Author Archives: Good Day Illinois

The Good and the Bad – People, organizations, governmental agencies, and taxing bodies which deserve special recognition. This Month the Bad – Freeport (Illinois) School District 145!

Leave a reply

20140204-095128.jpg
Freeport School District Has A Lot in Common With The Politicians in Springfield – The Solution to Every Problem Is More Taxes!

Real Estate Taxes in the City of Freeport are some of the highest in the country with the rate going up each year. Ask your local politicians about the rate for next year.

The school districts in Stephenson County led by Freeport want another 1% added to the sales tax so Freeport will be 9%. Spend $10 and pay almost $1 in taxes! They say it will be used to pay off existing bonds. A sales tax increase is only justified if there is a corresponding decrease in real estate taxes dollar for dollar – and that must be guaranteed which is joke. Give the bureaucrats running the school districts more money, and they will just spend more money. Schools in the Freeport District received failing grades since not one grade met state averages, and has the lowest graduation rate of school districts in Stephenson, Carroll, and Jo Daviess Counties. So much for more money for failing schools. More money is not the answer.

The Freeport School District has already announced it is increasing its levy 1.83% and that an owner of $100,000 residence will pay an additional $120 more in real estate taxes!

Yes, Freeport School District is recognized this month for consistently raising our real estate taxes and now it wants a special sales tax to raise even more money. Perhaps, it will request a special exit tax on everyone leaving the community until no one remains! True bureaucrats don’t care as long as they get paid – since they can just move on to their next victim when a community is destroyed.

For more details and to compare this district to schools in other districts go to http://fh.suntimes.com/reportcards/search/index

Freeport (Illinois) City Council Meeting, Monday, February 3 – Looks Like The Council Will Get Home Early, Not Much on Agenda!

Leave a reply

20140203-082559.jpg

The meeting will be at 6:00 pm in City Council Chambers at 524 West Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor.
If you have Comcast Cable, go to channel 17 to watch live.

Items of interest:

Vote to accept low bid for police pursuit vehicle from Bocker Group for 2014 Impala, $20,987.45

One resolution to apply to apply for grant funding for storm water management including design projects intended to control rain water, green street designs, planter boxes, permeable pavement, etc. to reduce storm water flow, control flooding and slow run-off into surface water in the City’s East Side Neighborhood

No readings of any ordinances

For the complete agenda of the council meeting, go to

Click to access A20140203.pdf

Support Team USA – Winter Olympics Begin February 6 in Sochi, Russia

Leave a reply

See the video – Raise Your Hands for Team USA at

http://www.teamusa.org/Video/2014/01/25/RaiseYourHands-Crowdsourced-Video-by-DJ-Steve-Porter?channel=B2ZGV3ZzocNmSdlT4IMUZryFr62nSGtb

20140201-101821.jpg

Midwest in Deep Freeze – Record Cold and Snow Fall – Florida Basks in Sunshine!

Leave a reply

20140130-172725.jpg
It may be cold in the Midwest and much of the country, but our neighbors to the south in Florida are enjoying a warm winter. In fact the above picture was taken of flag flying from a house in Florida – note the palm trees in the background! Do they really have to rub it in?

Case of The Week – If You Have To Fall, Then Fall in an IRS Office – It Could Be Worth $862,000!

Leave a reply

20140128-153709.jpg
A taxpayer undergoing an audit at an Internal Revenue Service office on Long Island successfully sued the IRS for $862,000 after he was injured by tripping over a phone cord. The taxpayer claimed in his lawsuit that he could not enjoy activities from golf to sex after he fell during a 2008 audit at an IRS office in Hauppauge, N.Y., according to the New York Post. He had visited the offices to work out a payment agreement for a $60,000 tax bill when he tripped on the phone cord. He then spent 17 days in hospitals and rehabilitation centers recovering from his injury. Attorneys for the IRS claimed he was exaggerating his injury, but the judge awarded him $862,000 for pain and suffering. He won’t have to pay taxes on the damages either.

The moral of this story – Don’t let an IRS agent come to your office. If the agent comes to your office, then you will not only end up paying your tax bill, but damages to the agent who falls in your office on a pile of your tax records stacked on your floor!

Read the judge’s decision at http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nyedce/2:2010cv03888/308197/57/0.pdf?1388754242

Civil War Monument Expo until March 30, 2014

Leave a reply

The historic Civil War Monument in downtown Freeport, dedicated in 1871 and on the National Register, is in need of repair. This Expo showcases the monument and the repair efforts. In addition, the Expo includes a display of Civil War memorabilia provided by the Stephenson County Historical Society . The Expo can be viewed at the Freeport/Stephenson County Visitors Center, 4596 US Highway 20 East, Freeport from 8 am to 6 pm. 815.233.1357

To read more about the monument and how you can donate, go to http://www.monumentfund.org/index.html

20140124-110338.jpg

Northwest Illinois Has Plenty of Snow – Lots of Good Winter Activities

Leave a reply

20140124-104209.jpg

Winter activities in the Freeport Parks include ice skating, ice hockey, sledding, and cross Country skiing. The ice skating and hockey are Read Park while the sledding is at Krape Park.
At Oakdale you can enjoy cross-country skiing, and if you don’t have skis (or snowshoes), you can rent them for the weekend at the Park District main office in Read Park. Go to the Park District website for details at http://www.freeportparkdistrict.org/ and look under programs, winter activities.

And don’t forget snowmobiling –

There are over 300 miles of marked trails for snowmobiling in Northwest Illinois, including on the Jane Addams Trail between Freeport and Wisconsin. Detailed trail maps are available at the Freeport/Stephenson County Visitors Center, 4596 US Highway 20 East, Freeport. Call 800.369.2955 for snowmobile conditions.

Weather Channel Should Be Called Weather Entertainment Channel!

Leave a reply

20140123-075113.jpg
The Weather Channel at one time really did give the weather. Since it was purchased by NBC in 2008, it has in recent years become just another source of entertainment. When you turn on the channel to get the weather, you often just get programs on topics only marginally related to the weather such as one of its newest programs dealing with prospectors. During the recent cold weather in the Midwest, the weather persons had a field day in their warm studios in Atlanta talking about the cold weather. Terms such as “killer cold” were thrown around by individuals who looked like the coldest weather they had even seen was the morning frost on their cars in Atlanta. The U.S. Weather Bureau names hurricanes, but not winter storms, so the Weather Channel decided that America needs to name its winter storms. What a joke! The last winter storm was named Ion – so the Weather Channel could then say – “Ion Blasts Plains.” For most of us it would be enough to say – It looks like another cold, snowy and windy day tomorrow – dress warmly. The Weather Channel would say – It looks like another killer day where you will die in minutes outside with the snow making travel impossible and the winds are so strong that you will be unable to walk. Give America a break and go back to reporting the weather!

Annual Freeport High School Band Concert Tonight, January 22

Leave a reply

20140120-191828.jpg

The concert will be at 7:30 pm at the Jeannette Lloyd Theatre, 701 W. Empire Street, Freeport. The 101st annual formal band concert featuring the FHS Concert Band, under the direction of Mr. T.J. Mack, and the FHS Symphonic Band, under the baton of Mr. Bill Petersen, will include a variety of band music and some of the greatest music written for wind band including works by Gustav Holst and Ludwig Von Beethoven. The featured guest artist with the Symphonic Band will be Mr. Mark Baldin, Principal Trumpet with the Rockford and Elgin Symphonies as well as the Rockford Wind Ensemble. 815.990.1739

Freeport City Council Meeting, Tuesday, January 21 –

Leave a reply

20140120-172812.jpg
The meeting will be at 6:00 pm in City Council Chambers at 524 West Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor.
If you have Comcast Cable, go to channel 17 to watch live.

Items of interest:

Presentation by students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School of Urban and
Regional Planning on projects such as passenger rail, housing, Tutty’s crossing, and public transit.
This should be an interesting presentaton. Go to http://urpl.wisc.edu/ for more about the Department.

Update from Dave Young, Director of Northwest Illinois Development Alliance (NIDA). Probably wants more money!

1st Reading (no comment allowed since there was a public hearing) of Ordiance for Variation for Group
Home (eight residents) for special need individuals at 325 West Rye Ridge. Since there were no written
objections and a unanimous recommendation from Planning Commission, it can be voted on with only one only one reading. In the minutes of the meeting, Laura Kelly who represented the applicant,
Northwest Illinois CILA, LLC, of Galesburg, Illinois, when asked what types of disabilities the residents would have stated that the primary disability would be developmental/mental retardation. The use of the term “mental retardation” which many people find offensive has been replaced by the term “intellectual disability” by most organizations and governmental agencies such as Social Security. It is surprising that someone in this field who purports to be an advocate in the area of helping individuals with special needs would use such a term. Someone should ask Ms. Kelly if she has heard of “Rosa’s
Law.”

Now for the big question that no one asked – How much will this home pay in real estate taxes or is it just another tax exempt parcel in Freeport which will demand city services and pay nothing towards them? A similar home for individuals with intellectual disabilities at 1774-1776 S Hance Dr pays –you know the answer – no real estate taxes!

The minutes of the Planning Commission hearing are informative and can be found at http://www.cityoffreeport.org/OrdRes/SUP%20325%20RYE%20RIDGE%20_20140121.pdf

For the complete agenda of the council meeting, go to http://www.ci.freeport.il.us/citygovernment/Agendas/A20140121a.pdf