Lights out for Senreq?

The electric meter appears to have been pulled from Senreq's demonstration facility, which is located on property rented from the City of Morris for $1,200 per year. Click on the photo to zoom in.

Why was the meter pulled? Is Senreq so successful at generating energy from garbage that it no longer needs to buy electricity?

Thank you to the alert reader who e-mailed this photo.

Kopczick's Corn Festival Legacy

The Antique Gas Engine Show is absent from the Grundy County Corn Festival this year. The event had been a fixture of Corn Festivals for decades. Antique gas engine enthusiasts travelled from far and near to proudly display their machinery.

Last year, Mayor Dick Kopczick issued a controversial mayoral edict ordering the engine operators to immediately remove their vehicles from the lawn at Chapin Park. The operators tried to explain that they must stay near their machines to keep them running safely. Mayor Kopczick refused to reconsider. Instead, he enlisted the assistance of police to carry out his command and swiftly emptied the park. The engine owners group vowed not to return to Morris.

You might think that the mayor would take steps to make amends and encourage the group to return. If the park lawn had suddenly become an overriding concern, surely there must be some other suitable location.

These out of town guests who volunteered their time, money and energy to make Corn Festival more enjoyable for all, are now left with a negative perception of our community, festival goers are deprived of an enjoyable experience, and a Corn Festival tradition has been destroyed.

Raiding TIF

Spending TIF funds to construct municipal buildings generating no new tax revenue is contrary to the purpose and intent of the TIF law.

In 1999, the Illinois legislature enacted an amendment to the TIF law to end this abusive practice.

Section 11‑74.4‑3 (q)(4) of the TIF law says that:

... on and after November 1, 1999, redevelopment project costs shall not include the cost of constructing a new municipal public building principally used to provide offices, storage space, or conference facilities or vehicle storage, maintenance, or repair for administrative, public safety, or public works personnel....

There are some limited exceptions which would permit a municipal building to be built with TIF funds, such as when it is part of a redevelopment plan adopted before 1999, or when it is replacing a municipal building that must be demolished as part of the redevelopment plan.

The exceptions do not seem to apply with the City's current plans.

Full text of the TIF law

Transcript of debate on the 1999 Amendment to the TIF law in the Illinois House of Representatives.

The discussion on TIF starts at page 239, including definitions for "blight."

Discussion about spending TIF money for municipal buildings starts at page 249. Read as the sponsoring legislators call this practice an "abuse" of TIF.

Morris Daily Herald Article published September 5, 2007

Abuse of the public trust

The city is about to spend $12 Million on a new city hall, using TIF money.

TIF funds consist largely of taxes diverted from schools. Eveyone's taxes must go up to cover the difference. What's more, TIF money is not supposed to be used to build new municipal buildings on prime real estate. It is intended to revitalize blighted areas. The theory being that the redeveloped property will produce more property taxes than were lost by the schools in the first instance. The municipal building will generate no property taxes and no sales taxes.

City officials know full well that they are misusing TIF. They also know that there is no penalty for doing so, except at the ballot box.


For a good summary of how TIF works, and its potential abuses, see the Citizen Advocacy Center website

Shugart and Cook on boundary line agreement

Morris alderman Martha Shugart and Channahon village president Joe Cook will be on WCSJ this morning, Tuesday August 21, at 9:10 a.m., to discuss the proposed boundary line agreement between Morris and Channahon.

Shugart has skillfully negotiated a proposed boundary line agreement which would give Morris two of the four corners of the Brisbin Road interchange. Additionally, Channahon would de-annex almost 300 acres to Morris. If the agreement is approved, Morris stands to receive substantial property tax and sales tax benefits from economic activity at the interchange. Morris mayor Dick Kopczick opposes the plan.