I’m not really in the mood to do a lot of in-depth research on some recent topics in the news, so I’m just going to throw some stuff out there for discussion today.
- Rod Blagojevich wants to replace the corporate income tax with a gross receipts tax (GRT) and raise payroll taxes. The biggest reason for these changes is so Illinois can provide health care for everyone. I more or less agree with the Journal Star’s editorial on this. As a friend of mine put it recently, Blagojevich is playing on the ignorant among us — those who think that massive tax increases on businesses won’t impact them personally. Of course it impacts them/us — businesses hire fewer people and pass on as much of their increased costs to the consumer as the market will bear. The Chicago Sun Times has a good article on the GRT.
- I saw on WEEK.com last night that a kindergarten teacher was assaulted yesterday. A kindergarten teacher. Assaulted. By another adult. In the classroom. Think about that for a minute. It’s not enough that we have kids who bring guns to school, now we have an adult that just waltzes in and starts beating a teacher? A kindergarten teacher! We’re on the threshold of anarchy here.
- If you’ve never read Woodford Tax Facts blog before, you should take a look. They have well-researched and interesting posts, like this one on the history of property taxes in Illinois.
- PeoriaIllinoisan is keeping up on developments along Main Street. Anyone know what, if anything, is going to be built at the site of the old Steak ‘n’ Shake and the adjacent properties now that the apartments have been razed?
- Tonight is the Uplands Residential Association meeting where we will be discussing Bradley’s request to rezone the Pi Beta Phi Sorority house N1 (institutional). The last vote we took was to deny, but it was sparsely attended. Now that there’s been more press coverage, I expect there will be a larger group tonight, so there’s no telling which way the vote will go. Some think it would help bring stability to that property, which it probably will — for that property, and in the short term. But I don’t think it will do much to stabilize the properties around it and will give Bradley a beachhead on the north side of Main, making it easier to expand in the future. I’ll be voting against N1 zoning tonight.
- I’ll be immersing myself in the city’s sign ordinance in the coming weeks. I’ve been appointed to an ad hoc committee that will be looking at that portion of the Land Development Code dealing with signs on businesses. Officially, it’s called the “Form-Based District Sign Review Committee,” and we’ll be meeting a few times in March and April. I expect I’ll learn more about the sign business than I ever thought possible.
- One of my favorite online journals, The New Atlantis has an interesting article on electronic toys (aka, “robo-toys”) and their effect on children.
- Baseball season is just around the corner, and it’s time for the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals to defend their title. Which reminds me, I thought it was nice of the Cubs to put this up on their marquee:
😉
I’m deeply and personally offended by that photo.
what about the most recent tax-grab proposal by our local “leaders” – forcing all of Peoria County to pay airport taxes? With the millions the airport scarfes off the federal taxpayer, plus their property tax exemption, isn’t it time the airport get off the local dole? The airport authority should be abolished, not expanded.
This is not the first time SD150 has had problems with out-of-control parents. In the past, they have petitioned for, and received, restraining orders against parents, and others, who have behaved in a threatening manner.
PI: I tried to balance it out with the link to your excellent post and picture of the latest happenings on Main. 🙂 Besides, this is the year the Cubs break their curse — all the other cursed teams have done it. It’s gotta be this year, right?
Mouse: I’ll look into that. My initial thought was that, if it’s going to be subsidized, and it benefits the whole county, then the whole county should be paying for it, not just the city. But your proposal to do away with the subsidy is worth consideration.
PrairieCelt: That’s deplorable. There’s no excuse for a parent assaulting a teacher. Well, wait… If the teacher was having sex with your child, then assault would be warranted.
I suppose I should’ve put a smiley face next to my comment.
Lou Pinella might break some things this year, but I’m not sure it’ll be the curse.
Methodist owns the property. I believe at one time a Long Term Care facility was going to be built there, but I don’t think that is the case any more.
PI — I knew you were kidding. I was kidding about the Cubs actually breaking the curse. We all know that’s never going to happen. 😉
The Greater Peoria Airport Authority only recently began posting deficits, in part because of the loss of parking revenue, however, the facility is a major local economic engine and forcing it off the public dole would make it non-competitive with other facilities in the regions.
I believe the GPRA could make it without public funds, but cargo and passenger commercial airlines, general aviation and the Air and Army National Guard would have to pay far more for the use of local facilities.
If we forced the local facility to come off the public dole without the same required of other facilities, the airlines would cut and/or eliminate service altogether, the ANG bases might be forced to closing after the next basing closing commission review and general aviation would go to other nearby airports.
For such a change to avoid destroying a local economic engine, the same would have to be required of all other airports in the region, if not the whole country.
Then we’ll privatize the nation’s highways system…
I have a question. What is going on with that old gas station on the curve at Western and Main streets? Please don’t tell me that someone is trying to save it as an historical landmark. 🙂
Bradley has so generously offered to tear it down for the Western Ave Greenway Project with the money they bring in after they sell the interior architectural pieces from the properties on Maplewood.
Correct me if my details are a little off, as they sometimes are.
And did I hear this correctly? Firefly Energy received a TIF from the city? Whaaaaaa?
“sell the interior architectural pieces from the properties on Maplewood.”
When is this happening? I could use some matching mortise locksets, plates and handles for some doors.
The lady who assaulted the kindergarten teacher (if convicted) could use some weekends in the County jail where she can expend her educational tools on some other animals.
Mazr: Firefly didn’t get a TIF. They got an enterprise zone. An enterprise zone in Illinois is “designed to stimulate economic growth and neighborhood revitalization in economically depressed areas of the state. This is accomplished through state and local tax incentives, regulatory relief, and improved governmental services.”
The idea is for municipalities to designate an economically-depressed area to which they want to attract business as an “enterprise zone.” Then they use that to try to get businesses to locate there.
Peoria does it completely backwards. We see where developers put their businesses (Junction City, Firefly), then designate their property as part of an enterprise zone.
Thanks for the clarification, C.J. What a backassward way of doing things. Just what a Cat spinoff needs is some help.