on the main drag had to slam on their brakes to either avoid the youth blocking not only all four lanes, but a large section of the side street as well. fights were breaking out among them. They were rushing residents who looked out their doors, going on to porches, yelling threats to people calling the police for help.

Cars were doing U turns on the streets just to avoid the mob, mostly male. One youth stated his grandfather was white and several assaulted him on the spot. One police officer answered the call. The youth split into two large groups, one heading north, the other south. They were also yelling racial threats to the police officer but he was outnumbered. Another police car did not show up until after the youth finally dispersed and the patty wagon (van) also eventually showed up.

Residents are very shaken, both black and white alike. This is the fifth large mob action in about a month with smaller groups of 10-12 are out threatening children and adults a few evenings a week or later into the night. The times vary, even occuring during the day. In talking to the police officer, they are short staffed. Residents were advised to simply keep inside and to lock their doors. In other words buckle down, it’s not even safe to sit on your porch or go into your yards.

“The fifth large mob action in about a month.” Wow. This is really outrageous. Why is this neighborhood having to put up with this? “Residents were advised to simply keep inside and to lock their doors”? Seriously? That’s the best we can do for our fellow citizens’ safety?

This needs to be addressed, and quickly.

City of Peoria, East Bluff, TIF

EVGC meeting report

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I wasn’t able to attend the East Village Growth Cell meeting this past Tuesday night, but a regular reader of the Chronicle (who wishes to remain anonymous) was there and has turned in this report:

Councilman Riggenbach was present, Gulley was absent.

They discussed changes to the rehab qualification. The first issue was the loan terms. City officials recommended:

“0% interest if paid back within the specified loan terms (outlined below) however, the loan becomes immediately due and payable upon sale, transfer, or if the homeowner ceases to occupy the home excluding any one or more of the following (each a permitted transfer): any sale, conveyance or tranfer (A) to a spouse upon dissolution of marriage, (B) to the surviving spouse upon death of a joint tenant Owner or (C) by will.
LOAN > $20,000 = 20 yr term
LOAN > $15,000 = 15 yr term
LOAN > $10,000 = 10 yr term
LOAN = $10,000 or less = 5 yr term

Some people had an issue with the 0% loan, suggesting that it may cause funding problems for the TIF in the future from bad loans that aren’t getting paid back. The item passed unanimously.

The owner of the Cornerstone building was there asking if businesses in the TIF district qualified for this. At this point, it’s home-owners only.

The next item addressed was how often an owner can re-apply for the $5000 grant and additional $25,000 loan. Vote on one:

“a. the $5000 grant may be obtained one time and every approved application will receive the $5000 grant if the total project costs are in excess of $5000”

or

“b. the grant can be obtained multiple times if more that $30000 total is invested in the project.”

There was a great deal of discussion on this. Someone suggested the grant and loan be applied only to one address and not to a particular person because the purpose of this program is to “better the property more than the person.” Someone disagreed and suggested that if someone is willing to put the full $30,000 into repair of a property and has paid it back, he should be able to get the grant and loan for the same property a second time to further improve the property. This motion gained a lot of support and was motioned for approval. I asked if there are any provisions to insure the recipient of the grant and loan are using the money properly and not spending it on luxuries unrelated to the property. I was told these are details that will be worked out later. I asked if the program is set up to allow do-it-yourselfers to pay themselves from this grant and loan before they can dip back into it or if they must provide receipts and receive no self-compensation for their own work. Again, was told this hasn’t been addressed yet and will be worked out in the details. City staff appeared to be noting these concerns. Item b. passed unanimously with wording changed to allow the 2nd $5000 grant after the loan is paid back.

Someone asked when funds are expected to be available. Nothing set yet, but it could be soon or as long as 3 years from now. It’s up to Council.

Someone made a comment about the people who weren’t there to vote and whether they’ll be notified first before this passes to the draft stage. A comment was made by the speaker to the effect of: “they should have been here to vote.” My thoughts are that many of them would if the webpage would be updated properly. I asked Bobby Gray about this later in the evening. He admitted to being tardy on updating the website.

Next item discussed was the point system similar to Decatur and Springfield’s TIFs. Money is distributed based on points collected from the different repairs to be done. Different categories were “Exterior Improvements, Sustainability, Density, Code Improvements and Comprehensiveness of the Project.” The crowd received this whole point system negatively, saying if shouldn’t matter what the project is, if a homeowner is willing to live in and improve the neighborhood. A motioin to deny point system and a motion to add a priority list for anyone who borrows as follows: “1. life safety (doors, windows, etc), 2. Structural integrity (roof, foundation,) 3. Occupant health (Asbesthos, mold removal) 4. Exterior.” Both motions pass

There were addtional questions about fences, lighting & landscape removal if it endangers the property. These will be looked at for the next meeting. I asked about the owner occupancy status and wether of not non-profit rehab groups can qualify for this grant. At this time, no. But this can be addressed at the next meeting because its never been discussed.

Next meeting was set for two Tuesdays from now.

City of Peoria, East Bluff, TIF

East Village TIF meeting tonight

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I just found out about this meeting that’s taking place tonight:

CITY OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS
EAST VILLAGE GROWTH CELL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
REGULAR BUSINESS MEETING

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2011
AT 6:00 P.M.

GLEN [OAK] COMMUNITY LEARNING
CENTER LIBRARY
2100 N WISCONSIN AVE
PEORIA, IL 61603

CALL TO ORDER

ROLL CALL

APPROVAL OF MARCH 1, 2011 MINUTES

I. WORKSHOP SESSION TO REFINE THE EVGC RESIDENTIAL REHABILITAION PROGRAM. THE MEETING WILL BE FACILITATED BY ROSS BLACK, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT

III. OLD BUSINESS

IV. NEW BUSINESS

CITIZEN REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE COMMITTEE

ADJOURNMENT

It doesn’t necessarily matter that I didn’t hear about it, since I live in the West Bluff. But I hope East Bluff residents did hear about it and are planning to attend. Also, I didn’t mistype the notice above — item number II is missing in the original notice I received.

City Council, City of Peoria, East Bluff

EBNHS not in good standing with state, but it’s not a big deal

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The East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Service’s (EBNHS) status as an Illinois corporation is “not good standing,” according to the Illinois Secretary of State’s website. That means the not-for-profit corporation is past due in filing their annual report and paying the related filing fee. The report was due March 1.

EBNHS Board member Tom Stone said he believes there has been a delay in filing the necessary paperwork due to the organization’s annual audit being conducted, but referred me to the group’s Executive Director, Peggy Shadid, for an official comment. Shadid said the accountant has finished preparing the annual report and she (Shadid) will be sending it in to the state.

What’s interesting is that the state doesn’t appear to require an annual financial report, but rather this form, available from the Secretary of State’s website, which simply asks for the names and addresses of the corporation’s officers and directors, and can even be filed online. The filing fee is $10. The EBNHS has been incorporated since 1986 and, presumably, required to file these annual reports for up to 25 years.

City Attorney Randy Ray said that the EBNHS’s failure to file their annual report with the state in a timely manner was “not a big deal,” but did add that they should remedy the situation as soon as possible. Both he and the Secretary of State’s office said that, once the report is filed, the organization’s status will be restored to “good standing” once again.

Missing this deadline might be a small matter except for the fact that this organization has a history of poor record-keeping and lack of transparency, which resulted in quite a bit of controversy when its revenue source came up for renewal a year ago. Since then, the group has been trying to improve its image and regain the trust of its East Bluff neighbors.

The EBNHS gets its funding from an extra tax that is levied on properties within the EBNHS Special Service District area. The annual levy amounts to roughly $67,000. Starting in 2010, the City Council decided to vote on collection and distribution of that tax revenue on a year-by-year basis, “to assure all required reporting was complete,” Councilman Tim Riggenbach explained at a March 23, 2010 council meeting. Riggenbach did not immediately return a call for comment.

City of Peoria, East Bluff

EBNHS board full of vacancies, website out of date only four months after getting tax funding

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The East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Service (EBNHS) gets its funding from taxpayers living in a special service district on the East Bluff. Because of past problems with the EBNHS, the City Council decided to approve levying the tax on an annual basis hopefully to increase their performance accountability.

The FY2011 tax levy was approved in November 2010 after the EBNHS gave an update to the Peoria City Council showing all the progress they had made. Their accomplishments included having a “full and complete EBNHS board — all 13 positions filled,” publishing the monthly minutes and agendas on their new website (http://www.ebnhs.com/), and having a “loan committee actively meeting and pursuing creating proper loan criteria and documents with object to begin loan process again in near future.”

Upon reviewing the website, it’s interesting to note that the last minutes published were December 2010, and the last agenda published was January 2011. It seems that after they received the tax money, their diligence in keeping the site up to date waned almost immediately. It kind of makes it difficult to determine if they’re following through on their commitment “to begin [the] loan process again in [the] near future.”

There are now three vacancies on the board according to the website, so the “full and complete EBNHS board” was rather short-lived as well. In fact, the EBNHS gave their report to the City Council celebrating their full board in November, then created two vacancies as of the very next meeting, according to their December 2010 minutes. It appears those vacancies have yet to be filled.

What we do know from the website is this:

  • They gave $643 to Boys and Girls Clubs to sponsor an East Bluff child for a ski trip to the Ski Snowstar Winter Sports Park in Andalusia, Illinois, in January.

  • They paid Williamson Blind & Drapery $3,945 to make custom window dressing for the EBNHS House at Nebraska and Wisconsin. This house acts as the EBNHS office, and also the home of the EBNHS Executive Director Peggy Shadid, who receives a $43,191 salary and stays in the house for free, courtesy of the special service district taxpayers.

Speaking of the Executive Director, as the only employee of the EBNHS, and the one who has “general direction over the operations of the Corporation” according to the bylaws (including the responsibility to “keep the permanent minutes of the meetings” and “see that all notices are duly given”), one would assume it would be her responsibility to keep their website up to date with the latest minutes and agendas. However, there is no requirement in the bylaws that the website be kept up to date.

My guess is that the website will eventually get updated — at least by November, when it’s time to ask the City Council for more tax money.

City of Peoria, East Bluff, TIF

Guest Editorial: Response to Riggenbach’s East Village TIF article

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Editor’s Note: The following editorial was written and submitted by Frederick E. Smith, a resident of the East Bluff. It’s a response to Councilman Tim Riggenbach’s Spotlight article that appeared in the Journal Star over the weekend. The views expressed by guest contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor.

I read yesterday’s comments by Councilman Riggenbach in the Journal Star and honestly had to wonder if we were looking at the same EVGC TIF. There were many half-truths that need to be cleared up if this TIF is to be considered fairly.

Yes, the City of Peoria has established a Citizens Advisory Council that serves at the pleasure of his honor the Mayor. This council consists of two City representatives, one County representative, one District 150 representative, two OSF representatives, and three members at large, one from each of the affected City Council areas, who are also appointed by the Mayor, and not by their respective Neighborhood Associations. This Advisory Committee “shall only serve in an advisory capacity to the City Council.” So not only are the neighborhood representatives outvoted 2 to 1 by the government and business members, but the committee itself lacks any authority whatsoever as to the outcome of the decision to implement the TIF. [East Village Growth Cell Committee Project Charter November 23, 2010]

And yes, Tim, State Law is very specific about the requirements to establish a TIF, and also about how the funds may be used once it is established. As confirmed by Corporate Counsel Randall Ray at the “TIF 101” meeting when Mr. Combs from Springfield spoke, the City Council may use TIF funds from one area to pay for projects in other areas, at their discretion. In other words, the City Council might decide to use TIF funds to pay off other things, like the failed MidTown Plaza TIF you mentioned. Once enacted, the area residents who are paying the bills (myself included) will have no say in how that money is spent. There is no guarantee that the money will end up going to the projects you mentioned, like the rehabilitation of private homes on the East Bluff. And speaking of that, since we already live in a Special Service Area where the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. (a 501 (c) (3) organization that intends to spend 48% of it’s 2011 budget in salaries) receives a sizable amount of tax dollars ($64,987.24 in 2009, up from $57,972.76 in 2008, the 2010 budget is not on file yet.) to provide low interest housing improvement loans to residents of the East Bluff (which according to the Board of Directors at their last meeting they have not done for the last two years), will these funds be added to the TIF funds instead, or will we be asked to contribute duplicate taxes to the City in order to complete the $42,585,488.00 in infrastructure needs and the $22,000,000.00 in rehabilitation of public and private fixtures as described on page 16 and page 1 of Appendix E of the Teska report? (By the way, Tim, if my banker was off by $10,414,512.00 in his estimates, I would be changing banks pretty quick.)

Last, but certainly not least, is the claim that no big project is pushing the development of the EVGC TIF. One look at the map shows the boundaries were deliberately drawn to include OSF St. Francis Medical complex and the entire Knoxville business corridor in the TIF. If this was only about the East Bluff, why not just stop at the Glen Oak border, go up Armstrong to Pennsylvania and straight across to Knoxville? Oh, wait, that would include the White School property that was recently acquired by OSF, wouldn’t it? The fact of the matter is that OSF intends to be a major player in the way this project is run, and will definitely require a substantial amount of public money to “improve” the area around OSF. Why else are they deserving of two seats on the Advisory Committee? Why else have they been vocal and present at every meeting? Their interests may have nothing to do with the desires of the residents of the East Bluff. Their interests haven’t been publicly aired, and until they are, we have no idea of how much money they will expect, or what they intend to do.

Yes, there is a possibility that the TIF might “turn around” the East Bluff area, make into the neighborhood we would like it to be, but the key to that is transparency and honesty, not half-truths and sleight of hand descriptions.

City of Peoria, East Bluff, TIF

East Village Growth Cell Advisory Committee Meeting

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From my inbox:

Peoria IL, (February 23, 2011) — The public is invited and encouraged to attend the East Village Growth Cell Advisory Committee Meeting, Tuesday, March 1st, in the Glen Oak School Library, 2100 N Wisconsin Avenue, at 6:00 P.M. This meeting will be devoted to a workshop session for the development of a residential program concept. The meeting will be facilitated by Ross Black, Assistant Director of the Department of Planning and Growth Management. Residents are encouraged to provide input and present ideas toward the development of a residential program concept, as part of the proposed East Village Growth Cell TIF.

This looks interesting, but it is just for “part of the proposed East Village Growth Cell TIF” — the “residential program concept.” When will the public meetings be for the other parts of this proposed TIF? For instance, where can the public see OSF’s plans? They paid for the TIF study; surely they have plans for what this proposed TIF will do for them. Will those plans be made public before the Council votes to approve the TIF?

City of Peoria, East Bluff

Guest editorial: The EVGC TIF Dilemma

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Editor’s Note: The following editorial was written and submitted by Frederick E. Smith, a resident of the East Bluff. The views expressed by guest contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor.

The East Bluff of Peoria is in trouble. Almost 62% of the homes are rental properties, crime is up every year for the last two years (according to a study by the Glen Oak Impact Zone committee), and now that the area has been declared “blighted” by the results of a study, property values have taken a skyrocketing decline.

The Near North Side is in trouble. Almost 86% of the property there is rental, the crime rate is one of the worst in the city, and the private buildings are in a state of decay.

The Knoxville and Wisconsin business corridors are filled with empty buildings and property left to rot while property owners scramble to fill the vacancies.

The Mayor of Peoria has an answer. Tax Increment Financing. And the Mayor wants to impose this on us, whether or not we agree.

You only have to read the EVGC Advisory Committee Charter to know this is true. The membership of the Committee consists of two City representatives, one County representative, one member of the District 150 School Board, two representatives of OSF St. Francis, and one member at large each from each of the three affected Council Districts, all appointed by the Mayor.

I sent a revised version of the Charter to Tim Riggenbach and Corporate Counsel Randall Ray over a week ago. My revisions included cutting the number of OSF Representatives to one and increasing the number of members at large to five, three from District #3 (the largest affected area), one from District #2, and one from District #1. I further changed the appointment of the members at large to the various Neighborhood Associations instead of the Mayor. My thinking here is at least there would be an even distribution of representatives for all concerned. After receiving Tim’s assurance that it would be given due consideration, I have yet to hear back from either Randall or Tim. Well, they are busy men, I am sure. (Anyone wanting a copy of my proposed revisions, let C.J. know, and he will forward the request, or if he gets too many, perhaps he can publish it.)

But this is the part that sticks in my craw: the City of Peoria wants to improve the area, but has no plan to do so,at least no plan anyone is willing to talk about.

The gentleman from Springfield who gave the first “TIF 101” presentation spoke directly to the hazards of enacting a TIF without a plan. They are currently in an “Adversarial Position” with their City Council as to the proper distribution of TIF funds. Why? Because, as noted in the current TIF Proposal, the City Council has the right to redistribute TIF funds as they see fit, without so much as a “by your leave” from the area where the TIF funds are collected. City Counsel Randall Ray confirmed this at that same meeting. The City Council of Peoria could use these funds to do other things, like pay off the debts due from the infamous MidTown Plaza TIF, or support the poorly planned Glen Oak School/Community Center. They might even use those funds to buy up properties surrounding OSF to allow them to expand their campus, enhancing the areas around the Catholic Diocese and Peoria Fire Central. And of course, there are the sewer repairs that are being done to the tune of five million dollars beneath OSF.

OSF has already stated that they want to expand their campus. Both the White School and the Irving School have been acquired, and the latest vote of the counsel has opened the door to demolishing the Irving school despite its historical properties status. OSF paid for the TIF Proposal Study. OSF has been vocal and present at every TIF meeting, even the “TIF 101” session. And one of the most vocal speakers at the City Council on the night the change was made to allow owner permission to be a prerequisite to the establishing of a historical designation was OSF.

Okay, so we know the City is wanting to ram this through, and OSF seems to have a vested interest in seeing it succeed, at least for their purposes. But how about the residents of the East Bluff?

The truth of the matter is that very few of the property owners in the East Bluff seem to care, or at least that is the impression when you start counting who shows up at the meetings. Most of the people in my area of the East Bluff are supposedly represented by the East Bluff Serenity Neighborhood Association. Jim Combs, a former member of the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services, is the president of that association. I have yet to meet the man. Guess I am going to have to go knock on his door to do that, seeing as he doesn’t seem to want to be involved. Richard “Mitch” Mitchell is the president of the East Bluff United Neighborhood Association, and by all impressions to date a reasonable and honorable man. But I wonder how many people he actually speaks for. Glen Oak Flanagan and Glen Oak Park Neighborhood Associations are also present in some form, since Lisa Fischer sits on the Joint Review Board for the EVGC TIF, and is also a board member of the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services (despite earlier rumors to the contrary, I sat behind Lisa at the last board meeting).

Basically, the Mayor is going to get what he wants. Not because it is the right thing to do, and not because the project is going to save the East Bluff. It won’t.

Neither will the East Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services, who have not made a low interest property improvement loan in the last two years, and who are currently in the business of buying and rehabbing homes in the East Bluff (they currently own four properties, including the property that serves as their headquarters on Wisconsin.), ostensibly for sale. Of course, with the area recently declared “blighted” by the TIF Proposal and those findings officially accepted by the City Council, trying to sell property in a “blighted” area might prove to be a somewhat daunting task.

The East Bluff is doomed, a victim of age, apathy, decrepitude, and obsolescence. The houses here are out of date, the infrastructure is vastly inadequate, and the median income level of the residents is near or below poverty levels, based on the number of family members per household with a median annual income level of $36,009. 50. That 62% of rental property I mentioned at the beginning is rapidly becoming too expensive to maintain, so the smart thing to do for any rental owner is to get out while the getting is good, take their profits and sell off the property for whatever they can get. If you hang on to it too long, the City will eventually use eminent domain just as they did with the MidTown Plaza TIF to snap up the land and sell it at a profit to a developer, who will build newer properties for the Doctors, Nurses, Administrators, and staff of the expanded OSF facilities. Of course, they are going to need a convenient grocery store and other retail outlets, which will open up the redevelopment of the Knoxville and Wisconsin business corridors. And they will need new schools to send their children to, so District 150 will be reborn as the new Mecca of higher education, since the tax dollars from the new residents will be several times more than is currently being collected. And Doctors, Nurses, Administrators, Lawyers and other professionals will never let their children attend inadequate schools.

Wow. Sounds like a plan to me. I wonder if they have thought of it?

City of Peoria, East Bluff

East Village TIF meeting planned for Feb. 21

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Richard Mitchell announced this meeting in a comment to another post, but then I also received notice from the City about the same event:

East Village Growth Cell

Residential Rehabilitation Program Meeting

WHEN: Monday, February 21 @ 6:00 P.M.

WHERE: New Beginnings Church
1917 N Wisconsin Avenue

WHY: The creation of a TIF District has the ability to bring about positive change in the East Village Growth Cell. This meeting will provide an opportunity for neighborhood residents to learn more about how TIF can be used to improve a neighborhood.

Mitch added that “It [has] now been confirmed that we [will] be having another presentation centered around a representative from the [Decatur] TIF Area.” There’s a residential TIF in Decatur that the City of Peoria is using as an example of how successful these kinds of TIFs can be.

City of Peoria, City of Springfield, East Bluff

A closer look at comparison TIF

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Looking through the East Village Growth Cell (EVGC) TIF materials the City helpfully provided online, one page in particular caught my attention. It’s the one that gives examples of residential TIF districts in Springfield and Decatur. I decided to do a little more research on Springfield’s TIF to see just how successful it has been. (I’ll look into Decatur at a later date.)

The EVGC website states, “The Enos Park Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) was created in 1997. The TIF District generates approximately $450,000 annually. The TIF District contains both residential and commercial properties; however, it is approximately 90% residential.” The most recent TIF report published by the City of Springfield is the one for 2010, available here.

The Enos Park TIF’s equalized assessed valuation (EAV) in 1997 was $13,838,543. The EAV in 2010 was $17,314,380. So between 1997 and 2010 — 13 years — the EAV increased a total of just $3,475,837. That comes out to an average of 1.9% growth per year. According to the EVGC TIF Draft Redevelopment Plan, the proposed TIF area in Peoria had an EAV of $45,021,720 in 2004 which grew to $49,626,980 by 2009, or $4,605,260 in five years. That comes out to an average of 2.05% growth per year. That means that the East Village Growth Cell is experiencing better growth without any TIF at all than Springfield’s Enos Park TIF has experienced over the last 13 years.

Springfield is unhappy with the performance of Enos Park. Just last year they spent $122,500 on a new “master plan study” that recommends pumping $45 million into the area. They’re looking for additional funding sources as the TIF increment would not be adequate to cover an infusion of that much cash.