Thursday, May 22, 2008

Library's Unlikely Advocate: Sandberg

According to JS reporter, Scott Hilyard. Not unlikely at all. The $35 million dollar library "keeping up with the Joneses" project will cost property tax payers in Peoria over $2,000,000.00 a year thru approximately 2036. All from property taxes. Mr. Sandberg's property tax bill for 2007 is $403.12 TOTAL. Out of this amount his bill includes $16.50 for library tax. As an example I will pay $271.00 library taxes for 2007 and after the library bonds are sold I will pay an additional approximately $104 per year for 30 years. Mr. Sandberg will pay an additional $5 a year.

While Mr. Sandberg has invited me to move to his neighborhood where taxes are minimal, that has nothing to do with the use of libraries. Any person of any income, ethnic, gender, age or adjacent counties can use the library. Mr. Sandberg has the use of approsimately 30 libraries in the area for $16.50

Many of the people who voted yes to spend $35 million and counting when you add overhead, do not pay homeowners property taxes or minimal amounts as does Mr. Sandberg.

Surprise,Mr. Hilyard, i think not.

3 comments:

dd said...

"While Mr. Sandberg has invited me to move to his neighborhood where taxes are minimal, that has nothing to do with the use of libraries."

With all due respect, your reference to Sandberg's taxes has nothing to do with the use of libraries. Your argument appears to be that the more property tax you pay, the more say you should have on public policy. That position was rejected at about the same time we threw the British off the continent. This isn't a corporatation where you vote your shares, although many of a certain political persuasion pine for that day. However, in the real world, if the majority of VOTERS on a referendum believe that OUR tax dollars are well spent on funding a library then so be it. If you don't like paying so much for a library after the people have spoken, the only thing you can do is move to a neighborhood "where taxes are minimal."

Merle Widmer said...

No, you assumed I feel I should have more say. I did not say or imply that. I am a member of the Peoria County Board and a member of a Democratic form of government and certainly know that one vote is one vote no matter who the voter.

What i said is that hose who pay less taxes for amenities they can share equally ususally don't care what it costs someone else.

Why should they?

Also, nowhere in the JS article did I read where Sandberg was going to support $35 million for "keeping up with the Jones" proposed by a library board with questionable credentials (remember when they said "Southside library is bursting at the seems" and received $500,000 for exspansion? Now they propose to close it because of "underuse") and an Adminstrator with even more questionable credentials.

Read Bill Dennis and C.J. Summers blog site archives on the above subject about our non-paying property tax paying Administrator (the phone directory lists his residence as the Twin-Towers)

Merle Widmer said...

My blog was not meant to be an unfavorable viewpoint of Mr. Hilyard's reporting. He said some board members were surprised. I said to Mr. Hilyard that whatever Sandberg does or says is usually no surprise.

Mr. Hilyard is a honest and interesting reporter.