SFC to Village “take the transparency pledge”
November 27th, 2008 | by Brian Costin Published in Blog, Features, Transparency | 11 Comments
At the September 9th Schaumburg Village board meeting, the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition (SFC) presented (pg. 12-13) model transparency legislation and a transparency pledge to each of the Village Trustees and to Mayor Al Larson.
So far not a single trustee or Mayor Al Larson has signed the pledge.
The pledge comes from the Illinois Policy Institute. It reads in part…
Support any and all efforts to implement full, comprehensive transparency in government, requiring open budget books on one, easy-access, searchable and user-friendly website. This website would include all expenditures, including contracts and grants, and would provide the details of payments, their purpose, and who authorized the payment;
Engage in full disclosure of all my spending decisions and make revenue and expenditure data as open, transparent, and publicly accessible as possible.
Sounds good to me! Also, transparency is very inexpensive to implement. Village Manager Ken Fritz, was very optimistic and supportive in the efforts of the SFC. He took the idea to the Village Board in hopes of incorporating new transparency measures as part of the new website that was being proposed.
When it came time to vote on funding for the new website, I once again brought up the idea of a comprehensive transparency plan. Mr. Fritz informed me that their was no support from the Board on that idea and they advised him not to incorporate increased transparency into the website proposal. The Village Board voted 6-0 for the new website without comprehensive transparency built in. They missed a perfect opportunity to serve the public.
Let’s keep asking the Village Trustees and Mayor Larson to implement a comprehensive transparency plan in Schaumburg.
Mayor Al Larson alarson@ci.schaumburg.il.us
Trustee Marge Connely mconnelly@ci.schaumburg.il.us
Trustee Hank Curcio hcurcio@ci.schaumburg.il.us
Trustee Tom Dailly tdailly@ci.schaumburg.il.us
Trustee George Dunham gdunham@ci.schaumburg.il.us
Trustee Mark Madej mmadej@ci.schaumburg.il.us
Trustee Jack Sullivan jsullivan@ci.schaumburg.il.us
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January 17th, 2009 at 1:13 AM (#)
[...] This editorial was published in The Daily Herald on January 16, 2008, and is particularly timely considering difficulties that the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition has had in bringing transparency to Schaumburg. [...]
January 21st, 2009 at 1:56 PM (#)
[...] story on the plight of the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition’s efforts to introduce comprehensive transparency reforms to the people of Schaumburg has been picked up by [...]
January 24th, 2009 at 8:10 AM (#)
[...] To publicize his efforts, Brian has launched a website, where he writes about his efforts and the roadblocks that have been placed in his way by trustees. In the Transparency section of SchaumburgFreedom.com, Brian writes: All 6 members of the Schaumburg Village Board, and Mayor Al Larson, have rejected idea of an open and transparent government, and have refused to sign the Transparency in Government pledge created by the Illinois Policy Institute and promoted by the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition. [...]
February 4th, 2009 at 3:16 PM (#)
Brian,
You’re again so far off base & incorrect it’s actual funny! The residents of Schaumburg do NOT pay a property tax so your statements are incorrect.
Have a nice day.
Reply
Brian Costin Reply:
February 4th, 2009 at 11:33 PM
Captain did you read the article above? There is no mention of property taxes in this article.
Schaumburg residents don’t pay property taxes? Hmm…I think you meant to say the residents of Schaumburg do not pay a property tax to the Village. Even then you are still wrong.
You may want to check out this document, the 2008 Treasurers Report.
http://www.schaumburgfreedom.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/treasurers-report-2008.pdf
If you look at the Capital Project Funds section you will see TIF Property Tax Increment $2,172,926. Is that not a property tax? It says it’s a property tax in its name. Also, check out the underneath the General Fund section for Real Estate Transfer Tax $741,542. That is a tax on the sale of property.
But those aren’t even the most costly property tax policies of the Village. The property tax exemptions for the Schaumburg Renaissance Convention Center, Schaumburg Airport, and Schaumburg Flyers Baseball Stadium are much more costly. All 3 are run or managed by private for-profit corporations. Not only are millions of General Fund tax dollars going to these entities they cumulatively receive approximately $10-$15 million in property tax exemptions. The other property taxpayers in Schaumburg must make up the difference.
Why is it that one of the largest, most luxurious, building in Schaumburg (the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center) pays no property tax but other Schaumburg property taxpayers, including those who are below the poverty line, are forced to make up the difference?
It’s just plain wrong to do that.
Reply
February 5th, 2009 at 10:23 AM (#)
Brian,
You fail to understand the workings of a properly run government. Not all projects will be profitable as some generate business to the village & other surrounding communities. The convention center & the other two you mentioned do exactly that. They bring consumers into the village. You do not understand what a TIF district is so I suggest you look that up. Bottom line residents in Schaumburg do not pay a property tax.
Reply
Brian Costin Reply:
April 12th, 2009 at 8:08 PM
Once again your lying about the Village collecting property taxes. The Village does collect a property tax from the Olde Schaumburg Center TIF district. The Village is also voting on collecting an additional $120 million in property taxes on Tuesday, April 14th. Not a single Village Trustee has chosen to speak out against it.
The Convention Center & Hotel has not brought in substantial business to the Village to justify the $7 million in sales tax expenditure and the $6 million in property tax exemption per year. The Village said that this would cause more business at local restaurants and retail businesses, but look at the facts. Sales tax revenue from these sources were flat and now decreasing. The sales tax revenues were flat even before the recession. Hardly enough to justify the $13 million in costs to the taxpayer per year.
Reply
Joe Reply:
April 19th, 2009 at 3:35 PM
I see you have trouble understanding the workings of a TIF district so may I suggest you research it more & get back to us. The village does not levy a property tax & tax from the TIF district does not go to the village. It is used for improvements in the TIF area which betters everyone in that area & overall the entire area. Read more & you will see. You seem highly eduacted but sure insert your foot in your mouth many times. Once again just trying to stir the pot & also trying to make the elected officials look bad. Go ahead & run someone against the present board & mayor in 2011 & you & your dog & pony show will be the laughing stock of all of us village residents on election day.
Reply
Brian Costin Reply:
April 19th, 2009 at 8:09 PM
Joe-
If the Village does not collect a property tax then where does the $120 Million in TIF district funds come from?
The Village board is in full control of how those TIF property tax dollars are spent. The execution of those expenditures are fulfilled by the Village staff. Just look at the Olde Schaumburg Center TIF. Your argument that Village does not control the TIF process or collect the TIF property taxes is wrong.
You also argue that every time the government taxes the people and spends the money magically everything gets better. Command-and-control economics fails to produce economic wealth for the people. When people are taxed they get poorer. Any wealth creation in the TIF district is offset by the losses to the surrounding areas.
The Village of Schaumburg should stick to providing the basic essentials of emergency services (police, fire, ambulance) and maintaining the roads.
The Village should have no role as a real estate developer nor giving $94 Million in corporate welfare to private entities. This creates the opportunity for pay-to-play corruption that is at epidemic levels throughout the state.
Have you noticed that all of the major companies that do business with the Village give donations to the Mayor? If the mayor was a principled person he wouldn’t accept donations from those that receive the government contracts.
Brian Costin Reply:
June 11th, 2009 at 3:01 PM
Joe-
Let’s examine the current Old Schaumburg Center. Who makes the funding decisions? The Village Board. Does the money show up in the Village’s financial statements? Yes. Who is in charge of implementing the policies of the Village Board in regards to TIF expenditures? The Village Manager.
Joe, your comments are factually incorrect and deliberately misleading.
There is one thing you are correct on… the Village doesn’t levy the property tax. Instead they take the money from District 211, District 54, Schaumburg Park District, Schaumburg Township Library, Schaumburg Township, and Cook County’s levy.
This hidden diversion of property tax revenues is even worse levying a property tax. TIF districts are set up with no tax bill transparency and thus no accountability to the taxpayers. This is why we need transparency proposals such as the one in the article above.
October 13th, 2009 at 7:56 PM (#)
[...] refused to sign the Transparency in Government pledge created by the Illinois Policy Institute and promoted by the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition. Share and [...]