By: Diane Benjamin
The Town of Normal has no problem telling citizens to subsidize their pet projects. This story is from a year ago, nothing has changed: https://blnnews.com/2019/12/18/the-property-normal-should-be-paying-property-taxes-on/
102 W North is rented to Ohmfit and Dan Brady’s campaign office. Rented property is taxable for property taxes, the Town declared this one exempt even though it doesn’t quality.
Taxpayers are paying all the utilities and insurance.
A retail store gets to evade property taxes because the Town of Normal has the building mis-classified.
Taxpayers are subsidizing Dan Brady’s campaign office because he isn’t paying property taxes either.
Without paying property taxes the Town is likely making money between the two rents. Friends of Dan Brady pays $400 a month. Ohmfit is only paying $180 a month.
By not paying property taxes and not including them in the rent, both rentals have advantages other businesses don’t. (More Normal picking winners and losers)
This has been going on for years.
Worse, how does the Dan Brady lease not violate campaign finance law since public funds are involved:
Typical friends and family deal. If you want something similar become friends with Koos or Reece.
Shields realized Koos’s reign is coming to an end so he sold his property that he got for $1 from the town. I expect other sweetheart deals will start unraveling soon. Watch for people moving out or the town selling properties for an extreme discount.
What else is new? I’d expect a lot of sweetheart dealmakers/friends of Koos will be very disappointed once they lose their political cover come next election. It’s a shame these folks will have to fend for themselves, as opposed to relying on taxpayer-funded political handouts. Haha! Oh to be a fly on the wall when these trough feeders find out the party is over.
Government sponsored tax evasion & campaign finance violations…this sounds like corruption. If it is illegal then who investigates this? I am sure Reece and Koos have ordered NPD to ignore their wrongdoing. This is why Illinois is so f’d up. No one actually cares about ending the corruption.
News came out last week that Illinois will basically lose a Bloomington (80,000 people) this year to out-migration to other states. Neighboring Indiana is estimated to gain close to 25,00o new residents. Illinois’s answer to this is to double-down on all its stupidity. Four years and counting until my spouse retires.