Representing the Third Ward

Shopping for a Better Garbage Deal

The Morris City Council is expected to approve a monthly charge for garbage pickup from Allied Waste. But if you chose not to use the city garbage service, you cannot be forced to pay the monthly charge.

Non-home rule communities such as Morris have only those powers specifically granted to them by the Illinois legislature. The legislature has granted municipalities that provide garbage pickup service the authority to assess a "service charges to be collected from persons, firms and corporations receiving service." (65 ILCS 5/11-19‑4).

"Under the aforementioned Illinois statute, such garbage service charges can be imposed only upon persons, firms or corporations "receiving service."

This was the opinion of the Illinois Supreme Court in the case of Montgomery v. City of Galva, where the court declared invalid a city ordinance assessing a garbage pickup charge for residents that was combined with their water bills, even for residents who did not use the garbage service. In addition, the Supreme Court enjoined the city from shutting off residents' water supply for nonpayment of the garbage collection charges by persons not receiving garbage collection and disposal services.

Morris School Superintendent salaries and benefits

From November 19, 2009 Joliet Herald News:

The salary your school superintendent earns is just a part of his or her total compensation. Annuities and other allowances can add thousands of dollars on top of each school chief's base pay.

The Herald-News filed Freedom of Information Act requests with area schools in order to gain a clearer picture of how taxpayer money is being used to pay superintendents. Use the drop-down menu below to find how much your school district paid its leader during the 2008-09 school year.

School District Morris High
Superintendent Pat Halloran
Number of Students 1013
Base Pay $120,000
Retirement Contribution $19,529.59
Paid for Unused Vacation Days $0
Life Insurance $247
Board Paid Medical Dental Vision $31,863.24
Annuity $2,400
Travel Stipend or Mileage $1,724.31
Tuition Reimbursement $0
Personal Days 2
Disability Policy $21.58
Bonus $0
Meeting Stipend $0
Other Compensation $0
Total Compensation $175,786

School District Morris Grade
Superintendent Teri Shaw (administrator)
Number of Students 1,350
Base Pay $65,000
Retirement Contribution $0
Paid for Unused Vacation Days $0
Life Insurance $138
Board Paid Medical Dental Vision $14,007
Annuity $0
Travel Stipend or Mileage $1,867
Tuition Reimbursement $20,167
Personal Days 3
Disability Policy $0
Bonus $0
Meeting Stipend $0
Other Compensation $0
Total Compensation $101,179

School District Morris Grade
Superintendent Dennis Broniecki (interim)
Number of Students 1,350
Base Pay $70,000
Retirement Contribution $0
Paid for Unused Vacation Days $0
Life Insurance $0
Board Paid Medical Dental Vision $0
Annuity $0
Travel Stipend or Mileage $4,635
Tuition Reimbursement $0
Personal Days 0
Disability Policy $0
Bonus $0
Meeting Stipend $0
Other Compensation $0
Total Compensation $74,635


Read the complete article and look up other superintendents

Bruce forced out?

When Cliff Corbet "retired" as CEO of Morris Hospital, it was rumored that he was forced out by a heavy-handed and micro-managing board chair. Now it appears that William Bruce, the new CEO is involuntarily departing. Is this more handiwork from a board chair with a God complex? Instead of musical-chair CEOs, maybe it is time for a new chairman of the board.

Update: The Morris Daily Herald has finally gotten around to mentioning this, though their coverage is limited to repeating information from the Morris Hospital press release. Here is the article.

City's Landfill Follies Come Home to Roost

http://www.morrisdailyherald.com/articles/2009/06/19/53865706/index.xml