Who Controls Freeport's Water and Sewer Bills?

Tutty reads meeting agendas of the local units of government and their subcommittees.  If a person wants to be informed about local government, they have to, traditional media in Freeport, newspaper and radio are nothing more than a joke, designed to sell advertising and that's all, informing you what local officials are doing doesn't even come up.

Anyway, Tutty was shocked when he looked at the agenda for the Planning and Development Committee of the Stephenson County Board.  On the agenda for the body's July 12, 2021 meeting under new business was "Approval of Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Freeport for Water & Sewer to Mill Race Crossing."

Excuse me, but last Tutty knew, Stephenson County did not own water lines or a sewage treatment plant.  

So why is a subcommittee of the Stephenson County Board discussing the largest build out of water and sewer in Freeport's history, before the Freeport City Council has even examined the feasibility of running water and sewer into the Forrestville Valley School district Freeport City Council?

Has the city manager been negotiating this agreement behind the scenes Freeport City Council?

When are the owners of this public utility, the citizens of Freeport going to be told about these plans Freeport City Council?

How can such a massive build out begin without a bona fide feasibility study Freeport City Council?

How many lift stations will be required to pump sewage through the lowest parts of Stephenson County City Council?

How many manhole covers will be required Freeport City Council?

At the maximum, how many new water and sewer hook ups will this amount to Freeport City Council?

How will you pay for this more than $25 million project Freeport City Council?

How much will this increase our water and sewer bills so we can subsidize economic development for a neighboring school district Freeport City Council?

And Freeport City Council why haven't you answered these questions before this issue was in front of the Stephenson County Board?  

Has the Freeport City Council simply deferred its position as an authoritative body over the actions of the city manager?

The City Council had better reign in this cavalier city manager and while your at doing that ask an attorney where the city manager derives the legal authority to negotiate capital improvements behind, apparently, the backs of the Freeport City Council.

As always, yours in honesty, Tutty Baker
tutty.baker@gmail.com

Home Rule Misinformation From the City Manager

 Last week Freeport City Manager Randy Bukas appeared on a Quincy Media Rockford television station to, more or less, spread misinformation regarding the City of Freeport's status as a "home rule" municipality under the Illinois Constitution.

Clearly, Manager Bukas, needs better legal advice.

He was, nearly immediately, called out as a liar by The Kraver Report blog which can be found at thekraverreport.blogspot.com

City Manager Bukas implies that taxes created under home rule authority will automatically cease.  That is not necessarily the case at all.  Tutty would suggest that the city manager and his legal counsel study Royal Liquor Mart v. City of Rockford that came about after Rockford lost home rule powers in 1983.  You can Google it.

Another faulty implication made in the news story by Quincy Media was this statement: "The drop below 25,000 (in population) would eliminate Home Rule and potentially  mean a major hit  to homeowners  and their wallets"

First off, you can never automatically lose home rule powers.  An Illinois municipality automatically has home rule if its population increases to more than 25,000 but that's not the case in a drop to below 25,000.  If Freeport is below the 25,000 threshold with the next official census, due in September, the Freeport City Clerk is then statutorily compelled to place the home rule question upon the next general election ballot.  Here is the actual Illinois statute:

Randy Bukas, bless his heart, has not been in Freeport long enough to begin to understand all the ways home rule power has been abused in Tutty's town.  It's funny that he wants to talk about home rule now,  but not last month, when he was encouraging the Freeport City Council to use these vast powers to borrow $2.5 million in general obligation debt because they could.

Without home rule all general obligation debt would be subject to referendum approval.  Imagine that, asking the people which must retire the debt before taking it on.  Here in Freeport they not only use it to avoid a referendum but also public notice through publishing or a public hearing.

In many past instances of bond issues the Freeport City Council has suspended the rules and borrowed money with only one reading of a bond ordinance.

Please Freeport Council and Manager Bukas, explain to Tutty and friends what part of this is accountable local government?

And if you can just borrow $2.5 million at the drop of a hat, how is we are not being taxed too much?

Home rule has been used as a club over the citizens heads since 1992, and Tutty is willing and capable to expound.  It's been a "get out jail free card" for the Freeport City Council for the past 30-years.  Times get tough, create a new tax and borrow more money.  Freeport is drowning in debt and zero of that debt was created by referendum.  It was all created, using home rule, by a mere handful of citizens acting as the corporate authority.  

And yet they wonder why citizens feel disenfranchised, we didn't create the problem, home rule and cavalier leaders did, home rule must go.

As always, yours in honesty, Tutty Baker  tutty.baker@gmail.com