Slick budget maneuver planned?

There is speculation that the mayor will attempt to approve the budget for the upcoming fiscal year at the last meeting of the current city council, rather than at the first meeting of the new city council, as has always been done in the past. The two public meetings will be held back to back on Tuesday, May 1 at 10:00 a.m.

Some aldermen and aldermen-elect are said to have questions about the size and composition of the budget as proposed by the mayor.

Why should the new city council be hamstrung by a budget approved the the old city council? The new city council will have to live with this budget and they should be the given the opportunity to consider and vote on it.

Read about Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

Plans unveiled for new city hall

The mayor is advocating the construction of a new city hall building at a cost of $9.3 million. This does not include the cost of the land, or the nearly $600,000 the city has already spent on architects.

Despite the hefty price tag, the mayor has never brought this controversial project to the full city council for a vote.

New Feeney job included in budget?

Mayor Kopczick presented a budget to the aldermen that includes a brand new $40,000 salary expense line-item for the Finance Department.

This new item is ambiguously labeled as "Salary - Administrative Staff." Curiously, all of the other salary expense line items - except this one - identify specific job titles.

Could this be the new job rumored to have been promised to Brian Feeney?

City proposes $21.7 million deficit budget; $670,000 earmarked for landfill blunder

The Morris Daily Herald reported that a tentative budget for the next fiscal year was presented to the city council. Mike Farrell, who seldom misses an opportunity to disguise editorial as news, reports the story under the misleading headline, "Morris Finances Strong."

But read past Farrell's ill-fitting headline (thanks for your opinion, Mike), and we find the following tidbit:

"Revenues for the fiscal year are estimated at $25 million and expenses at $46.7 million."

According to my math, this would be $21.7 million of deficit spending in the upcoming fiscal year. Read on a little further, and we find this:

"Costs related to Community Landfill closure, including attorney's fees, are estimated at $670,000."

And this is only for one fiscal year. It looks like it will be another banner year for the lawyers feeding at the City of Morris public trough.

Morris Herald article

Election

In order to avoid cluttering up the other topics, this post was created to provide a forum for gloating and commiserating over the results of the recent election. Sledgehammer Morris is, of course, apolitical and will remain completely neutral.

Hospital opposes surgical center

The public hearing on the proposed surgical center drew a large crowd for what appeared to be a well-choreographed showing of opposition to the facility.

Cliff Corbett, president and CEO of Morris Hospital, was quoted as saying "the proposed surgical center poses a serious threat to the services that Morris Hospital provides, which includes maintaining the hospital's staff levels." Opponents claim that the surgical center would take away about 60 percent of the hospital's outpatient surgery. (Doesn't the Hospital provide other services besides outpatient surgery? How does Morris Hospital manage to survive the surgical center already operating in Morris?)

Mr. Corbett is also quoted in the Herald as saying that "notions of fair competition between the hospital and the proposed center are like comparing apples to oranges.“Real competition only takes place on a level playing field ...” Corbett said. “That is clearly not the case here.”

I agree with Mr. Corbett on that point. It is not a level playing field. The Hospital, a not for profit entity, has a huge advantage over the surgical center in that it does not pay income taxes and property taxes. In contrast, the proposed surgical center, a for-profit entity, will be paying income taxes and generating property tax revenue for Channahon.

Oh, and won't the surgical center produce new jobs?

But what really caught my attention is one other quote from Mr. Corbett, "the hospital would work with Channahon, but not Pliura." Why not? What is really playing out behind the scenes? Is there any truth to the rumors that power struggles and personality clashes are the driving force behind the hospital's opposition to the surgical center?

Surgical center

“By golly, I agree with them” says mayor Kopczick, referring to the desire of Channahon residents to have access to healthcare in their town, and not have to travel to Morris or Joliet.

Nonetheless, Dickie has unilaterally decided that the City of Morris is opposed to this new facility - even though the issue was never discussed or voted on in a city council meeting.

Shouldn't area residents have the choice of where to obtain their healthcare? Shouldn't doctors and medical personnel have the choice of where to work? Some are charging that Morris Hospital is exagerating the detrimental potential of the new facility, given the area's rapid population growth. And why is it OK for Morris to have an orthopedic surgical center, but not Channahon?

This new facility may result in more options, better service and better prices. By Golly.

Teacher knows best

In a peculiar campaign strategy, Mayor Micetich has published a political ad that manages to insult nearly every voter in the community. Micetich opposes the use of the referendum process to make major decisions about the future of Coal City. It is hard for me to conceive of any reason why the citizens of the Village of Coal City cannot be entrusted to participate in the decision making process for major issues. Is Micetich that much smarter than everyone else?