By: Diane Benjamin Normal’s assault on the private sector continued last night. Last week they attacked the profits of local restaurants by subsidizing a competitor. Keep in mind Portillos isn’t locally owned so the profits won’t stay local. Many other restaurants will be hurt, their owners live and pay taxes here. The local government they […]
By: Diane Benjamin Normal threw away up to $2.5 million last week to get Portillos to locate in Normal. The Normal Town Council was told Portillos would be a destination – people would drive from 100’s of miles away. Meanwhile, Champaign got one for free. Who is at fault? Listen to Kyle Ham, CEO of […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Normal Town Council provided 2.5 million reasons to replace whoever is up for election in April. Start with Chris Koos. Portillos won’t be a destination for long. Champaign is getting one of their own. http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-08-18/portillos-inches-closer-champaign-announcement.html The story is from AUGUST and clearly states they are looking at locations all over Central […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is a link to Town of Normal policy: http://il-normal.civicplus.com/854/Addressing-the-Council The Attorney General’s office needs to hear from a lot of you today. The policy is illegal and violates the Open Meetings Act. The AG is required by law to resolve all Requests of Review within 60 days. The ONLY way to […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the last Normal Town Council meeting property taxes were raised. There was the obligatory gnashing of teeth before the ENTIRE Council voted yes, they are all wonderful actors pretending pensions funding isn’t their fault. Blame the State, blame under performing markets, never Uptown! The video is available here: http://normal.org/779/Council-Videos The entire […]
By: Diane Benjamin At the October 17, 2016 meeting, this was approved for payment: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2193 Monday night this payment is scheduled to be approved: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2214 Did tax dollars really pay $700 for a carriage in ISU’s parade, or was this guy paid twice? Is this how taxpayers want their hard-earned money spent? Some other items […]
The taxpayers of Normal seem to be waking up! This story has MANY reads because you are sharing it! Keep it up and I will do more investigating in Normal. I bet one reader was surprised by my reporting on United Way. It is a total coincidence that your letter arrived today and I wrote […]
By: Diane Benjamin For all new readers, back in 2012 I studied how Normal acquired all the properties for Uptown. I included how many they bought and how many properties they GAVE away. This is one recap: https://blnnews.com/2012/07/03/who-gave-normal-permission-to-buy-give-away-properties/ According to the bird-cage-liner, Normal is still at it. The Town bought three properties on North School […]
By: Diane Benjamin The One Normal Plaza TIF began 10/19/2009. Luckily, all the TIF reports are on-line. To make it easy, I posted them all here: 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 The purpose of a TIF is to cure blighted areas. The Town gets to keep any increases in property taxes in the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ever wonder how much debt Bloomington and Normal have forced on taxpayers? Nothing beats a picture: (More next!) Source: http://www.comptrollerconnect.ioc.state.il.us/Office/LocalGovt/LGReportCardvs2/index.cfm?RptCrdFY=1999&code=064%2F025%2F30&C4=30&BetaSel=&OptionSel=SnglRptCrd
By: Diane Benjamin Every dime that Normal spends comes from somebody’s pocket. Taxes and fees have been constantly raised on the citizens of Normal because your government needs more money. State and Federal grants have been used to fund parts of Uptown – all TAX money from other people. When they build in Uptown they […]
