Tax Levy Updates

There have been a series of decisions and proposals for the upcoming tax levy from many of the local government bodies that depend on them recently. This post is to help put them in one place with links to help understand what all this may mean by the time the actual bill comes due to property owners next month:

MTD: "The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) has approved a nearly 30 percent tax levy increase. MTD is funded through property taxes, grants, and ride fares. This increase does not mean that your property taxes will go up by 30 percent."

City of Champaign: "The City Council has determined that an appropriate total tax levy rate for
the City of Champaign is $1.3152" (the 2017 figure was also $1.3152)." and "Still, the past year's growth will see $826,023 more in property-tax revenue flow into the city's coffers, even with the tax levy at the same level as it has been for the past six years."

City of Urbana: "This will put Urbana's rate within a few cents of Champaign's rate next door. But without hospital properties to count into its levy, the city is likely to see a decrease of $269,375 in revenue available for basic city services."

Unit 4: "The Champaign school district wants to levy for an $8.4 million boost in property taxes next year but is projecting the increase would have a minimal impact on the tax rate paid by property owners."

District 116: "Residents can probably expect to see a lower school tax rate on their tax bills next year."

Parkland: "trustees approved an increase to the school's property-tax levy on Wednesday night that will allow the college to capture additional taxes after an increase in the equalized assessed value of property within the district. Still, Chief Financial Officer Chris Randles said, taxpayers should see a decrease in the college's rate on next year's bill."

Here's a primer post with a few different explanations to help people understand the difference between the tax levy and the tax rate, and how they affect one another: Tax Levies versus Tax Rates

Urbana Tax Levy

I've linked more tax levy updates for Urbana's school district today and an older update for the City of Urbana. The city numbers may still be subject to an update, and like all of the levy posts aren't won't be finalized until all the data is in in the spring. First the school district from today's News-Gazette:

Urbana school district projects slight drop in tax rate next year
Residents can probably expect to see a lower school tax rate on their tax bills next year.

"Historically, our tax rate has not gone down — we've been doing nothing but going up since tax caps were implemented," said Urbana school district Chief Financial Officer Carol Baker.

That's expected to change for next year because the district's debt-service rate is declining, she said.

While rates on 2018 taxes payable in 2019 won't be set by the county clerk's office until next spring, school officials expect to see the district's rate drop about 32 cents per $100 of assessed property value. That equates to about $160 in savings on a $150,000 home.

"The biggest component is that we're paying off our 2002 bonds," Baker said. "We promised when our taxpayers voted in the school facilities sales tax we would use $1 million every year to pay off our debt."

The last payment on those bonds will be made in January 2019, she said.

More at the full article here. Last month the Urbana City Council appeared to have had a decent idea for the City's tax levy. They expected to wrap up their work yesterday, but I'll have to double check for any updates to this information. Also from the News-Gazette last month:

Urbana property tax levy breaks on Carle question
It's Urbana's turn to dig into property tax levies for the year, and questions abound of whether Carle Foundation Hospital properties will be included.

The estimated levy of $9.09 million is a 120 percent increase from last year and will be collected through one of two likely tax rates: $1.3152 per $100 of Urbana's total Equalized Assessed Valuation if the hospital properties are included, or $1.3550 if they're not.

This will put Urbana's rate within a few cents of Champaign's rate next door. But without hospital properties to count into its levy, the city is likely to see a decrease of $269,375 in revenue available for basic city services...

The $9.09 million the city is asking for this year will be used to fund the Urbana Free Library, basic city services and high police and fire pension obligations contributing to the city's structural deficit.

Staff recommend $1.61 million for the police pension fund and $1.13 million for the fire pension fund.

City staff are also recommending $3.27 million for the library, a 1.93 percent increase from last year's levy. That increase is needed to allow the library to "maintain current services based on the fiscal 2019 budget," according to a city of Urbana memo.

The city is asking for $3.3 million for the general operating fund used to pay for basic city services like police protection. After today's committee of the whole meeting on the estimated levy, the council will meet on Nov. 19. The levy process should wrap up Dec. 21.

More at the full article here, including what-ifs on the Carle lawsuit and how that may affect things.

Parkland College District Tax Levy

This is from about a month ago, but I wanted to make sure I included it in the tax levy updates I could find going into the new year. The Parkland Board of Trustees covered their tax levy breakdown at last month's meeting. From the News-Gazette:

Parkland to use $323,000 state grant, local match to revamp S wing
...
In other business, trustees approved an increase to the school's property-tax levy on Wednesday night that will allow the college to capture additional taxes after an increase in the equalized assessed value of property within the district.

Still, Chief Financial Officer Chris Randles said, taxpayers should see a decrease in the college's rate on next year's bill.

Randles said the projected rate will decrease from $0.54 per $100 of equalized assessed value to $0.53. Trustees voted unanimously to approve the $32 million levy request for 2018, which is an 11.84 percent increase over last year.

Randles also noted that the college has been receiving operating grant money from the state in a timely fashion — the first time in as long as he can remember, he said — and that it is all caught up on payments to the college.

He added that the original budget for the year is "looking pretty accurate," and though it's early, "we're on target."

More on the meeting at the full article here.

Local Candidate Updates

[UPDATE (12/22/2018): All three challenged candidates will remain on the ballot this spring. From the News-Gazette:

The three-person board voted Friday to adopt opinions from city legal staff in the cases of mayoral candidate Azark Cobbs and city council hopefuls Pattsi Petrie and Kenton Elmore.

The objections covered several topics, such as invalid signatures or the candidate filling out the forms improperly.

City Attorney Fred Stavins said in the opinions that while some signatures are invalid, the candidates still had more than enough valid signatures and should stay on the ballot.

Council member Tom Bruno, who was on the electoral board for the Cobbs case, said objections to filings should be taken seriously.

More at the article here, including further concerns by Bruno with an audio interview clip.]

[UPDATE (12/20/2018): The News-Gazette pointed out today that the City's legal staff recommended keeping the candidates on the ballot which will likely be accepted by the electoral board tomorrow:

Legal staff: leave Champaign candidates on ballot
Three candidates for Champaign mayor and city council are primed to stay on the April ballot based on a recommendation from city legal staff.

Philip Fiscella is challenging the nominating petitions of Azark Cobbs, who's running for mayor, and Pattsi Petrie, who's running for an at-large council seat. Chris Beaird is objecting to the candidacy of at-large council candidate Kenton Elmore. The objections cover several topics, such as invalid signatures or the candidate filling out the forms improperly.]

   

City of Champaign:

Electoral Board hearings (what are these?) are coming up this Friday to decide the remaining petition challenges. Electoral Board Meetings from the city calendar (more info at link): December 21, 2018, 9:00 am, Council Chambers, 102 N. Neil, Champaign. The News-Gazette had a blurb on the challenges:

Former longtime Champaign City Council member Michael La Due will stay on the ballot in his bid to return to the council.

The city's electoral board met Tuesday to hear evidence on candidate objections, and Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Bannon said Philip Fiscella dropped his objection to La Due's nominating petitions for an at-large council seat.

Three other ballot challenges remain. Fiscella is also objecting to petitions filed by Pattsi Petrie, who's also running for an at-large seat, and Azark Cobbs, who's running for mayor. Also, Chris Beaird is objecting to petitions filed by at-large council candidate Kenton Elmore.

City legal staff will now draft opinions on each case, and the electoral board will vote on them Friday morning. For more general election calendar information for candidates (filing, challenge, etc dates) there's a calendar for the primary and general here at the County Clerk website.


Champaign / Unit 4 and Urbana District 116 School Board:

From the County Clerk Website and the News-Gazette:

Champaign Unit School District 4

• Amy Armstrong
• Elizabeth A Sotiropoulos
• Jennifer Enoch
• Lee McDonald
• Christopher Kloeppel
• Michael Foellmer
• Kathy Shannon
• Sergio Gonzalez
• Alicia R. Robinson

Champaign school board: 4 seats open

— Incumbents: Amy Armstrong, Chris Kloeppel, Kathy Shannon.

— Challengers: Jennifer Enoch, Michael Foellmer, Sergio Gonzalez, Lee McDonald, Alicia Robinson, Elizabeth Sotiropoulos.

— Sitting out: Kathy Richards won't run for a second term.

 and...

Urbana Unit School District 116

• Paul Poulosky - Sub District 6
• Anne Hall - Sub District 4
• Torionna L. Exum - Sub District 2
• Felipe Menanteau - Sub District 6
• Karie Brown-Tess - Sub District 4

Urbana school board: 3 seats open

— Incumbents: Anne Hall (Sub-District 4), Paul Poulosky (Sub-District 6).

— Challengers: Tori Exum (Sub-District 2), Karie Brown-Tess (4), Felipe Menanteau (6).

— Sitting out: Benita Rollins-Gay (2) isn't running for re-election.

 

The News-Gazette article also had some additional information on Champaign and Urbana Park District Board and Parkland Trustee Candidates:

Parkland College Board of Trustees: 3 seats open

— Incumbents: Bianca Truitt Green and Jonathan Westfield for the two six-year terms; Jim Ayers for the lone four-year term.

— Challenger: Doug Jones for a six-year term.

Champaign Park District Board: 1 seat open

— Incumbent: Tim McMahon

— Challenger: DeShawn Williams

Urbana Park District Board: 2 seats open

— Incumbents: Roger Digges, Michael Walker.

— Challenger: Cedric Stratton.

[Updated: Originally posted 12/19/2018 at 8:26am]

Champaign City Council and Unit 4 Updates

The City Council addressed marijuana ordinance enforcement, bringing it in line with Urbana's fines. WCIA had a video segment and an article with some reactions:

Not everyone okay with new fine
...
Last week, the city council voted to drop the fine for marijuana possession from $350 to just $50.

It brings the city's penalties in line with Urbana, but now, if police in Champaign catch an underage smoker, or bust an adult for a minor alcohol violation, they could end up paying four-to-seven times more than a teenager caught with weed...

The same fine discrepancy now applies to being in the wrong place with the wrong beverage. Standing in our station's back garage, I can hold an open container of beer, but if I were to talk out into the parking lot, the city could fine me $250.

Compare that with getting caught with a joint of pot anywhere. Now, the fine for that is $50.

"I think that was an unintended consequence."

Council member Greg Stock molds young minds as a teacher at Centennial High School. Stock doesn't think the new fine makes sense.

"It's like, wait a minute. If I'm 16 and I'm smoking a tobacco cigarette, I'm going to get a $205 fine. If I'm 16 and smoking a marijuana cigarette, I'm going to get a $50 fine."

Full article with video segment here. The News-Gazette had coverage of the City Council meeting and vote here. The Council is still struggling on how exactly to fully enforce their fines due to the quashing of warrants earlier in the year, however. More on their continued concerns on enforcement of ordinances here.


The Council also passed some referendum related resolutions this week. From the News-Gazette:
Champaign council OKs agreements on South Side, McKinley Field projects

At their last meeting of the year Tuesday, city council members unanimously signed off on agreements with the Unit 4 school district concerning projects at McKinley Field and South Side Elementary School, part of the district's $183.4 million referendum work to revamp aging facilities.

Council members first voted on an amendment to remove two waivers that would have allowed taller-than-allowed light poles around the field and the use of chain-link fencing between McKinley Field and homes to the south. Now, lighting will be restricted to 15-foot-tall poles — with LED lights that can be programmed to turn on and off at set times — and privacy fencing will be built on the south side of the field.

Full article here along with some coverage of disagreements between Councilor Fourman and the Chairman of the school board. The separate governing bodies both have the community in mind, but their slightly different priorities can lead to some clashes and compromise to cooperate. Voters and representatives alike can be very passionate about local government objectives and constituencies. The Unit 4 school board had also hired a new PR chief and approved some referendum matters this month:

Champaign school board approves 40-year PR vet as communications head
A 40-year veteran of public relations is slated to begin working for Unit 4 next Monday, "shoring up" a communications department flooded with responsibilities related to the district's 2016 referendum, board President Chris Kloeppel said.

John Lyday received the board's approval for the chief communications officer position early Monday evening. The position's approved annual salary is $119,893.

"I have about 40 years of experience in public relations — almost 20 in public education," Lyday told the board after the vote. "I am now going to be passionate about Champaign Unit 4. I'm looking forward to it, and I can't wait until Dec. 17."

A 1976 Northwestern University grad, Lyday has held various positions across the state, including stints as the director of group communication for the Tribune Company and associate executive director for the Illinois Association of School Boards...

The board also approved all of its referendum-related items, including:

— Design development cost estimates for McKinley Field ($6,604,515) and relocation of Central High School's storm and sanitary systems, guaranteed by O'Shea Builders to not exceed $1,060,435.

— Two contracts for abatement work at the high schools — $99,970 with Environmental Assurance LLC for Central and $76,312 with Thornburgh Abatement for Centennial. Much of that work will take place over the district's winter break, officials said, with the goal being to finish it prior to the Central expansion project's groundbreaking in the spring.

Full article here.

Urbana Schools Administrator Updates

With the administrative shakeup of the Urbana School District 116, the board is looking to an outside firm to conduct the search for peremanent replacements. From the News-Gazette today:

Urbana school board to hire search firm to find new administrators
The Urbana school board is planning to hire an outside search firm to help in its hunt for a permanent superintendent and two permanent assistant superintendents.

Interim Superintendent Preston Williams discussed that option with members Tuesday evening, suggesting the board would benefit from the breadth a national search firm would provide. The board placed former Superintendent Don Owen and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resoures Kathy Barbour on paid leave Dec. 4 with little explanation. Assistant Superintendent of Student Learning Samuel Byndom was placed on leave in late October and faces a felony eavesdropping charge after allegedly trying to use a special pen to secretly record a closed board meeting on Oct. 28.

Williams detailed for the board the last position he'd held with Iowa-based school-executive search firm Ray And Associates, saying what he'd seen there during a superintendent search for a district south of Chicago had "impressed" him.

"It is a very exhausting process," he said.

In example documentation provided to the board, Williams noted that some of the steps a firm could employ start with meeting individual board members, then employees and board-identified stakeholders and holding open forums before beginning a screening process that eventually results in a presentation of eight to 12 candidates.

More information at the full article here. This is happening while there were some concerns about the interim administrator's pay, including $1,200 per day for the interim superintendent. Tom Kacich passed along the School Board president's explanation of how it was formulated:

"We started with Preston's last salary before he retired about five years ago. We then applied the increases he would have received had he stayed with us. That equaled $220,000 for a work year of roughly 220 days (the normal 240 less holiday and minimal vacation days). This came to $1,000 per day.

"That would have been his salary if he was a permanent part of our staff, plus he would have earned related benefits, such as Medicare contributions, paid vacation and employer health insurance. Since he is an interim contract employee, he must bear those costs, not the district. Those costs amount to roughly 20 percent of salary, which brought us to the $1,200 per day. This is per day, not per hour, and Preston is going well above and beyond the normal eight-hour day.

"As a final task, we checked with the State Board of Education to find out if this figure was similar to other interim superintendents in Illinois, which it is. Similar calculations were done for the other two interims (interim assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Jean Korder and assistant superintendent for human resources and professional development Gayle Jeffries), who also are contract employees, not full salaried administrators like our permanent employees."

Full Tom's Mailbag article available here.

CU Moms Demand Action and Truce

The local area Moms Demand Action group is partnering with Truce to raise awareness, funding, and local government support for the intervention program designed to interrupt cycles of violence in communities struggling with gun violence. The two day training was deemed a success by organizers and there will likely be new opportunities to participate in 2019 according to their follow up post via the CU Area Project facebook page. WCIA had a video segment about the recent training here. The News-Gazette also had coverage:

'Violence interrupters' get first training in effort to help curb shootings 
With one of the deadliest years on record about to come to a close, a group of about three dozen community members are taking steps they hope will make Champaign-Urbana a less violent place to call home in 2019.

A month after Champaign City Council members were briefed on disturbing gun violence statistics during an update on the C-U Fresh Start program — 109 shooting incidents and eight homicides in the two cities in the first 10 months of the year alone — another local initiative was launched over the weekend with a similar goal.

Community members were trained on becoming "violence interrupters" — the term used to describe those who detect conflicts before they intensify. One example: If a shooting has occurred, interrupters will reach out to the victim's friends and relatives to try to prevent retaliation.

The local group — which will go through 40 hours of training — took part in two eight-hour sessions over the weekend, covering techniques that included conflict resolution, violence prevention and intervention strategies.

Lots of additional information at the full article here. More information on the CU Area Project and upcoming 2019 Truce training here. More information on Moms Demand Action here. A link to their GoFundMe page is here.

Unit 4 Roundup

First off, there have been recent updates on the Champaign recently passed school district tax levy. The News-Gazette outlined the proposed levy a couple weeks back:

Champaign school district seeking an $8.4 million tax boost
The Champaign school district wants to levy for an $8.4 million boost in property taxes next year but is projecting the increase would have a minimal impact on the tax rate paid by property owners.

The bulk of the proposed levy increase would be in corporate and special purpose property taxes tied to operation of the school district, while just a sliver of it would be tied to paying down the debt for the school construction projects approved in a 2016 referendum, according to Tom Lockman, Unit 4's chief financial and legal officer...

What the school district asks for in its tax levy isn't necessarily what it will receive. The amount will be set in the spring based on several factors other than what was requested — among them the total assessed value of taxable properties in the district and the consumer price index...

The overall levy increase is expected to have a minimal impact on the tax rate because it would be spread out over a larger assessed value of the district, though final figures won't be known until next spring, Lockman said...

In all, the requested levy would be 7.5 percent higher, from $111,364,397 on 2017 taxes paid this year to $119,775,662 on 2018 taxes payable next year.

Full article here. The tax levy ordinance passed was similar with an overview of the numbers here at the last board meeting on December 10th.


Candidate filings have begun. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

Kathy Richards has decided not to run for re-election, but the three other incumbents — President Chris Kloeppel, VP Amy Armstrong and Secretary Kathy Shannon — all filed on opening day.

Also filing were four newcomers: Jennifer Enoch, Michael Foellmer, Lee McDonald and Elizabeth Sotiropoulos.

Links added for candidates with information on their candidacy or campaigns. Full blurb here.


In other news, Unit 4 also hired a communications chief:

Champaign school board approves 40-year PR vet as communications head
A 40-year veteran of public relations is slated to begin working for Unit 4 next Monday, "shoring up" a communications department flooded with responsibilities related to the district's 2016 referendum, board President Chris Kloeppel said.

John Lyday received the board's approval for the chief communications officer position early Monday evening. The position's approved annual salary is $119,893...

Lyday's position was supposed to be occupied by former Unit 4 communications staffer Stephanie Stuart, who received board approval April 23 but decided not to accept it. Kloeppel described the position as one much-needed because of the increased level of communications work generated by the referendum projects and an answer to public input.

Full article here.


And finally, following up on the averted teacher's strike, the News-Gazette had a very long and detailed article about the major sticking point of the negotiations: class sizes:

Class-size caps were a sticking point in Unit 4 contract talks
...
Until now, Champaign’s contract didn’t stipulate class size.

“It’s something we tried to bargain the last time” in 2016, said union president Jen White, who’s been involved in the last four contract talks. “The district was a hard ‘no’ at that time. We ended up dropping the language. This time, we stuck with it.”

While no one wanted a strike, White said the nearly 900 teachers and support staff including school psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and librarians in the union were prepared to walk off the job if the two sides couldn’t reach a compromise on the matter.

“Class size was our single, most unifying topic,” said White, a seventh-grade science teacher at Jefferson Middle School and a mother of a sophomore at Centennial High. “It was incredibly moving to hear our elementary school teachers speak about how appreciative they were. Our middle school and high school teachers were all in. It impacts all of us — from elementary school all the way up.”

Full article here with class size data and a great deal of additional information about various class sizes in the district. It also looks at weighing the benefits of class size limits versus other considerations.

Champaign City Tax Levy

Last week the City of Champaign's Council passed their tax levy and abatement ordinances. From the abatement ordinance, "The City Council has determined that an appropriate total tax levy rate for
the City of Champaign is $1.3152" (the 2017 figure was also $1.3152). The total levy and the various parts that comprise it appear to be similar to, if not slightly higher than the amounts proposed back in October at a previous Council meeting. The News-Gazette had a break down of those figures for comparison:

Champaign council begins annual process of deciding tax levy
It's the beginning of tax-levy and budget season for the city of Champaign, and financial forecasts for 2019 say recent growth means more tax revenue for the city.

But it still faces long-term structural imbalances because of pension and health-benefit costs, staff say.

Still, the past year's growth will see $826,023 more in property-tax revenue flow into the city's coffers, even with the tax levy at the same level as it has been for the past six years...

This year's levy includes:

— A 3.6 percent increase in the Library Operations and Improvements levies. It's part of a policy to use growth in assessed value to raise the library's levy.

— A 2.9 percent increase to the Capital Improvements Levy to account for increasing construction costs in the next year.

— An 8 percent increase to account for police, fire and Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund pension obligations, as well as to keep pension funding well above state requirements. This accounts for hiring new employees, retirements and other similar changes.

— A 26.8 percent reduction in the general fund. That money will be diverted to pay for increases in the levy.

The percentage increases are difficult to compare to the actual ordinance passed. Links to the proposed numbers here and passed numbers here for a more direct apples to apples comparison. For an explanation of tax levies versus tax rates, I have a primer post with a few different attempts to explain the concepts (as I struggled with it myself): Tax Levies versus Tax Rates

MTD Tax Levy

The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District approved an increase to its tax levy this week, which may not translate to any significant increases in property tax rates due to rising property values, Carle tax case issues, and their piece of the county property tax pie. From WCCU:

C-U MTD approves tax levy increase
The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) has approved a nearly 30 percent tax levy increase.

MTD is funded through property taxes, grants, and ride fares. This increase does not mean that your property taxes will go up by 30 percent. Property tax rates are determined by the Consumer Price Index.

MTD only collects a three percent of that property tax, which is paid for by residents of Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy...

Last year MTD received $7,831,609 from property taxes. With the increased tax levy they expect to bring in a little more than $10 million.

Full blurb here. The MTD board covered the issue in their 12/12/2018 meeting with video, agenda, and specific budget breakdown of the levy information in the board packet available at this link. This appears to be a larger increase than was discussed previously and reported by the News-Gazette in October:

MTD board approves seeking 21.7 percent tax-levy increase
The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District is seeking a nearly 21.7 percent increase in its tax levy for next year.

But Managing Director Karl Gnadt said like last year, the increase in the levy — to $10.3 million — is intended to create room for new valuations that could potentially be added to the tax rolls, and it doesn't mean the MTD is necessarily going to get that much more tax money.

The 21.7 percent levy increase represents $1.8 million more than the amount collected for the preceding year...

Gnadt said the levy increase is intended to create room to capture additional money that would primarily come should Urbana hospital properties ever be added to the tax rolls.

Both OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center's former owner, Presence Health, and Carle Foundation Hospital continue to be engaged in litigation with taxing authorities over their property-tax exemptions — though the disputes have centered largely on taxes the hospitals paid for past tax years.

Full article here, including some information on objections raised over an ever-increasing budget. For an explanation of tax levies versus tax rates, I have a primer post with a few different attempts to explain the concepts (as I struggled with it myself): Tax Levies versus Tax Rates

Champaign Ordinance Enforcement Questions

Earlier in the year as criminal justice advocates cheered the quashing of thousands of outstanding warrants in the Champaign County Courthouse for various local ordinance violations, local government officials were left with questions.. This left the enforcement mechanism for local government unclear while addressing a serious over-jailing problem at the County level. The News-Gazette had an overview of those warrants here, and explained the double-sided sword quashing the warrants was having back in January here:

Judge 'quashed' thousands of warrants
...
In a 15-word order issued Jan. 5, Judge Tom Difanis "quashed," or set aside, 2,547 outstanding warrants for people who have unresolved city or village ordinance violations, some issued as long ago as 2001.

Difanis said he intended the move to lighten the load of the staff at the Champaign County Jail, who have to book those people once they are arrested.

His action, however, has left city legal staffers wondering what the alternatives are.

Almost a year later the City of Champaign is still working out how to deal with the ramifications of that decision. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

Costs take focus in Champaign council's discussion on ordinance violations
...
Council members considered multiple options on how to deal with 1,800 failure-to-appear warrants that were among 2,547 that Champaign County Presiding Judge Tom Difanis quashed in a single order in January, to the frustration of municipal legal departments across the county. The conclusion of many on the council was that the issue needed more time and attention.

Members also gave some feedback to city staff on a proposal to have city return to using administrative adjudication for the violations, which would eliminate the need to go through the county courts.

Council member Angie Brix said her support for administrative adjudication will come down to cost. She questioned city legal staff about possible costs for all the software, bookkeeping and staff the new system would require, as well as the cost to hire a hearing officer. Staff members said they wanted some direction before moving forward on exploring those costs.

The board appeared to take into consideration the very real impacts their decisions could have on vulnerable members of the community as well as taxpayers, however:

And though it may have lead to more work and stress for legal staffs in municipalities across the county, council member Clarissa Fourman said the judge's order ultimately did more good than harm.

"I liked what Judge Difanis did because it helped a lot of people," Fourman said. "There's a reason people don't go to court. They may not have child care, or can't get off their below-$10-an-hour job, or you don't know what trauma somebody has had as a child — maybe they spent all their young life in court and don't want to be in that environment. We are also punishing people for being poor. There has to be a way to enforce this with humanity."

Some council members balked at the notion of bringing in collection agencies like Chicago-based Harris and Harris to fix the problem by using liens on property or filing small-claims suits against people who have failed to appear in court or set up a payment plan for any fines levied.

"I will never support us going any kind of business whatsoever with Harris and Harris," said council member Tom Bruno. "They are so dirty that I will never vote to have the city get in bed with a collection agency like Harris and Harris to dun people in our community."

More at the full article here.

Crisis Intervention Team Data

The local Champaign County area Crisis Intervention Team Steering Committee released a report on their responses to crisis calls. What is a Crisis Intervention Team? The University of Illinois Police Department has a quick general explanation here:

As police officers are increasingly becoming the first response for people who are in a mental health crisis, departments across the country are recognizing that crisis intervention training for their officers should be a priority. More than half of the officers at the University of Illinois Police Department are specially trained in the most effective methods to help people who are dealing with some sort of mental illness, who are suicidal or who are experiencing any other similar type of crisis.

Officers are trained in how to recognize a crisis, how to speak to the person experiencing a crisis to de-escalate the situation and how to come up with a plan to help. The plan may include something very informal – like identifying and addressing a certain activity or situation that may have been contributing to a rush of anxiety – to something more formal, like setting up an appointment with the Counseling Center or bringing that person to the hospital for emergency treatment.

The work that goes into creating that kind of working application is a lot more complicated and requires the cooperation of law enforcement and service providers and local government to support and fund various parts. The report had an overview of what the organization looks like locally within the county:

In October 2012, at the Urbana City Building, members from local law enforcement agencies and the mental health community met to discuss the current law enforcement response to citizens in mental health crisis, build stronger partnerships between stakeholders, and identify resource options. The law enforcement community was represented by the Champaign County Sheriff’s Department (CCSO), Champaign Police Department (CPD), University of Illinois Police Department (UIPD), Urbana Police Department (UPD) and Champaign County State’s Attorney Office (SAO). The local mental health system was represented by area mental health providers, the local hospitals, a member of the jail task force, and other stakeholders. The group continued meeting regularly and is now recognized as the Champaign County Crisis Intervention Team Steering Committee (CITSC).

NAMI has more information for communities looking to build the relationships necessary to build such a program here. For more information on the history of Crisis Intervention Teams, NAMI has a quick overview here. The data covers the time period between August 1, 2017 and July 31, 2018. It has break downs on contacts, outcomes, time of day, day of week, gender and race. On outcomes, for example, it had this information from the first half of the year:

Figure 12. Dispositions of Suicide Threats, Attempts, and Ideations CIT Contacts, January 1, 2018 to July 31, 2018

The full report is available here. "The petition refers to petitions for involuntary commitment to the emergency rooms." I checked with the contact on the report about that to be sure. Apparently it's the law enforcement jargon from the petition form they fill out for the courts in those situations. Resolved at Scene (RAS) I understood from the presentation as successful deescalation. Everyone goes on about their lawful activities, there's no further risk of injury to self or others, etc without arrests or medical intervention.

Urbana FD Earns Class 1 ISO

In news that helps lower your insurance costs (for homes and businesses) a variety of local government and agencies have made it possible for Urbana Fire Department to join Champaign Fire Department's last few years with a Class 1 ISO rating. From the News-Gazette today:

Urbana Fire Department joins Champaign among top rated in nation
For fire departments, earning a Class 1 rating from the Insurance Services Office is the dream. The inspections are so rigorous that this year, just 305 of the more than 46,000 departments certified by the agency across the country earned that designation.

Only 16 of them are in Illinois — and Champaign County now has two, as the Urbana Fire Department has joined its sister agency across Wright Street in the exclusive Class 1 club...

Though full of confidence, Urbana's department wasn't in for an easy inspection. In calculating its Public Protection Rating, the ISO looks at four factors: the fire department, the needed fire flow — the amount of water an engine needs to put out a fire — water supply and distribution, and emergency communications. So it's not just the fire department that gets scrutinized with a fine-toothed comb every year, but also METCAD and Illinois American Water.

The ISO grades communities on a 100-point scale, and anything above 90 earns a Class 1 rating. Urbana got a 90.92 this year, with the fire department scoring 42.02 out of 50, Illinois American Water scoring 36.65 out of 40 and METCAD scoring 9.55 out of 10.

That 9.55 score elated METCAD Director Ralph Caldwell.

"Obviously, it's stressful, because our evaluation impacts other organizations, not just METCAD," Caldwell said. "But we pride ourselves in doing the right thing at the right time and meeting their guidelines to get first responders to the scene quickly. We scored very high, but we couldn't have done it without everyone else. We're one family. We're brothers and sisters."

Full article with additional information here. Champaign County's METCAD system handles calls for 25 Fire Departments including Champaign and Urbana Fire Departments as part of its emergency dispatch services. This is on top of their services to 12 area police departments. It's an impressive collaborative agency with employees of the City of Champaign, an Urbana location, in a County building, and U of I phone systems. It's board has administrative and public safety representatives from local governments, the University of Illinois and rural representatives of police and fire departments.

The two fire departments are also part of MABAS 28 regional response for HAZMAT and other collaborations as well. 

Carle Tax Lawsuit Update

Nothing really new, but heading towards the upcoming court date next year this article provides an explanation of the reason why a settlement beforehand is unlikely given the parties involved:

No settlement likely ahead of trial in Carle's property-tax lawsuit
Lawyers for the Carle Foundation and the governmental bodies they're facing in a lengthy lawsuit said Tuesday a settlement is unlikely before the lawsuit goes to trial Jan. 2.

Judge Randy Rosenbaum gently encouraged both sides to consider settling at what was a final pretrial hearing before the actual trial begins.

One of Carle's lawyers, Steven Pflaum, said the city of Urbana isn't interested in talking settlement.

And it would be difficult for Champaign County and its officials to settle with Carle without Urbana and Cunningham Township being willing to do the same, said Assistant State's Attorney Joel Fletcher, though he also said, "I'm not saying never."

Pflaum said Carle has made numerous overtures over the years to settle with the remaining defendants in the lawsuit — which currently include Champaign County and several county officials; Urbana; Cunningham Township; and the Illinois Department of Revenue.

The Urbana school and park districts signed a settlement agreement with Carle in 2013 that's required them to make refunds to Carle through this year on some of the property taxes it previously paid them.

More at the full article here.

Urbana City Council and Environment News

Urbana's City Council met in it's Committee of the Whole earlier this week and approved some changes to tax levy abatement (that I don't understand yet) and its public arts and culture program.It also had its regular Business and Development Report. The big news, however, was covered in yesterday's News-Gazette:

Urbana council gives initial approval for solar-farm lease deal
...
Aldermen gave their initial approval Monday to a lease agreement that could be the first step toward a new solar farm in the city.

After winning approval at Monday's committee-of-the-whole meeting, the lease-option agreement with San Jose, Calif.-based Sunpower DevCo, which will allow it apply for state solar incentives next year, moves to a final vote at the next council meeting.

Aldermen questioned Sunpower project developer Chad Tady about the particulars of the proposed solar farm, which will be built on 41 acres of landfill property...

Scott Tess, the city's environmental sustainability manager, said there would be no way to hear the inverter, which would be in the center of the array, at the property line with the mobile-home parks, and the tree line behind the parks will also serve as a visual barrier.

More at the full article here. In slightly related news, UIUC's had an update on their expanding solar farm investment that put them ahead of other universities: UI's second solar farm will make it 'second to none' among U.S. universities.

Urbana also received an award for being bicycle friendly as reported in a blurb in last Friday's News-Gazette:

In long lost news that I apparently missed after the midterm elections and any related comatose states, the Landmark Hotel deal fell through and there doesn't appear to be any serious plan B yet. Reporting on that here and a News-Gazette editorial explaining the uncertain future here. Previous posts on the landmark on the Cheat Sheet here.

Urbana Ward 3

A City Council opening due to Aaron Ammons winning the County Clerk race this year has an application deadline at the end of this month (more information from the city's website, including application here). As noted in the News-Gazette last month, the mayor will be taking into consideration the recommendation of the former seat holder:

Ammons said he has met with four or five people who have expressed interest in replacing him and will hold a vote of members of Ward 3 at a meeting next week to select the final name he will recommend to Mayor Diane Marlin.

It's her appointment to make, and she said she will be using an application process similar to the one used to fill vacancies on city boards and commissions. She said she'll respect Ammons' recommendation but will stick with the application process to decide who will replace him. Marlin will begin taking applications Dec. 3.

Full city council article here. Other city council members offered their advice to potential applicants:

Ammons' soon-to-be-former colleagues offer praise for him, advice for successor
...
Miller and fellow Alderman Dean Hazen had some advice for whoever's thinking of replacing Ammons: Clear your schedule.

"It's a big up-front commitment," he said. "You have to make sure that you have enough time outside of just Monday nights. You have to be prepared to do some learning, especially if you're coming from not a lot of municipal experience."

...

A good alderman, Miller added, will use every resource to come up with a decision.

"You have to be a city planner, a police chief, a fire chief when you're making decisions," Miller said. "But it takes turning to those people to pull from every bit of that to make good decisions."

Alderman Eric Jakobs-son's advice was simple: "Think as hard as you can about what the right thing is, and do the right thing."

"It's a really interesting challenge to balance the needs and desires of your constituents with the needs of the entire city," he said.

Full article here. Application information available from the city website here:

The City of Urbana is accepting applications for the Urbana City Council seat vacated by Ward 3 Alderman Aaron Ammons on November 30, following his election as Champaign County Clerk. Per state law, Mayor Diane Wolfe Marlin has up to 60 days from the date of a council member’s resignation to recommend an appointment to the City Council. The Council must then vote on the appointment within 30 days.

The City Council application is available in the Urbana City Clerk’s office at 400 S. Vine St., the Urbana Free Library’s first floor circulation desk or second floor reference desk, and the Douglass Branch Library, 504 E. Grove St., Champaign. It also may be downloaded from this website. See attached application information and the downloadable application. 

Deadline for applying is December 31, 2018. Legal qualifications for the office established by state statute include the following:

1. Must be eligible to vote in municipal elections.

2. Must have resided in Ward 3 for at least one year.

3. Must not owe any delinquent taxes, fees, or fines to the City of Urbana.

4. Must not have been convicted of a felony in any U.S. court.

Links to the application and directions on how to submit it by e-mail area also available at the link.

City of Champaign Financial Portal

In the most recent Champaign City Government 101 classes, the Finance Department highlighted it's new Financial Transparency Portal, a Tyler Citizen Transparency project. It's tied directly to the city's financial data, searchable (e.g. by vendor), with the ability to export to Excel files. The data is close to real time and refreshed nightly. At the same link you can find the regular quarterly, annual, and other reports as well.

Direct link here: http://champaignil.gov/finance/financial-reports/financial-transparency/

From the News-Gazette yesterday:

New online portal opens window into Champaign's finances
...
The city has rolled out a new online portal that, after a years-long revamping of its financial systems, gives average citizens free access to Champaign's financial data. A link to the portal can be found on the finance department's homepage.

"The city is pleased to offer expanded public access to the city's financial records through this new online tool," said Carrie Siems, Champaign's financial services manager and accountant. "Residents will be able to review every level of city expenditures from total spending by fiscal year down to individual vendor payments."

Right now, the portal only leads to this year's data, but staff are hoping to bring in all of the city's historical financial information.

It's been a long-standing city council goal to provide more financial transparency to citizens. As staff began to look at implementing a new financial software program four years ago, Siems said they also looked for a tool that was intuitive and user-friendly so anyone could find what they're searching for "without having to be a financial guru."

Full article here.

Champaign City Council Challenges

I've only seen a County level Electoral Board hearing, so I imagine it will be similar to that (explanation of a county electoral board here, notes from that board hearing here, and a City of Champaign example here). The composure from the statutes appears to be a three person body with the mayor as chairman, the city clerk and the longest serving city council member:

From the News-Gazette:

Challenges filed on nominating petitions of Champaign, Danville candidates
...
In Champaign, the clerk's office said Chris Beaird is challenging the petitions of Kenton Elmore, who is running for an at-large seat on the city counicl.

Also, Philip Fiscella is objecting to the candidacies of mayoral candidate Azark Cobbs and city council candidates Michael LaDue and Pattsi Petrie...

Specifics on these objections were not available. Generally, they cover complaints such as not enough valid voter signatures or filling out the paperwork improperly.

Electoral boards in each city will hear evidence and decide if the candidates will stay on the ballot.

Full blurb here.

Unit 4 Updates: Taxes and Contracts

There's an upcoming public meeting on the taxes this Monday, December 10th. From the News-Gazette:

Champaign school district seeking an $8.4 million tax boost
The Champaign school district wants to levy for an $8.4 million boost in property taxes next year but is projecting the increase would have a minimal impact on the tax rate paid by property owners.

The bulk of the proposed levy increase would be in corporate and special purpose property taxes tied to operation of the school district, while just a sliver of it would be tied to paying down the debt for the school construction projects approved in a 2016 referendum, according to Tom Lockman, Unit 4's chief financial and legal officer.

"We are projecting the change in the total rate would be minimal and unrelated to the referendum amount," he said.

Property owners saw the major increase from the referendum, which launched $183.4 million in school building projects, on their 2017 taxes paid earlier this year, Lockman said.

The school district plans to hold a public hearing on its 2018 levy for taxes payable next year at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Mellon Administrative Center, 703 S. New St., C.

Full article with more details here.

The deal struck between Unit 4 and the Teacher's union averting what seemed like an imminent strike last month had a quick blurb overview in the paper last week:

Champaign school board, teachers union both ratify new contract
...
Champaign Federation of Teachers President Jen White said 98% of voting members ratified the deal, agreed to in principle last week after six months of talks between the two sides. The Unit 4 school board also signed off on the deal Tuesday in a 6-0 vote.

In an interview Tuesday, White shared highlights of the deal:

— Kindergarten class sizes are capped at 25 this school year, 24 next year and 23 in Year 3. If those limits are exceeded, Unit 4 must provide an aide or sub.

— Teachers will have time during four of seven institute (professional development) days to work among themselves. That's up from two now, White said.

— Teachers on the salary scale who make home or community visits can earn up to 21 hours' pay a year at an hourly rate of $32.50. Teachers off-schedule can earn compensation in the form of up to three personal days.

— Teachers on the salary schedule will be due a 2.5 percent raise in each contract year. Off-schedule teachers will get a 3 percent bump each year.

Full blurb here.

Champaign Municipal Election Preview

 
An update on who's in so far (petitions are still be circulated, more information on that here) from today's News-Gazette:

No surprises where the 2019 Champaign municipal election is concerned: Mayor Deb Feinen and at-large city council members Tom Bruno, Matt Gladney and Will Kyles all turned in their petitions to run for re-election on Monday, the first day of the filing period.

The latter three will have competition. Also declaring their at-large candidacy were former 32-year council member Michael LaDue, who lost his District 2 re-election bid last year, and newcomer Jon Paul Youakim.

Other candidates who are attempting to join the fray so far include Elizabeth Sotiropoulos for school board and Kenton Elmore for city council. In that same News-Gazette article Pattsi Petrie is listed as thinking about entering the Champaign City Council race. She lost a primary fight on the County Board this year.

Unit 4 Teacher's Strike Information

It's looking as if Champaign Teachers are likely to walk out next week and the district will respond by shutting down all facilities and programs:

Unit 4 board: If teachers strike, district will be shuttered
If Unit 4 teachers go on strike nine days from now, all of the district's buildings will be shut down.

Responding to the Champaign Federation of Teachers filing its official intent-to-strike notice a day earlier, Champaign school board members said Friday they've decided to shutter all district buildings and cancel all school-related programming if no deal is reached on a new contract and the teachers stay home Nov. 26.

"This means that there will be no classes, practices, competitions, club meetings, Kids Plus programming or community activities at any schools, program or other Unit 4 building," the school board said in a statement issued early Friday evening. "We look forward to reaching a resolution that does not require us to take the actions above but wanted to be proactive in our communication in the event we do."

Teachers union President Jen White has said if the union does decide to strike, it will happen on Nov. 26.

On Tuesday, the two sides are scheduled to meet for an 11th negotiating session. Teachers in Unit 4 have been working without a contract since June 30.

Full blurb here.

Champaign HRC and NAACP Report

This week's Human Relations Commission meeting (agenda here) included a presentation of the NAACP report on criminal justice. Thomas Moore argued that the report is an educational tool as opposed to a road map and what we've tried over the past forty years hasn't worked. He argued for a new focus on the ineffectiveness of punishment in the system of mass incarceration. He noted that jails are a big part of the problem and a local issue. Video is available here and the NAACP report begins at the 6:20 mark. There were many ideas discussed and listed in the News-Gazette yesterday:

Among the suggestions discussed during Monday's meeting:

— Allowing those incarcerated to register to vote and cast votes while in prison.

— When drawing up legislative district boundaries, assigning prisoners to the locality they come from instead of the prison site.

— Advocating for more humane policies that stress restorative justice.

— Having the NAACP form a partnership with local libraries to develop a crime-and-punishment bibliography and establishing a repository of books and articles on incarceration, public safety and justice.

— Advocating for the collection of data on the justice system "to develop more grounded responses to crime and punishment."

— Developing justice reform that gives a prominent role to the faith community.

— Exploring programs that restore civil rights for those incarcerated and awaiting trial.

— Developing a pretrial-assessment protocol in Champaign County.

— Integrating restorative practices within both the Champaign Unit 4 and Urbana 116 school districts.

Full article here. One item not mentioned in this list was their support of the recommendations of the Racial Justice Task Force (more information on that here). Some of the discussion talked about mass incarceration being a new Jim Crow which references a study of the mass incarceration system that looks at disparities throughout the criminal justice system. More information on that information and popular book in criminal justice reform circles here.