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Volume 153 — Number 11
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014
TWO SECTIONS — 14 PAGES
A ‘Classic’ Nets Major Funds For School’s Playground
After several weeks of selling raffle tickets, the big night came on Friday when the winner of the mint-condition 1993 Harley-Davidson motorcycle was announced. The name
of the lucky winner, Nidia Garza, was announced during halftime of the Purple Rider
football team’s game against Cerro Gordo-Bement. The like-new Harley was donated to
the school earlier this year by the Libman Company and the decision was made by the
school board to offer the motorcycle in a raffle. The proceeds are to be used to purchase
new playground equipment at Arcola Elementary School. Nearly 1,900 tickets were
sold and grade school students participated in a contest to determine who sold the most
tickets. Pictured above left are the top 12 student sellers. From left are Jackson Lebeter,
Addee Mulligan, Jada Medina, Isabelle Hensley, Hailey Trotter, Rachel Sigrist, Morgan
Doud, KayLee Hohlbauch, Taylor Churchill, Aiden Smith, Nickolas Dow and Kolten
Petrie. Shown in back are Andrew Libman of the Libman Company and Arcola
Superintendent Tom Mulligan. In the photo at right, Libman and Mulligan draw the winning ticket.
ARCOLA CITY COUNCIL
Revised TIF Agreement OK’d By Council
•City Administrator: Taxing Bodies Should Have Received Proposed Intergovernmental Agreement
By Chris Slack
Complete with revisions, the
Arcola City Council on Monday
night approved an intergovernmental agreement on its proposal to
extend the life of the city’s Tax
Increment Financing (TIF) districts
1 and 6.
The latest revisions came after a
joint meeting that was held
September 24 between the city and
all affected taxing bodies at the
Arcola school.
It has been five years since the
city first proposed the 12-year TIF
extension that is geared toward further commercial and industrial
development, as well as continued
revitalization efforts in the downtown area.
City leaders are hoping that an
agreement with all taxing bodies
can be reached soon so the exten-
sion plan can be presented to the
Illinois State Legislature. All affected taxing bodies must sign off on
the city’s TIF extension plan before
it can proceed to the state legislature.
Arcola City Administrator Bill
Wagoner said Monday night that
the latest the TIF extension proposal can be presented at the state
level is next year. The city’s current
23-year TIF district expires at the
end of 2015.
Wagoner also said the revised
intergovernmental
agreements
were mailed out to the impacted
taxing bodies last week. He added
that if any of these entities did not
receive the agreement, they can
contact city hall.
“Everyone should have the
revised agreement,” said Wagoner.
The revised agreement approved
by the council on Monday notes
changes in surplus distributions to
the affected taxing bodies based on
equalized assessed valuation.
The agreement, drafted by City
Attorney Andrew Bequette, states
that for the tax year 2017 and each
year thereafter as long as TIFs 1
and 6 are in existence, and after the
parcels with an equalized assessed
value of $7 million have been
removed from TIF 1, if the equalized assessed value of parcels within TIF districts in the city exceeds
50 percent of the total EAV of the
entire city for two consecutive
years, the city will declare a total
surplus of not less than 30 percent
of the total TIF proceeds received by
the city each year.
The agreement adds that at least
$200,000 per year will be declared
as surplus for distribution to the
affected taxing bodies.
The following is stated in the
agreement:
“Said surplus shall be instead of
the 25 percent total surplus referenced in paragraph one of Section
VI (of the agreement), not in addition to.”
It adds, “The percentage of EAV
within TIF districts in the city shall
be reviewed annually at the Joint
Review Board meeting based on
information from the Douglas
County Assessor’s Office and in the
event that the EAV of parcels within TIF districts in the city exceeds
50 percent of the total EAV of the
entire city for two consecutive
years, said calculation shall be certified at the Joint Review Board
meeting to trigger the increase in
total surplus of not less than 30 percent of the total TIF proceeds
received by the city each year rather
than 25 percent.”
An additional revision from the
original agreement, according to
Wagoner, involves the constitution
of the city’s TIF Advisory
Committee, which exists to review
requests for TIF funding and ultimately makes recommendations to
the city council.
Wagoner said the new makeup of
the TIF committee — if the agreement is approved — would include a
representative from the city, the
Arcola Community Unit School
District, Douglas County, Arcola
Township, the Arcola Public
Library District, the Arcola Fire
Protection District and Parkland
Community College District.
These representatives would be
appointed by the mayor of Arcola,
who is currently Larry Ferguson.
The agreement drawn up by
Bequette notes:
See City Council...p. 7A
WHAT’S ON THE COMMUNITY AGENDA?
Trick-Or-Treat
Hours In Arcola
ed to the food pantry for distribution. Anyone wishing to be a volunteer in this project should contact
Butch Guennewig at 268-3139.
Trick-or-treaters can now save the date. The
Arcola City Council set Friday, October 31, from 6
to 8 p.m. as the official trick-or-treat hours. Local
residents who would like trick-or-treaters to stop by
their homes for some Halloween goodies are advised
to leave the lights on in front of their houses.
The Douglas County Health Department has
scheduled another flu shot clinic for Tuesday,
October 28, from 2 to 4 p.m. This will be a walk-in
clinic (no appointment necessary) for children 3 or
older and adults 64 and younger. The high dose
vaccine for people 65-plus has still not been
received, but delivery is still anticipated.
Announcements will continue to be made as other
clinics are rescheduled later in the month of
November.
For further information, please contact the
Douglas County Health Department at 253-4137.
Additional announcements are included
below:
Lions Pack-A-Sack For Food Pantry
The Arcola Lions Club, along with the Arcola
Food Pantry, will sponsor a community project
entitled, “Pack-A-Sack.”
On Saturday, October 25, the Arcola Lions Club
and their volunteers will canvass the city and leave
a marked sack at each residence with instructions to
fill the sack with nonperishable food items for the
food pantry. The following Saturday, November 1,
the Arcola Lions and their volunteers will pick up
the filled sacks which residents should have on their
front steps or porches by 9 a.m. If the sack is not
picked up by 11 a.m. on November 1, please call
268-4197.
The food items will then be sorted at the Arcola
United Methodist Church basement and transport-
Health Department Flu Shot Clinic
Volunteers Needed For
Chamber Santa Parade
The Arcola Chamber of Commerce will sponsor
the annual Santa Parade at 5 p.m. on Saturday,
November 22. Volunteers are needed to help with
the special event. Anyone interesting in helping is
encouraged to call the Chamber office, located in
the Arcola Depot, at 268-4530.
Walnut Grove Trunk or Treat
Walnut Grove Christian Church will sponsor its
annual Trunk or Treat activity Sunday, October
26, at Moore Park in Arcola. Free hot dogs will be
served from 5:30 to 6 p.m. and the trunk walk is
planned from 6 to 7 p.m.
IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE
Annual Veterans Day Assembly
The annual Veterans Day assembly at Arcola
High School will be at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday,
November 11. The theme is “Voices from the
Homefront.” Veterans and their families will be
honored. There will be a luncheon provided. More
information will follow. RSVP for the luncheon by
calling 268-4962.
American Legion Meeting
The next meeting of the Arcola American Legion
Post 639 will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, October
27, at the Arcola Public Library. All veterans are
welcome.
R-H Newsstand Locations
The Arcola Record-Herald is available each
week at these area locations:
In Arcola: Casey’s General Store, Arcola IGA,
Browne’s Pharmacy, Arcola Country Store &
Gas, Vyverberg’s, Dutch Kitchen, Country
Charm, Hen House and Jack Flash.
Rural Arcola: Country Salvage.
In Chesterville: Korner Cafe.
In Hindsboro: Quick Gits (formerly Five N’s).
In Tuscola: Tuscola IGA.
Classifieds ........................................4B
Courthouse News ..........................4A
Obituaries ........................................6A
Sports ..........................................1B-3B
PAGE 1B
Undefeated Purple Riders Outright
Little Okaw Champions
HOW TO REACH US
• To fax news and advertising materials to
the Record-Herald, please call 217-2684938. The deadline is 5 p.m. each Monday.
Find the R-H on the web at
www.arcolarecordherald.com
• The street address is 118 E. Main. The
newspaper’s mailing address is P.O. Box
217, Arcola, IL 61910. Phone 268-4950.
• E-mail the newspaper at:
slackpub@consolidated.net