By: Diane Benjamin
Tonight: Town of Normal
7:00 p.m.
Public Hearing on a proposed Property Tax Levy
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I expect few citizens will show up to express outrage that their government is not capable of living within their means. The Council and the Mayor are counting on it.
This hearing is required because the Town wants to raise your property taxes 6.44%. The excuse is to pay pensions expenses.
Meanwhile the Council is already plotting Uptown 2.0.
No sign up two hours in advance is required because this is a public hearing.
How many times are you going to be forced to pay for your home? The Town of Normal doesn’t care. Do you?
It was only last August your sewer rates were increased. Think Normal doesn’t have serious problems?
This was one of the main reasons why I moved out of Normal
I hope not to Bloomington! They aren’t any better.
same here!
If only Paul Harmon were mayor of Normal again!
Hi Diane,
I have been reading your site for a long time and appreciate you staying on top of things. I am a concerned citizen in Normal and would like to help prevent an increase in property taxes, but honestly feel pretty helpless.
Assuming I (or others like me) did show up this evening, what should I do? Is it enough to show up? Do they ask for a general show of hands (yay/nay), or must I get and comment? Unfortunately, I don’t feel like I could provide good reasons for not raising taxes, other than I am tired being squeezed.
Thanks for your time.
You can simply tell them they are destroying your Quality of Life. See if anybody will come with you, they do this stuff because mostly very few stand up to them.
The Town Trustees will try to make anyone who opposes the tax increase appear to be anti-Police. The property taxes go into the General Fund. Property taxes are also used for debt abatement. They can claim the $$ is earmarked for Police pension but citizens don’t know for sure.
I forgot to add that property taxes also pay for city employee IMRF. I wonder if Normal allows pension spiking.
I was planning to go and I don’t even live in Normal. I just found out a single father and his 7 year old son have been sleeping on the streets the last two nights. So I’m moving them in until we can figure something out. All shelters are full or unable to accommodate a single father. I point this out not to get a pat on the back, but to point out that a 7 year old child has been sleeping outside the last 2 nights while both Bloomington and Normal build buildings so they can lose money and raise taxes to support their bike lanes and precious downtowns. If you go for no other reason go to remind them that the cost of rent is out of reach for a lot of non government employees and raising property taxes is making rent go up! I am so angry right now I’m spitting fire!
Good point Angela. I wonder if the League of Women Voters will show up to expose this? They did a study of un-affordable housing, raising property taxes make it worse!
Ha! The League of Women Voters going to bat for the people. That’s a good one!
Wow! This is like free advertising for the Tiritilli campaign. Had enough, Normal?