By: Diane Benjamin
If you watched the video of last Monday’s meeting, you saw Trustees and a mayor trying to silence the new members: Stan Nord and Karyn Smith. Kathleen Lorenz even told them they should sit back and watch how things are done instead of questioning.
Below is “how things are done”. It isn’t pretty!
Stan Nord mentioned at the meeting a property the Town has been paying property taxes on that should have been exempt. https://blnnews.com/2019/06/05/questioning-expenses-in-normal-has-already-saved-money/
Is Normal paying property taxes on more properties that are exempt?
Yes they are!
The Town bought this property at the August 3, 2015 meeting:
http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/1859
Since it is a government building it is tax exempt – if somebody at the Town had bothered to file the proper paperwork!
So how much money did the Town pay in property taxes they didn’t owe? From the County website:
The 2018 payment was just approved Monday night, City Manager Pam Reece should be trying to get it returned! Since the paperwork wasn’t filed to make it exempt, the chances of that are likely ZERO.
This is another $27,602.86 of taxpayer money the Town of Normal has thrown away because:
- Nobody filed the proper paperwork to list the property as exempt
- Nobody noticed before paying the bill (for 3 years) the Town didn’t owe it
What other bills does the Town just pay instead of making sure it’s valid?
Monday night they paid this tax bill they didn’t owe:
Add that to the one above . $11,579.82 tossed out the window in the same meeting.
I wonder if the aggravated Council members will thank Stan Nord at the next meeting?
Electing the right people matters. Congrats Normal, you did. This is only the beginning!
Keep in mind, paying property taxes that aren’t owed started under the last City Manager, Mark Peterson. It is just continuing under Reece.
The running list of dollars saved so far:
From the previous story – $7000
Future property tax payment on this property – $9500
New total $16,500 since the new members were seated around a month ago.
I seriously Kathy SHOULD bring up a vote at the NEXT council meeting and CHANGE UPTOWN to “INEPTOWN”!
How about it Kathy? Your FINANCE dept is just kicking butt!! Just sit back and LEARN!
Folks been sittin’ back and watching this circus for years Kathleen. It’s way past due for some serious people that actually care about the taxpayers money to roll up their sleeves and get things done for the people. Kathleen you and the bad of the council are about as dumb as a herd of goats chewing on the fences because you can’t find the grass at your feet.
The town of Normal also has rental property they are renting without recovering taxes and other expenses associated with the property. Who knows how much money is being lost there. An audit is long overdue as well as a resolution from Council that we’re not going to rent these properties without at least breaking even. If we can’t rent them then we need to be either applying for tax exempt status or asking why we even have them in the first place. We’ll see how that proposal goes.
Is this what R.C. McBride meant when he used to say, over and again, “we pay taxes too.”
“Kathleen Lorenz even told them they should sit back and watch how things are done instead of questioning.” What exactly do they need to learn? How to rubber stamp everything the council proposes? What she is really is saying: “We have seats in the back of the clown car for you but you must be quiet and let us do the driving”.
I’ can’t wait to see the video of the next meeting. The one where the resolutions to fire some city employees starting with where the buck stops. The completely incompetent City Manager.
Too bad we can’t take these incorrect payments and lost taxpayer money straight out of the retirement of the person who allowed this to go on for years… Mark Peterson! Or at least remove his name from the “plaza”, which will be forever be known as a monument to government waste!
I’m glad Peterson’s name is on Red Square, er…Uptown Circle. It will remind people of the lavish overspending by government and the parties responsible for the downfall of Normal.