Category: Mount Vernon

I’m still miffed about this new tax

April 3rd, 2012 · · Illinois, Legislation, Mount Vernon, Politics 3 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , ,

So, I previously ranted about the new tax on the citizens and shoppers of Mount Vernon. In it I made clear that the comparisons to other cities were worthless. Each of the cities mentioned has other influences which greatly affect their financial standing and tax base. This means we now have a higher tax rate than the only other comparable city in my opinion – Effingham. Also, this new tax will be used (I believe) to pay for our new community pool in addition to other QOL items. I oppose this model of the new pool, but that is not my gripe at this time.

I am quite perturbed that the city council would pass a tax increase at a special meeting rather than at a regular council meeting where the public expects such matters to be discussed. To be fair the meeting was supposedly announced and satisfied the Open Meetings Act requirements – I have not verified this and thus must say ‘supposedly’. What is unfair in my opinion is that a tax increase was passed at a special meeting held (as I understand it  clarified with the update below) during the day when most citizens are at work trying to support their families. According to an email reply from Councilman Wood:

First, there is nothing sneaky about this. The ordinance had to be in Springfield by about April 1.

Because of this, we started the discussion with extensive remarks at a workshop. We discussed the time schedule openly and completely. We could not do this at the first regular meeting for several reasons. We wanted the industrial and residential studies for our review before making a final decision on the tax. The City Manager was out of town and I was recovering from neck surgery on the previous Friday.”

So, there may have been legitimate reasons in their minds for conducting such an important discussion at a meeting that the public may have had difficulty attending – fine. If this tax was so important to get to Springfield by April 1 then why wasn’t discussion or first reading held until a few short weeks before that? In my opinion this was poorly planned, well planned, or perhaps just a series of unfortunate events leading to a rush that deprived the citizens of the ability to speak out against this new tax at a regular meeting.

Councilman Wood went on to state that I am poorly informed and I should attend the Council meetings and workshops. Attending daytime workshops and special meetings is well and grand when you make your own hours and/or are retired. Unfortunately most of the population is afforded neither of these luxuries. I believe a majority of the citizens depend upon our Council to inform us of important upcoming events or votes because we work so that we can make money to pay for new taxes.

No matter what, I feel slighted. The normal progression for acts as I have seen in the past is a first reading, second reading, and then voting. There are times that lesser matters have the rules waived and votes are taken after a first reading, but this is a new tax. This is not rezoning a property from B-1 to B-2. This tax will affect everyone in Mount Vernon and surrounding communities until the end of time as I don’t believe there was a sunset included.

Here is an excerpt from the minutes of the March 5, 2012 Council minutes (underlining by me for emphasis):

Stephen Casper stepped forward and stated that he feels the structure of the City Council meetings do not allow the audience to express their concerns adequately. He feels the audience should be given time at the beginning of the meeting to speak instead of at the end when Council has already voted on an issue. He asked that Council would consider having the audience heard prior to any votes. Mayor Chesley stated that on several occasions Council has workshops and invited people to come to express their concerns and they have. He stated that those who do not get the newspaper are unaware of the workshops. Mayor Chesley stated that there is a certain amount of responsibility as a citizen to be aware of what is going on within the community.“

I agree we have responsibility to be aware of what is going on in the community. Unfortunately we depend upon our civic leaders and elected officials to help us stay informed about what is going on in the community. People have families, jobs, social activities, and other matters to attend to in their daily lives. City Council members even miss meetings (as evidenced by Councilman Wood in his explanation above) from time to time and these are offices for which they were specifically elected.

Regarding the rumor that the city will be donating money or helping District 201 financially, Councilman Wood clarified that matter with this excerpt from his email to me:

As for the high school, please understand that we made a commitment very  early on to build the infrastructure to the school. We never made any decision to pay for any part of the school that exists on the school property. If such a decision were made it would be a public one that would be open to examination, comment, and criticism.”

So there you go. If the city decides to give any money to District 201 then it will be discussed at meetings which are subject to public input. Let’s just hope the discussion is at a regular meeting a majority of the public can attend. The infrastructure being built up to the school makes perfect sense as that is something that would be done for most any business in a similar manner.

About the pool – I did not attend those planning meetings nor did I comment on the now adopted plan. My bad. I still have the right to oppose it and bitch about it AND the tax that is going to fund it.

There you have it. My complaints, the reply/retort from Mr. Wood, and my opinions. This has been me complaining about our local government and some of their actions I don’t approve of lately. Maybe I’ll go to every meeting from now on and speak up during the public feedback portion. I’d hate to be accused of being ‘uninformed’ or of not taking ‘responsibility as a citizen to be aware of what is going on within the community.’

 

UPDATE:

Here is a link to the minutes of the Special Meeting (workshop) that was held during the day when most people are typically at work that you were supposed to attend. Perhaps I should say that I was expected to attend. I wonder if they’d let me Skype in from work.

Mount Vernon City Council Sneaks in a Tax Increase

March 27th, 2012 · · Illinois, Legislation, Mount Vernon, Politics 4 comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

Last night the Mount Vernon, IL city council passed a 0.50% tax increase. This increase puts our current tax rate on general merchandise at 8.0%. The only city within our region that compares reasonably to Mount Vernon is Effingham, and their tax rate is only 7.5% for general merchandise. There were other cities cited by proponents on the city council to compare Mount Vernon to that have higher tax rates. Sadly, each of those cities has other major economic considerations that support their tax rate!

  • Marion and Carbondale are both located along the Route 13 corridor.
  • Marion serves as a hub to the center of Route 13 and 57/24 interstates.
  • Marion grew by almost 10% from census to census.
  • Carbondale has a major university that helps support its income.
  • Carbondale has 50% more population than MtV – fair comparison?
  • Fairview Heights is in edge of the metropolitan area of Saint Louis.
  • Fairview Heights is home to many major shopping stores/centers.
  • Fairview Heights grew 11% census to census.

So, these three comparisons would be shot down by anyone who actually bothered to do some real comparison and fact-checking. Apparently our city council members are not fans of making realistic comparisons.

Here are a few other reasons I oppose this tax increase:

  • Mount Vernon has a 25.4 – 26.6% poverty rate as of latest census.
  • Is this going to pay for a pool that we will also have to pay to use?
  • Pool will only be open 3 months/year
  • Why is this tax not going to be sunset once planned items are completed?
  • An anonymous source says some of these funds being used to ‘help’ the new school.

Our poverty rate is a fact and cannot be disputed. At better than 25%, this means that our poorest citizens will now be paying closer to 10% of their income in taxes. Perhaps the goal of our city council is to alienate the poorest people in our community and force them to move elsewhere. There is strong belief that this new tax will fund a new pool that the city council is moving forward with building despite no funding in place to pay for it. This will be a nice pool with great fun to be had by everyone from the reports I have read – for 3 months of the year. The rest of the year this place will sit empty and unused by anyone except rats and mosquitoes.

The best part of possible uses for this new tax is a rumor that money will be given to the new high school to purchase property or otherwise assist with building. If that happens, I will come unglued. The last city council (Wood is still present) tried to screw city residents with a new tax to give the high school some money. This would have effectively made city residents (and shoppers) pay more toward the new, flashy high school than what their taxes were already going to be raised. District 201 is an independent taxing body. The city of Mount Vernon should not be financially supporting another taxing body. Granted, this is a rumor and should be taken as such, but they did try to screw us once before…

UPDATE:

I have received a reply from Councilman Wood that states they (council) passed the tax at the special meeting due to the unavailability of some to be at the last meeting and that they (council) wanted to pass the tax increase in a hurry because “The ordinance had to be in Springfield by about April 1.” I contend that it was rushed and should have been at a regular meeting considering it is a tax increase, but you may draw your own conclusions. Councilman Wood also states that the city has previously committed to provide infrastructure to the new school site and that other action beyond that would have to be discussed and approved at council meetings. This apparently quashes (I love that word) the rumor going about that the city will be donating or otherwise providing additional monies to District 201.

Also, the ‘they’ I refer to as trying to screw us before is a mostly replaced council. It was meant as a reference to the city council as a standing body and is not indicative of anyone in particular. It refers to action by the council with mostly different members – one of which almost admitted shady actions to me, but not quite.

In fairness, Councilman Wood was quite verbose in his reply and somewhat addressed my concerns. I still disagree with a tax being rushed and the new pool design. However, at least he (and Mayor Chesley in a separate email) replied to my concerns. Councilman Wood also took time to say I should come to council meetings and that I am misinformed regarding facts. He stated I should know better than to depend upon the newspaper for complete information. While this is true to a point, I contend that in my estimate 95% of residents never attend city council meetings and a we (the public) do depend on the newspaper, council releases, and the agendas/minutes on the city’s website to stay up to speed. If you are going to increase our taxes, then I would think that this information should be conducted at regular meetings – not special meetings that a majority are unaware of occurring.

He also said he can’t believe someone who ran for council blah blah blah… I ran against the shadiness that was going on at that time (and almost stated blatantly). Had I been elected I would have dove in headfirst and been equally as dedicated to the citizens of this city, if not more so. However I am on the outside and using all the information I can access to learn what is going on and draw conclusions. No, I didn’t call to ask if there was going to be a special meeting, but I shouldn’t have to call and ask. One would think that information would be on the city website or a distinct point made in a quote for the newspaper. Being an outsider I sent an email to communicate, aren’t we allowed to do that?

Oh yeah, the other city comparison facts stand.

Using Tech to Prepare for Disaster

March 7th, 2012 · · Family, General, Mount Vernon, Technology One comment - Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

This is a reprint from my ‘Ask a Geek’ column which originally ran in the Mount Vernon Register-News.

Most people don’t like thinking about disasters. Unfortunately, disasters do happen to us or loved ones. In our area we should be concerned with 3 types of disasters: tornado/storm, earthquake, and chemical spill. Most people are aware that we live in a tornadic area and that the New Madrid fault line may cause damage in our area if ‘the big one’ ever happens along that fault. Chemical spill may have some of you confused.

Our area has a low population density. This means that hazardous chemicals travel the railways and interstate highways daily. The theory is that if a spill happens here fewer people would be affected (injured) since we have less population than a major city. This is why I include chemical spills as a disaster that may happen locally.

General guidelines for disaster preparedness are: have some extra non-perishable food items stored, extra drinking water, a first aid kit, know basic first aid, keep copies of important documents and an insurance claim inventory, have extra clothing, and have a planned meeting place for your family/group. Storing of extra food is something that technology may not help a lot, unless you keep an inventory of your groceries using a spreadsheet. The other suggestions can all be assisted using technology.

Storing extra drinking water is not easy because it uses space. A gallon or two of drinking water in your pantry or a case of bottled water is something that most of us can do as preparation. Another step that you might take is to get water tablets to make bad water drinkable. These tablets are available at some camping stores, department stores, and I found them online for about $5. These tablets kill bacteria and other germs that can make you sick so that the treated water is drinkable. The water may not taste good since it is not filtered, but it should not make you sick.

A first aid kit around the house is a good idea. Most recommendations I have seen suggest adhesive bandages (Band-Aids), gauze, tape, iodine swabs, alcohol wipes, and a medium Ace bandage. With these supplies most minor scrapes and bruises can easily be handled at home. In an emergency situation fire, ambulance, and police will be very busy. This kit can allow you to care for your group until they become available. My advice is to purchase a pre-made kit from a department store with these items included. I found a kit at Wal-mart for about $5. Through technology everything is compressed into a kit smaller than a lunch box.

Knowing first aid is also helpful in a disaster. There may be injuries to others. Your first aid kit can help, but only if you learn what to do for injuries before the disaster. The Red Cross provides advice for preparing, links to find classes in your area, and refresher courses online at http://redcross.org. I have taken these classes several times and each time helps me learn or remember more than the last class.

Keeping copies of important documents like birth certificates, car titles, or phone numbers is very important. During a disaster you do not need the stress of trying to remember grandma’s number adding to your situation. One solution is to keep a hard (printed) copy of these papers and information in a fire proof safe at your home. This is a good idea, but there are other solutions. You could scan the documents or type a phone list and save the information using a computer. Then the files can be stored on a cheap thumb drive in your emergency kit (you do have one by now, right?), at a family member’s home, or online.

The thumb drive or online storage can also contain a list of your home inventory to assist an insurance claim. I don’t know about you, but if my home was just blown away in a tornado I would have a hard time remembering how many t-shirts and pillows I had in the house. Insurance companies want that kind of detail. If you forget to file for your favorite blanket or stuffed animal loss you may lose out on reimbursement. Be sure to take a detailed inventory of your home and keep it updated once or twice per year.

There are many services that offer free online storage of your files. My two preferred services are http://box.net and http://dropbox.com. Both of these are free services to store files and can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection, including your phone. You might be nervous about storing this personal information on a thumb drive and you should be nervous. With this information bad guys could pretend to be you. Many thumb drives include encryption software to protect your information, and you should use it to stop any worries you might have about theft.

Storing extra clothing might seem like it takes up a lot of space. You may not need to keep a complete wardrobe next to your bed or in the car, but a pair of underwear, glasses, and socks would be a good kit to have handy. Using vacuum technology you can put several pieces of clothing into a bag, suck out the air, and tuck your extra clothing into your emergency kit. You can also get a space blanket and light rain poncho that are folded into a small square in case your emergency happens in the rain or on a cold night. Space blankets are thin sheets like plastic that reflect heat back toward your body. A rain poncho will help keep you dry in a storm or protect you from the sun.

Finally, have a location where your family will meet after a disaster to perform a head count and check if anyone is missing. Google Maps is a great tool to create and map out your location(s) for meeting. You can create general maps of the area to what size you want. There can also be maps with directions from places where you commonly spend your days – work, school, home, etc. This might be especially helpful to children or the elderly to give to rescuers if they become lost or disoriented.

There are many other ways technology might help you in a disaster or emergency. Please email me at askageek@register-news.com and we can share any ideas you have with others to help us all be better prepared.

Why, herro, SIUC

August 30th, 2011 · · Family, Mount Vernon, School, Work No comments - Tags: , , ,

So, I’m now a student at SIUC. I’m attempting to gain a bachelor of science in Information Systems. To be honest, I’m thinking this is a lofty goal. My time constraints are pretty tight, and so I’m afraid that my coursework may suffer as a result.

60 hours/week driving and working.

56 hours/week sleeping (I wish).

20 hours/week dedicated to family.

That’s 136 hours per week already tied up. Now if I add in the recommended time for coursework @ 48 hours/week, I’m up to 184 hours out of 168 used up. I’m already negative and I haven’t included anything for just relaxing. I suppose if I reduce sleep to 6 hours/night then I should be able to make it. Still, I’m thinking this may have been a severe lapse in judgment on my part. Time will tell.

Alltel can suck it

May 20th, 2011 · · Illinois, Mount Vernon, Technology No comments - Tags: , , , ,

So, when I was late with my cellular bill some time ago, it was because I was poor. The bill would come due and I would have to make payment arrangements because we often wasted money or consistently spent more than our income. There are no excuses for that. It’s simple economics (from which politicians could use a refresher course).

Today, however, our income is enough to pay the mobile bill, and the other bills on-time each month. No bubbles, no troubles. However I still pay my mobile bill ‘late’ every month. I mean, it’s not late in the sense that I’m not paying for the services I use in a timely manner, it’s late in the sense that I don’t pay ahead of time for services I may or may not use.

In case you have forgotten (or were never aware), the mobile industry in the United States bills you for services ahead of time. Look at your next statement. The time billed ends in the near future. This is similar to the cable company (and probably satellite). Normally this would not anger me much as I will use the service, and thus will pay the bill (like the cable). Alltel sees fit to start sending threatening texts and making harassing phone calls over 10 days before the service that you are pre-paying for is ended however. 10 days. WTF.

I could understand if it were the 24th (the day after my billing cycle) and they began bugging me, but that is not the case. They have informed me via text that they will be shutting my service off on the 21st if I do not pay my ‘past due’ balance. Again – WTF?

The 21st is still two days before the date my ‘late payment’ will cover. If I’m on a prepay service, fine, just tell me so and let me end my service with no termination fee. Oh hell no, you will prepay and like it Mr. Consumer!

Previously, I stayed with Alltel because of some stupid sense of loyalty – they bought First Cellular and treated us well while downsizing. Then it was because they were the ‘little guy’ after selling out most of their network to Verizon. At this point, they can suck it. As soon as the mood strikes I will be moving to AT&T or one of the lesser carriers. Verizon is out because they are 50% foreign-owned (didn’t know you were sending 1/2 of your money overseas? better check into it), and I figure my cellular dollars may as well make some American executives rich.

Oh, and work gets me discounts with AT&T, so they are the front-runner. Yes, there will be a rape-you-in-the-ass early term fee, but that will be less than continuing my service without the discount, so I still come out ahead.