Local: What’s louder than the whine of a voter who didn’t get what he wants? The same guy looking at his tax bill
I have a message for every single fanatic who fumed with indignation every time it was suggested that it might not be the right time to commit to $35 million in new property taxes at the time the economy sucks, gas prices are skyrocketing and the city is going to have to tack on another $100 million for sewer repairs: You got what you wanted. Enjoy your bibliogasm.
Of course, you’re only getting $28 million in renovation and repairs, not the $35 million you whined and threatened to get.
But still, that’s a lot. Of course, there’s always the happy prospect of cost overruns, which has been known to happen. So you have that going for you.
And, c’mon, let’s admit it, now that the debate is over … when all is said and done there isn’t going to really be one more book checked out of any library because of this. The fact remains that there is no one, NO ONE, in this city who is being denied the right and ability to go into any library and check out any book. Not one.
Hell, in 20 years, they may not even be printing books on paper anymore.
But still, I expect every single one of you people who claimed that higher taxes shouldn’t be an issue (because voters said “yes” in the referendum) to now publicly defend the council members who voted your way. After all, they listened to you and gave you what you wanted. The decent and honorable thing to so would be to defend these folks when they start taking heat on the issue.
And make no mistake, they will need your help, because this public outcry over the library issue is NOTHING compared to what’s going to happen when the tax bills arrive.
There will be a calls to remove every single incumbent for daring to vote to raise taxes.* No doubt some of the people who spent the last month damning the council for thwarting the will of the people will be the same ones who will be pissing and moaning the most over their property taxes.
And yes, I am also talking to other bloggers and to commenters. I know who you are. I’ve made a list. If I hear or see any pissing and moaning about high property taxes from ANY of you, I’ll out your sorry ass as a liar and a hypocrite. And I will do it often. You have been put on warning.
I am not in a good mood.
* Ironically, the only council member who can’t be accused of raising property taxes during this most inopportune time is Gary Sandberg. And he only voted “no” because the tax increase wasn’t high enough. Hell, from what he said on the council floor, he would have supported a $44 million tax increase.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:39 am
Peoria’s problems are so much more amusing now that I neither live nor work there anymore. Eureka’s library is about the size of a mobile home (not a double-wide, either) — in other words, just right.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:23 am
“I’ve made a list. If I hear or see any pissing and moaning about high property taxes from ANY of you, I’ll out your sorry ass as a liar and a hypocrite. And I will do it often. You have been put on warning.”
Seriously, Bill?
June 25th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Why would I NOT be serious?
June 25th, 2008 at 7:43 am
And I have to ask you this Bill: If 28 million would have went toward city wide wi-fi, would your opinion be different?
“And make no mistake, they will need your help, because this public outcry over the library issue is NOTHING compared to what’s going to happen when the tax bills arrive.”
Then guess what, those people should have got off their asses and gone and voted no.
And just me personally, after all the money that this city has pissed away, I’ll take an increase for a library.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:06 am
And I also have to ask this Bill. Did you vote no?
Because I guarantee you, if 72% of the vote would have been no on this issue, probably even 52 %, there’s no way this money is O.K.’ed.
Anyone who didn’t vote no has no leg to stand on when the property tax bill arrives.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Somebody needs a nap. I’ll simply remind you, Billy, that property taxes are not made up solely of the City of Peoria’s levy. There’s also the County, District 150, Park District, Airport district, etc., etc. I will not complain about the City’s levy rising to cover the library and part of the CSO project. I will complain about taxes rising for other items that I think are of questionable value or that only appear on tax bills because the voters were circumvented.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Forget the nap and keep taking names! haha
June 25th, 2008 at 9:25 am
O good grief – I thought you said the Library blinked first. There are more windmills out there that need your attention, drop the Nixon list and join the good fight.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:26 am
How much in property taxes are you paying a year Bill?
June 25th, 2008 at 10:36 am
OK, now I bitch and moan about property taxes, THAT’s for sure! But I did not take a stance either way for the Library referendum. So come July and August when I get on my soapbox about the ridiculous property taxes in this town are you going to start calling me names? I just want to know in advance. Thanks.
June 25th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I love the irony of this situation that Sandberg will be the only one who can claim that he didn’t vote to raise taxes and the other ten will have to defend their position on raising taxes. However, I don’t think that it will be an issue in the future from the public’s perspective – I think you’ve completely misread this situation.
Councilman Sandberg has absolutely taken the correct position on this issue and I applaud him for doing so. While I didn’t follow the process the library went through with any level of detailed interested, I knew that when Sandberg was supportive of it that the process had been fair, open and thorough. No matter what I think of some positions he takes, I do believe that he’s thorough in his preparation.
The library didn’t blink…they agreed to the crappy deal proposed by the Council. The Council was the ones looking for a compromise so they could say they saved $7 Million rather than they raised taxes $28 or $35 million. In the long run, I think they made the wrong decision but at least the one they made is better than voting the whole thing down.
LIbraries are MUCH more than books Billy. Get real — there is no chance that libraries will be put out of business in the next several decades.
June 25th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Bill sez: “And, c’mon, let’s admit it, now that the debate is over … when all is said and done there isn’t going to really be one more book checked out of any library because of this.”
I sez: I’d be willing to bet that you are twice wrong. First, libraries provide a lot more services than checking out books. There are children’s reading programs, summer programs and just a ton of stuff.
Second, I bet the number of books being checked out DOES increase.
June 25th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Please click the following link for more on Bill’s opinions of libraries.
http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/nov-19-2007
June 25th, 2008 at 11:38 am
All I’m saying is that if you took a stand critical of Ardis and the other council members who dared to suggest that it might not be a good idea to spend tis money right now, AND THEN if you later complain about high property tax bills … I am gonna call you on it. Thats it.
And I just woke up from my nap, and I ain’t changing my mind.
June 25th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I’ll keep renting, thanks.
(Cue someone saying “Equity.”)
June 25th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Actually, I expect my rent to go up. You don’t think landlords are going to eat this cost, do you?
June 25th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Actually yes I do think they will eat the cost. I believe there to be an over abundance of rental properties. Competition will keep the rent down.
June 25th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
The winner as ususal, was our local major newspaper. After writing reams of paper to promote an issue they never fully understood like the Southside Library, Lakeview Library; in fact all libraries according to the editorial board were in sorry shape. After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, the library board plans to close the Southside Library, now underutilized, they say, plan to close Riverwest Library; after the debacle at Taft homes library before it was closed, you would have thought the library board would know better.
As to my property tax increases, no problem, the less I’ll spend and contribute less. I feel for those on fixed incomes who will be unable to leave or even sell their properties. Maybe they will need to move to Gary’s area; of his $410 total property tax bill, he paid $16.50 to city libraries.
Some of the commenters on this site show that they know little about what the existing Peoria libraries offer right now. The biggest change is still going to be bricks, glass, mortar and comfortable home style furniture. Maybe with a fireplace and a coffee bar.
Oh yes, and hundreds of unsupervised new computers so that more people who actually own computers at home can use public libraries so that no one in their immediate family will know the reason they don’t use their home computers.
All on the taxpayer dole.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
…but, renters don’t pay taxes.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
ed: Where do you think landlords get the money they use to pay THEIR taxes?
June 25th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Oh yeah, AND I live in Tazewell County. Thanks for contributing more property taxes so I can use your libraries. Our library sucks.
June 25th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Who needs libraries when you have the Internet? I had my fill of them in college. I think I’ve been in a library four or five times since I got out of grad school in 1976.
June 25th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
bill,
i was kidding…and it’s eb, not ed. material difference if you know what i mean…
June 25th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
eb: Sorry. My bad.
Anotherexjser: The Internet hasn’t replaced libraries YET, but new technologies are putting books into digital, downloadable formats. Will books printed on dead trees in 20 years. Probably. I’m guessing not as many as today.
Perhaps future libraries will use technology to print books on demand for readers, rather than have to guess which books patrons want and order copies that sit, unused, on shelves.
It’s gotta be less expansive than the book depository format in place now.
June 25th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Who needs libraries? Kids.
I credit two things for making me the hyper-literate person I am today: My parents reading to me when I was very young, and my parents taking me to the library to check out books. From going to the library for storytime to incredibly mediocre young-adult fiction all the way to today, I’ve found value in libraries. The bigger the selection, the better.
If you’re even a casual reader, look at your tax bill and see how much you pay to the library district. Divide by $8 for a paperback or $20 (or more) for a hardcover book at either major bookstore in town. That’s how many books you’d have to check out in a year to make going to the library worthwhile.
And like it or not — and obviously most of you against this library move don’t — this city is growing north and it’s growing west. Just as neighborhood schools have some value, neighborhood or regional libraries have value, convenience and foster a connection to them that a farther-flung location doesn’t.
One last thing: Billy, you know you’d be singing the praises of the City Council if the vote had rejected any extra cash for the Library Board. The compromise at least moved it closer to your preference. All this griping is nothing more than sour grapes because you didn’t completely get your way. Live with it … sometimes in a democracy you lose.
June 25th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
My gripes are not so much about the higher rent I am likely to pay.
My gripes are about the POLITICS surrounding this.
And we don’t live in a democracy. We live in a republic.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
“As to my property tax increases, no problem, the less I’ll spend and contribute less”
I must have misunderstood one of your comments on your site Merle.
Didn’t you say you would be moving out of the city of Peoria due to this?