Freeport Park District, Taxation Without Representation

No one will dispute that Freeport has excellent park facilities, that's not a matter of debate.  God blessed this area with geological beauty and we've managed to maintain some of it for our collective enjoyment. However, how much money does the Freeport Park District actually need from our pockets to maintain our parks and keep them in a respectable state of repair?

And that my fellow Freeporters is literally a multi-million dollar question.

In the last 30-years the Freeport Park District  has bought land and constructed a new district headquarters, have completely redone both Krape and Read Parks with a maintenance garage in Krape that resembles a hangar for aircraft, and let's not forget the new restroom facilities to the tune of more than $400k. The district has bought and torn down houses near Read Park to expand parkland holdings while the population is shrinking.  At their October 22, 2019 meeting the park district's five commissioners voted to create new position of  "Park District Assistant Director."

Clearly, while Freeport, Illinois shrinks, we probably have more empty square footage of big box stores than we have occupied, the Freeport Park District continues to spend like drunken sailors.

And now, at tonight's meeting, park district  commissioners will more than likely vote to raise our taxes and borrow money from us that we have yet to earn.  This action will result in a direct increase to property taxes paid to the park district.  All you have to do is read the agenda on the Freeport Park District's web page.

The Freeport Park District should only be collecting enough in tax dollars to adequately maintain our parks in a respectable state of repair.  The fact that they can do all of the above listed capital improvements and more without coming to the taxpayers for a referendum proves that they are collecting too much of our money.

If they had a choice would local taxpayers rather see the public money the park district is voting to borrow tonight used for something more necessary.  Say the Walnut Acres (formerly the Stephenson County nursing home).  Perhaps the Freeport Public Library Board could use the additional tax rate the park district will likely approve at tonight's meeting to reinstate Sunday hours.

Tutty feels it is terribly sad that the Freeport Park District has money to burn but we can't have our library open on Sunday's during the school year?  Why is the park district getting fatter and has the money for every little thing the commissioners want to do while our other local taxing bodies are forced to make cuts and struggle to provide, arguably more important, basic services?

Where is the outcry from local officials?  The park district is borrowing money without a referendum, published notice or a public hearing and no one says a damn thing?  Tutty thought Stephenson County was a Republican stronghold?   How can the park district's actions be termed as anything less than in-your-face socialism?

The Stephenson County GOP always has plenty of opinions to share on Facebook regarding national issues but when it comes to things that actually mean something to the bottom line for local taxpayers they are strangely missing in action.

Recently our Republican representatives to the Illinois General Assembly weighed in on actions the that Freeport  D145 School Board had taken.  While this was an issue driven by emotions it had little to nothing to do with pubic necessity or expenditure.

If the local Republican party is as adamant about tax issues as they claim why are they not speaking out about the Freeport Park District issuing non-referendum, non-noticed debt upon their constituents? They can't write or speak about how much they want reduced property taxes while at the same time ignoring (or perhaps being ignorant of) the Freeport Park District's actions which will result in a direct property tax increase for their constituents.

Oh, and in case anyone missed it, the Park District is really not too keen on being accountable to the public they are alleged to serve.  Besides handing out free golf passes to themselves (ethical issue?) do park district commissioners hand out additional free golf passes to other officials, while heavily subsidizing Park Hills Golf Course with general taxes?

For decades the Freeport Park District Board of Commissioners has existed with far too little public scrutiny.  This is why commissioners were able to expend good money on a "Commissioners' Garden" in Krape Park.  Here, all this time, Tutty thought it was only in monarchies  or communist countries where leaders collected public funds build monuments to themselves.

Tutty knows this, nary a Republican "leader" around here had better utter a word about high property taxes or socialism unless they show up at the Freeport Park District Board of Commissioner's meeting tonight and oppose blatant taxation without representation.

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

Home Rule and Ficticious Official Meeting Minutes?

In a recent Journal-Standard news story regarding the proposed annexation of numerous properties referred to as "doughnut hole" parcels it was stated that "Freeport currently falls below the 25,000 citizen threshold to be permitted home rule."  Here is the photo of the pertinent section of the  article.

The newspaper's assertion regarding home rule is not is not entirely accurate.  Illinois municipalities which were at 25,000, or grow to this number, are automatically granted home rule status under the 1970 Illinois Constitution.  Any municipality or county may become home rule by referendum.  So far the only Illinois County to be home rule is Cook.  Rockford voters took away home rule by a citizen led initiative in the 1980s which Illinois statutes allow however, the task of collecting 10% of registered voters' signatures is daunting but doable.  If the census counts Freeport at less than 25,000 we will not cease to be home rule.  However the city clerk will be required to put the question to Freeport voters if the same question has not been voted upon in the previous two years.  Here is the exact statute:

If the City of Freeport has been being responsible with its use of these vast and liberal home rule powers, why would City Manager Crow or any member of the Freeport City Council be afraid of a referendum asking voters if we wished to remain home rule?

As stated above home rule was given to all Illinois' municipalities with a population of 25,000 or more when the 1970 Illinois Constitution was adopted.  Home rule units have broad powers to tax and to incur debt without limitation.  Home rule units are not necessarily bound by state statutes that other units of government must follow (see Tutty's previous article) unless the Illinois General Assembly sees fit to specifically "preempt" home rule powers.  An example of this state preemption is the "property transfer tax" that we have in Freeport.  The Freeport City Council with the administration of Mayor Richard Wies followed the lead of other home rule municipalities and created this tax in 1992.  Sometime later the Illinois General Assembly preempted this power and now home rule units must pass a referedum to create a property transfer tax.  Freeport and other municipalities' transfer taxes have been grandfathered, hence the seller of any Freeport property will pay four-dollars per every $1,000 of sale price.  In some places the buyer pays and there may be rules about such things as having the water bill or others things paid before stamps are issued.  Always look for the hidden property taxes when you buy a property in Illinois, thanks to home rule, it can vary from town to town.



Home rule is the reason there has not been one singe binding referendum regarding taxes or borrowing, despite plenty of both within the City of Freeport.  Since 1992 the Freeport City Council has been using home rule as their ace-in-the-hole.  Every time a budget came up short or there was a special "economic development" project the city council just could not live without, a tax was created and bonds were floated---not necessarily in that order. And here we are today.

Moving to a city manager form of government has proven that city managers are as adept at abusing home rule powers as elected mayors and the Freeport City Council is only too willing to go along with nary a public question raised.

Whenever the city council suspends the rules to push a general obligation bond issue through in a single reading with less than ten minutes of real public discussion.  That's abuse of home rule powers period.  Without home rule a referendum would be required on any general obligation bond.  The city council uses home rule to avoid so much as public notice or public hearing.  They borrow money and put essentially what is a lien against our property without so much as formally telling Freeport citizens, the ones that must retire the debt.

However, the most recent $2.7 million bond issue shows just how secretive (or inept) the Freeport City Council and Freeport City Clerk truly are, according to an "Extract of Mintues" which was made a part of the bond ordinance (#2019-21) and included with the agenda for the April 1, 2019 meeting.  This "Extract of Minutes" only had one sentence/paragraph of real content, all the rest was just technical items such as who was there and who approved the motion and how the individual council members voted.  Here is a picture of this paragraph, which is essentially a lie that has been certified by the Freeport City Clerk as "true and correct".  Here is the sentence/paragraph as contained in the certified (legally admissible) copy of Ordinance #2019-21 beginning with "The Mayor announced...".

 

 

First off, Mayor Jodi Miller did not "announce" anything, at the beginning of the meeting she asked a representative of Spear Financial to take the podium for a "presentation of the bond financing".  The representative from Spear said it would be a 15-year bond issue with an interest rate of 3.05%.  Tutty thinks the interest rate came in higher than this presentation.  Perhaps Manager Crow or Mayor Miller can use their Sunday Journal-Standard column to explain the math behind the picture which follows so that these numbers contained in the certified ordinance work out to 3.05% interest rate.  Tutty's hope is the math can be explained and that the city council and public at large were not misled as to the actual interest amount.

 

Alderman McClanathan did ask the Spear representative about Freeport's bond rating which it was noted is suffering from pensions, outstanding debt, and a weak economy.  So our city council, in response....borrows more money.

Again, back to the "Extract of Minutes" and the things Mayor Miller, through approved and certified meeting minutes is alleged to have "announced" for the city council and public at large benefit but were never  actually disclosed during the meeting.  Not one single time did the term "home rule" come up and not once was there mention of "direct annual tax" or of the "tax levy for said bonds".

 

Tutty encourages readers, including the Freeport City Council to go back and watch the video (there is a link at the bottom of this paragraph) of the meeting and then ask yourselves why are official and certified City of Freeport documents more fiction than fact.  How does that happen?  We have a mayor, a city manager, eight council members and a couple of attorneys yet it takes Tutty to read the agendas, the finished ordinances and it's associated filings, to notice that the City of Freeport has essentially certified a lie? Are any of them down there actually reading the things in front of them?  And if they are, why did they not do what they said they did?  These are legal documents and knowingly certifying the false should come with a penalty in Tutty's opinion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH83yGaX1ng&t=2221s

 

One interesting thing that did get uttered by Manager Crow was at the beginning of the meeting right after the representative from Spear addressed the council, Manager Crow  said that they'd been "contacted by several area banks that purchased the bonds".  This was said before the Freeport City Council voted to even approve said measure.  This begs the question as to if the Freeport City Council and Mayor Miller are working for Freeport citizens or the bankers that Manager Crow sits with on the board of the Freeport Partnership?

 

This issue points out, a best the haphazard way business has been conducted at Freeport City Hall and is reason enough why the Freeport City Council should never, ever suspend the rules unless there is a bona fide emergency.  Obviously, the Freeport Council needs more time to read and thoroughly review that which has obviously slipped past them, although it was right in front of them the entire time.  How do official documents become more fiction than fact Freeport City Council?

 

This city council has now earned the reputation of being a first reading, suspend the rules, figure it out later, public body.  In Tutty's humble opinion, the citizens of Freeport deserve much better than the facts this post discloses.

 

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