Tag Archives: David Koehler

General News

Keystone gets to keep tax exemption

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State Senator Dave Koehler and Representative Mike Smith were able to pass legislation that will save Keystone Steel and Wire a bundle of money in taxes that had threatened to shutter the struggling business. Koehler’s office issued a press release that explained:

Senate Bill 328 allows Keystone to continue to benefit from a tax exemption it has long enjoyed. Illinois provides a tax exemption to businesses in enterprise zones that employ more than 1,000 full-time workers. Due to the recession, Keystone has had to cut back on employee hours and no longer qualifies. The legislation allows Keystone to
continue to take the exemption as long as it maintains at least 500 full-time employees and gradually works back up to 1,000 full-time employees by 2013. The potential effect of losing the exemption could amount to a monthly financial loss of $140,000 per month for the company and threaten its financial viability.

Keystone’s enterprise zone was established in the mid-1980s.

Museum Block, Peoria County, State Legislation, State of Illinois, Taxes

Who’s afraid of the big bad economy? Not the museum!

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From the Journal Star:

With little debate, the Illinois Senate today voted 51-4 to send Gov. Rod Blagojevich a proposal to let Peoria County ask voters to OK a special sales tax to help pay for the Peoria riverfront museum.

The legislation, Senate Bill 1290, passed earlier in the House of Representatives. With Blagojevich’s signature, it would become law, and the question could be put to voters in the February or April municipal elections.

Not mentioned in the article is the fact that the bill allows increases in 1/4% increments, and could be used toward any “public facility” (e.g., Belwood Nursing Home), not just the museum. The way it will likely read on the ballot is:

To pay for public facility purposes, shall Peoria County be authorized to impose an increase on its share of local sales taxes by .25% (.0025) for a period not to exceed (insert number of years)?

This would mean that a consumer would pay an additional 25¢ ($0.25) in sales tax for every $100 of tangible personal property bought at retail. If imposed, the additional tax would cease being collected at the end of (insert number of years), if not terminated earlier by a vote of the county board.”

A quarter of a percent increase doesn’t sound like a whole lot, does it? But consider that, if this referendum were to pass, you would be paying .25% more on things that already are highly taxed — like restaurant food (which would go from 10% to 10.25% in the city). Is that going to make Peoria more or less competitive than East Peoria, right across the river? How many people do you think will come to see the museum in Peoria, then go have lunch in East Peoria?

And what about the economy? Is this the time to be increasing taxes when there’s plenty of unemployed people? What is the city’s solution on how to decrease the unemployment rate?
Consider these other items in the news as of late:

  • “[T]he effects of the economic crisis are being felt beyond Wall Street as charities locally and nationwide report increases in basic needs and decreases in donations to provide those. Some of the people who used to be donors are now asking for donations…. Nearly 90 percent of Catholic Charities nationwide report more families seeking help, with senior citizens, the middle class and the working poor among those hit hardest by the downturn…. The Salvation Army already has seen between 15 percent and 20 percent more need than last year in its first week of assistance applications received for the holidays…. The Friendship House scaled back the number of families this year allowed into their Adopt-A-Family program to ensure they could fulfill the need.”
  • “Fiscal restraint was the guiding principle in crafting next year’s [Peoria] county budget, which represents a 6 percent overall decrease over last year’s budget. In what is being described as a ‘maintenance budget’ with no new taxes or fees and no spending cuts, preliminary figures show spending requests at nearly $122 million while the county expects to bring in about $119 million in revenues. The approximately $3 million deficit – mostly in the capital fund – will be covered by reserve funds that sit at nearly $74 million, said Erik Bush, Peoria County’s chief financial officer….. The county expects to collect $25.5 million from taxpayers, about $1 million more than what was collected in 2007. Although the tax rate will drop 1 cent to 81 cents per $100 assessed valuation, property values are projected to increase 5.4 percent, so homeowners actually will pay more taxes to the county. The owner of a $120,000 home, whose value increases the projected 5.4 percent will pay $341.50 in taxes to the county, or $13.50 more than last year.”
  • “In total, the city’s staff whittled a $2.2 million budget deficit down to $117,771, an amount that some council members praised. ‘We asked an unbelievable task of our staff,’ Mayor Jim Ardis said. ‘Without cutting any positions or having any tax increase.’ …Finance Director Jim Scroggins said the biggest savings comes from the city’s health care costs, reflected in a substantial difference between the 12 percent budgeted increase for 2008 and the actual increase in health-related costs of only 4 percent…. In addition, the city plans to scale back on parking deck repairs ($300,000), repairs to some of its buildings ($200,000), delay repairs to police headquarters ($25,000), and reduce the neighborhood signs program ($68,662).”
  • “Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills has hit a record $4 billion, and Comptroller Dan Hynes said Thursday the situation is ‘potentially catastrophic’ if allowed to continue…. Earlier this week, Blagojevich’s office said state revenues will fall $800 million short of projections because of the recession. The Senate Democrats’ top budget person, Sen. Donne Trotter of Chicago, said borrowing money right now may not be a good idea because of interest costs. He said the state should tap into its ‘rainy day’ fund first. Hynes said money in the rainy day fund was used in July. Trotter’s Republican counterpart, Sen. Christine Radogno of Lemont, also didn’t think much of borrowing money. ‘That’s exactly what’s gotten us into this problem,’ Radogno said. ‘Continuing borrowing is not a good idea. They’re going to have to look at making cuts. The wiggle room is gone.'”

It’s time to use all that advertising money to come up with another plan — one that doesn’t involve raising taxes.


Museum Block, before it was turned into a temporary parking lot
Museum Block

Museum showcases plans for “The Street”

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From a press release:

Peoria Riverfront Museum’s “The Street” to Innovatively Capture the Region’s Colorful History

Peoria – The Peoria area’s history will surprise, educate and entertain you. Peoria Riverfront Museum collaborators proved that point today as they revealed details of The Street, a major, ever-changing gallery designed to bring to life the Peoria area’s long and colorful history—from its Native American roots through the initial French settlements to its place as the All-American bellwether of U.S. taste and beyond.

Collaborators playing a key role in planning The Street, including the Peoria Historical Society (PHS), Peoria Regional Museum Society (PRMS) and African American Hall of Fame Museum (AAHFM), spoke to supporters gathered at the Hotel Pere Marquette in downtown Peoria, a few blocks away from the seven-acre site of the proposed development.

State Sen. David Koehler, a long-time proponent of the museum block, said, “I’m excited to see the groundswell of support around The Block. I know this project will bring great educational, cultural, entertainment and economic opportunities to our region.” Koehler added he’s “looking forward to visiting The Street to explore more about the Peoria area’s early years and all the people and companies who have helped to make it what it is today.”

“We’ve talked previously about the features of the Riverfront Museum, including the IMAX Theatre and the planetarium,” said Museum Collaboration Group co-Chairperson Brad McMillan. “Today, we focus on the exhibit galleries planned for the Washington Wing of the museum, particularly The Street historical galleries showcasing the region’s history and the Oral History Center, where visitors of all ages can tell their stories for generations to come.”

The collaborators unveiled specific plans for The Street, including The Square, a nearly life-size streetscape integrating real objects from the region’s past, oversize graphics, text and interactive opportunities. The Square will feature an interpretive timeline of the area’s past, as well as fascinating stories unique to Peoria—some legendary, some little known. Anchoring The Square will be a massive video projection and large-scale artifacts supporting the current theme.

PHS Board President Marilyn Leyland said The Street will be a rotating exhibit with themed portions continually changing, starting with “Pride of Peoria: Innovation and Entrepreneurship.” Focusing on Peoria as a hardworking town, this inaugural theme will highlight the businesses and industries that brought wealth to the community and continue to flourish today, as well as showcase examples of that ingenuity—from bicycles and early automobiles to distilled spirits and earthmoving equipment, plus the advertising that promoted them.

A future theme of The Street is called “Will It Play in Peoria?” It will explore the importance of Peoria audiences, from riverboat and vaudeville patrons to coveted targets of modern market research. The region’s rich history provides an endless source of engaging themes and interesting stories to tell in the future.

“And on any given day, you might run into important people from the past,” said Leyland, introducing John Parks of the PRMS. Parks came in character as inventor Charles Duryea to announce the society would donate to The Street a Duryea automobile invented 110 years ago in a garage on West Barker Avenue, along with $40,000 for maintenance and exhibits explaining the vehicle’s history. “That gas-powered vehicle started people thinking in new ways,” Parks said. “It inspired Henry Ford—and we all know what happened next.”

Another important element of The Street will be an Oral History Center with a Story Booth to feature individual stories of Peoria-area residents. “Oral history has been an especially important tradition in the African-American community,” said Margie White, representing the AAHFM. “The Oral History Center will allow visitors to capture their own history, leaving with a DVD of their recording.” Selected recordings of general interest will be used by the museum in future exhibits.

The current African American Hall of Fame exhibit would be integrated into a Wall of Fame inside the Living History Center. This exhibit will honor individuals inducted into the Hall of Fame each year for having made an outstanding contribution to the Peoria African-American community.

In addition, the Caterpillar African American Network, an affinity group within Caterpillar that supports African-American employees, will donate $12,500 to the museum on behalf of AAHFM.

McMillan announced other Washington Wing exhibits will include an International Feature Gallery for special traveling exhibits—including the best exhibits the Smithsonian Institution has to offer—and traditional exhibits of fine art and folk art based on the extensive collections of Museum Collaboration Group partners. Announcements about exhibits to be included in the Liberty Wing of the museum will be made in the coming weeks, he added.

The multifaceted Riverfront Museum will join the Caterpillar Experience as key components of a planned downtown center for the arts, education and entertainment known as The Block. The $136 million project already has garnered $90 million in commitments to date, including 86 percent of the private funding and 40 percent of the public funding needed, said Michael Bryant, chairman of the CEO Roundtable, a group of prominent business leaders working to raise $8 million and the public awareness needed to help build the Riverfront Museum.

The Journal Star’s story includes pictures and diagrams.