CARRIER MILLS— The Village of Carrier Mills brought many topics forward during their board meeting for the month of November, and some of the holiday stresses were starting to show…but the big news was the proposal of a project that’s proven devastating to the tax coffers of many cities downstate—Tax Increment Financing, or TIF.
Old business mundane
Mayor Louis Shaw read the monthly announcements, first telling of the success of Catskin Days. Shaw reported that it was the most successful Catskin Days yet, and while they did not make a lot of money, they also did not go in the hole as far as they had anticipated.
A Trivia Tournament was held to benefit the Catskin Days committee, which ended up only having three teams participating.
Baby Huey’s recycling will be visiting Carrier Mills on the third Saturday of each month, starting in November, from 2:00-6:00PM in the parking lot of the municipal building. A wide variety of electronics, tires, paints and other items are accepted. Most drop-offs are free, but a small fee will be applied to certain products that have to be disposed of in an eco-friendly manner.
The Village of Carrier Mills has received a CDAP grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to renovate homes that the Village owns in the amount of $362,700. Nine homes will be renovated using the funding, and the funding will cover all of the expenses except appliances.
New business: TIF? In tha Mills?
New Business was started off with a proposal from Tracy Felty to move forward in establishing a new TIF district in downtown Carrier Mills.
The cost would be about $25,000 to establish the TIF, and it is possible that some boards associated with the village might help to find the funding for the TIF.
No time was wasted, and Felty moved straight forward with a motion to enter into an agreement with Keith Moran to start in the establishment of a new TIF district.
The rest of the board reeled back from the idea rather quickly, feeling uncomfortable with the sudden movement towards the huge expense. Mayor Shaw made the suggestion that they negotiate the price with Keith Moran, as the suggested cost was too expensive for the Village’s coffers, but Felty informed the mayor that $25,000 is the lowest Moran would go to establish the TIF.
The Village Board wanted to have a discussion with the Economic Board about the matter, hoping that some financing or other financial help might be granted for the establishment of the TIF. A motion was made and passed to move forward in negotiation with Moran, pending financing and legalities.
What TIF is for…and what it ISN’T for
TIF was established years ago to assist major municipal areas of the country with reconstructing blighted areas of their cities (think Detroit). Tax Increment Financing was developed as a way to reroute taxes from agencies that regularly counted on them (schools, water districts, etc.) and put them into developers’ pockets so that blighted areas could be restored to a functioning status, with the premise being that once they were functioning, their presence on the tax rolls would eventually contribute more to the schools and water districts and etcetera than the blighted areas would otherwise have.
However, in recent years, TIF has been severely abused, especially by medium- and small-sized towns. TIF taxes go back into the pockets of the developers, who never finish developing, therefore, after the 23-year “life” of the TIF, the developers, having gotten fat off the excesses, beg for another 23 years…and schools and water mains fall into disrepair.
One has no further to look than at Harrisburg, where a 23-year TIF was just renewed…and where one of their schools is literally in shambles…and yet development isn’t happening in “blighted” areas, but instead is being rerouted to city infrastructure, which, incidentally, is illegal under TIF.
More on this story will be appearing in upcoming issues.
Needless to say, a village the size of Carrier Mills doesn’t have any business having a TIF District, as the rerouting of taxes will no doubt bring harm to already-hurting entities within the town…and “development” of whatever area would be in the TIF District would be questionable, since there’s so little business in the town anyway.
Tax levy ordinance
A Tax Levy ordinance was proposed, involving a 4.99 percent increase over last year’s Tax Levy. This was the maximum that the board could approve without having to publish a black box notice and hold a public hearing on the matter. The total dollar amount of the Tax Levy will be $59,860 after the new levy rate. The Tax Levy was approved, and will be ordinance 636.
A proposal was made to cut off Carline Street near the park, due to a culvert that runs under the roadway which has fallen into disrepair. The village will have to pay $10,000-$20,000 to replace the culvert, whereas the road could be blocked off for a minimal fraction of the cost. The proposal was to vacate the roadway near the park, and donate that area to the park district. The park could use the area for new parking, or perhaps a skate park. Some of the board members felt this was the favorable course of action, with the idea of saving money, eliminating a public safety hazard, and improving the park. Other board members were uncomfortable with the proposal to vacate the street, because they weren’t sure of how great an inconvenience it could impose on some Carrier Mills residents. After discussion, the board voted to hold a public hearing on the matter, and a hearing date was set for December 5, at 6:30 p.m.
Demolition grant; mistake made on listing
Tracy Felty has been working with the Southeastern Regional Planning and Development Commission to find a grant to demolish old homes that the Village has possession of, with the interest of cleaning up the village. Felty made a motion to pay Southeastern Illinois Regional Planning and Development to help in the application of a new grant to complete the work, and it was accepted up to $1,500.
The Village Board had listed a property for sale quite a while back that is located on Russell Street, and buyers had come forward and had nearly purchased the property. Unfortunately, the sale fell through due to a listing error that the village had made, and the contract was voided.
The individuals who had made a bid on the property had been told that they had been granted the sale before the contract error was found, and had already rented a backhoe and done other work to the property that amounted to a total of $350.
The would-be buyers forwarded the bills for the rental and work to the village, and asked that they be reimbursed the expenses. The board considered it briefly, because they didn’t believe they were obligated to pay the expenses, but in the end voted to pay the bill. The general belief was that the buyers should not be made to pay for the board’s error. The board also voted to put the property back up for bids, with the same minimum bid as the first listing.
A good place to cut costs moves forward anyway
The board had received a notice of resignation from Clay Brinkley, who has worked for the village for some time. Brinkley is applying for positions in a larger metropolitan area, and thanked the village for all of the opportunities they had given him, and for their good recommendation. The resignation was accepted.
The beginning of the Holiday season always has a way of bringing forward tension in any group of people, which certainly was proven at the board meeting. Action was requested to set a date and approve a budget for the village Christmas Party for village workers and volunteer workers. The date for the party was set for December 16, but a few kinks had to be worked out of the budget.
The caterers are paid by the number in attendance, and the topic was opened for discussion of limiting the number of guests each eligible attendee could bring along with them. One family apparently brought 12 members of their family with them last year, which substantially raised the cost of the catering bill. A motion was made to carry on with the party with no changes to number of additionally invited guests that attend with eligible village workers, and a tie vote was reached. Mayor Shaw was left to settle the vote, which broke the tension of the first disagreement of the Holiday Season, but in the end Shaw voted to carry on with no new restrictions.
Committee issues
In Committee Reports, the Police Committee reported that the Carrier Mills Police had requested a new in-car computer for one of the police cruisers. The matter was tabled, as quite a lot of money has been spent in recent months on the police cruisers. The board wished to wait until the bank accounts have recovered some before making the new purchase.
Street and Alley is in need of a new air compressor, and requested that one be purchased. The new compressor will only cost $400 to $500. The purchase was approved.
The only other reports were from the Ordinance Committee, which had two ordinances that needed to be addressed. First was a snow route ordinance, which had been proposed to be created to regulate the routes and regulations of the routes for the snow plows. It was discussed if a snow route could be established without an ordinance that would have to be adjusted every year. The main argument in favor of a new ordinance was issues with people who park their cars along major snow routes. Complaints have been filed in previous years because of snow being shoveled onto cars that are along the side of the roadways. The ordinance would have ideally asked citizens to remove their cars from the roadway in the event of snow, but the problem was what to do with those who don’t comply: They can’t very well do anything, unless they plan on having cars that are in violation of the ordinance towed.
In the end, the matter was tabled for another month while considerations are made into what the best course of action might be.
As the last topic of conversation, the double-wall PVC culvert ordinance was also addressed, because some members of the board felt it should be amended so that homeowners could buy their own piping for their culverts. The ordinance was amended, and residents can now buy their own piping, but it must be double walled PVC pipe, and inspected by the Village’s engineer before they are installed.