Category Archives: City of Freeport

Good Day Illinois Reports – Go to Sausalito, California and See Freeport’s Future – Bicycles, Bicycles, and More Bicycles!

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  Ten years ago 50,000 bicyclists a year would visit Sausalito, California. Now the number is closer to 500,000. They rent the bicycles in San Francisco, bike across the Gold Gate Bridge to Sausalito, and then take the ferry back to San Francisco with their bicycles. In a few years thousands of bicyclists will be riding the Jane Addams Trail. They should stop at Freeport or end their trips in Freeport. If they want to end their trips in Freeport, there should be vans or buses to take them and their bicycles back to their starting points to the East or North of Freeport (for a fee of course). While in Freeport, they would eat and visit the quaint shops downtown. Eventually, the City could charge them fees to park their bicycles. Sales tax dollars would increase as merchants would sell more food and merchandise. Real estate tax revenue from the downtown would rise as property values increase. Hopefully, our next Community Development Director will have the foresight to recognize that Trail issues should be addressed immediately if Freeport is to benefit from the traffic. It’s just too bad there are not some shops downtown selling that medical marijuana being produced at Mill Race Crossing. Now that would be a good marketing tool! 

Don’t Miss Music on Chicago Friday Night, August 14, Downtown Freeport, Illinois – Last Music on Chicago This Year!

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  The concert features “Rockabilly and Blues on Chicago” with Jimmy Nick & Don’t Tell Mama at 6 pm and Dirty Fishnet Stockings at 8 pm. It all takes place on Chicago Avenue between Main and Stephenson Street in downtown Freeport from 5:30 pm to 11 pm. In addition to the music, there’s great food and a beer garden. For more information see on the band, Dirty Fishnet Stockings, go to http://www.dirtyfishnetstockings.net/

Mayor Gitz Appoints New Community Development Director for City of Freeport – Andrew Chesney Leads Council in Pledge of Allegiance

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The Freeport City Council will be meeting on Monday, August 3 at 6:00 pm at 524 W. Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor. You can watch it live on Comcast Channel 17.  

The Mayor has appointed Elmo B. Dowd of Rockford, Illinois as the new Community Development Director.  Mr. Dowd has a good bureucratic and Democratic pedigree for what that is worth! He worked in the administrations of Governors Blagojevich and Quinn – and look at the condition of this State!  Mr. Dowd joined the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) in 2006, as Senior Policy Advisor in the Associate Director’s office. Mr. Dowd has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Northern Illinois University and is a past Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. In 2008, he was named IEPA Associate Director. See http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Elmo-Dowd/769983001

For the complete Council agenda go to http://www.ci.freeport.il.us/citygovernment/Agendas/A20150803.pdf

Cruise Night Saturday, August 1 in Freeport, Illinois – An Annual Event Not to Miss!

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  Events begin at 4 pm with cruising from 4 to 7 pm in downtown Freeport. There will be live music, a food court offering a variety of tasty choices, and three contests: the Soundwerks Plus and Tailor Made Autoworks LLC Sound Off Contest, the Gary’s Collision & Customs Muffler Rapping Contest , and the Dan’s Route 66 Service Burn Out Contest. There will be a lot filled with antique cars, a Motorcycle parking area, two main parking lots, and a lot, for the classic cars. In addition, downtown restaurants Main Street Bistro, PJ’s Stephenson Street Station, and This Is It Eatery will be open. PJ’s will also offer the band, The Beaux, playing 60s and 70s music. Souvenir t-shirts and photo booth will be available at K&M Photography on Stephenson Street. Spectator parking is available on streets and in parking lots outside of the Cruise Route. For more details go to http://www.freeportcruisenight.org/contact.html

City of Freeport Puts in a New Street While Other Areas of the City Rot!

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  It’s nice the City of Freeport has the funds to resurface part of South Street from Hance Drive to Route 26. If you look at the condition of this street, it is better than 90% of the streets in Freeport. In fact the City has so much money, they just remarked the turn lanes at Route 26 only to tear up the road a few weeks later. We used to call such projects “make work,” but in reality it is just plain stupidity. 

Ask your alderperson when your street is going to be replaced (or at least repaired). The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind!

What Are The Real Estate Taxes on This Building?

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  Location: 1730 S. Hance Drive, Freeport, Illinois

Owner: Freeport Senior Housing II, 1001 E. Touhy Ave Suite 50, Des Plaines, IL

REAL ESTATE TAXES PAID: NONE

As with much of the new senior housing in Freeport, no real estate taxes are paid on the buildings. This shifts the real estate tax burden to the home owners and small businesses in the community. The occupants and investors in this building should thank the citizens of Freeport for this generous tax subsidy.

Not One Cent for Woodside Drive, Woodside Kort, or Woodside Circle – But Lots of Money for New Sidewalks and Streets Downtown!

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  City crews are busy putting in new sidewalks around the public parking lot across from the post office. Freeport has plenty of money and the street department plenty of time when it comes to maintaining the downtown area and other areas of the city. At the council meeting on July 20, Alderman Chesney asked the Freeport City Engineer when they would be working on Woodside Drive. He mumbled something – basically no real timeline. It cannot wait one year much less five or ten years. As usual Tom Klemm, the 1st ward alderman, who represents this area, said nothing and does nothing. The residents in this area have limited options when it comes to addressing the total lack of road maintenance in this area. Many of them have already exercised one of the options – sell your home and leave Freeport. That may be the only solution! A downtown with good streets and sidewalks is great, but it will do little good if residents keep leaving the city.

City to Spend $140,790 for Micro-Surfacing Program – Ask 1st Ward Alderman Tom Klemm How Much Will Be Spent in His Ward?

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The City is spending $517,714 on new streets, and now $140,790 for micro-surfacing select, important, and one must only presume, high tax revenue generating streets in Freeport. Again, the Woodside Drive area is getting nothing. The streets in the Woodside Drive area are a disgrace to this community and just plain dangerous. See Good Day Illinois on June 1 at https://gooddayillinois.com/2015/06/01/street-superintendent-dole-pledges-to-repair-alleys-in-the-city-of-freeports-5th-ward-fire-station-parking-lots-are-a-priority/

The Freeport City Council will be meeting on Monday, July 20 at 6:00 pm at 524 W. Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor. You can watch it live on Comcast Channel 17. Some items of interest on the agenda:

Mayor Gitz in Journal Standard on Sunday, July 19 tried to explain the difference between the Appropriation Ordinance and Spending Plan. He failed miserably – bureaucratic double talk. The biggest reason the Appropriation Ordinance does not accurately reflect projected spending is that City like other taxing bodies such as the Freeport School District are TAX PIGS. Taxing bodies want to suck all of the revenue they can from the real estate taxes. If for some reason (unlikely in Freeport), real estate assessments rose, the City could get more revenue. For God’s sake, every taxing body wants all of the money they can get. If this were not the case, appropriation ordinances and tax levies would accurately reflect projected income and expenses. 

To view the complete meeting agenda go to: ttp://www.ci.freeport.il.us/citygovernment/Agendas/A20150720a.pdf

 

1st Installment of Real Estate Taxes Due in Stephenson County on Friday, June 19!

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  Freeport School District does lead in one category – TAXES! For the 2014 real estate taxes payable in 2015 the District leads the way by not only increasing its tax rate, but by the fact that it takes about 60% of your real estate taxes. The tax rate in Freeport is unconscionable, and these rate increases cannot continue. When economic development is discussed, someone should address the fact that high real estate taxes are detrimental to economic development and contribute to declining real estate values. Let’s look at Naperville, Illinois which is often rated as one of the nicest cities in the country. Naperville has a 2014 real estate tax rate of 7.3814 compared to Freeport’s of 12.49685. This means that the owner of a $150,000 owner occupied home in Naperville pays $3,248 in real estate taxes versus $5,498 in Freeport. Draw your own conclusions!

Freeport City Council Meets Tonight, June 15 – Watch Alderman Klemm Pout, Point, and Pontificate!

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For the first time in more than eight years it appears that Freeport has a fiscally responsible City Council. Unfortunately, the reckless spending during eight years of the Gaulrapp administration, which has continued for another two years under the leadership of Alderman Tom Klemm, has left the City of Freeport in a very difficult financial situation. Freeport has a lot in common with the State of Illinois – years of reckless spending and sweetheart deals with labor unions. If you have time tonight, go to the council meeting at 6:00 pm at 524 W. Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor, or you can watch it live on Comcast Channel 17. The agenda for the meeting is available at http://www.ci.freeport.il.us/citygovernment/Agendas/A20150615.pdf