• About Us
  • Write For Us
  • Advertising
  • Support
  • Contact Us
March 30, 2023 4:11 am CDT
LISTEN LIVE:
No Result
View All Result
Heartland Newsfeed
728x90 Explore Twitch Services
Call Now: 844-592-0768
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Illinois
    • Local
      • Capital Area
      • East Central Illinois
      • West Central Illinois
    • Regional
      • Chicagoland
      • Metro-East
      • Northern Illinois
      • Quad Cities
      • Southern Illinois
    • Obits
    • Executive Watch
    • Legislative Watch
    • Road Conditions
      • Illinois
    • Weather Closings
      • Central Illinois
  • Missouri
    • Regional
      • Northeastern Missouri
      • East Central Missouri
      • St. Louis Metro
      • Southeast Missouri
    • Executive Watch
    • Legislative Watch
    • Weather Closings
      • Greater STL Metro (IL/MO)
    • Road Conditions
      • Missouri
  • Weather
  • National
  • World
  • Sports
    • Basketball
      • NBA
    • Bowling
    • Boxing
    • Football
      • Arena Football
      • CFL
      • NFL
      • XFL
      • USFL
    • Golf
      • PGA
    • Hockey
      • NAHL
      • NHL
    • MLB
      • MiLB
    • MMA
      • UFC
    • NCAA
      • Basketball
      • Football
    • Olympics
    • Preps
    • Racing
      • Horse Racing
      • NASCAR
    • Soccer/Futbol
      • Bundesliga
      • Champions League
      • FIFA
      • La Liga
      • MLS
      • NWSL
      • Premier League
      • U.S. National Soccer
      • USL
      • USL Championship
    • Tennis
    • Wrestling
      • AEW
      • Independents
      • MLW
      • NJPW
      • NWA
      • ROH
      • WWE
  • Entertainment
    • Crossword
    • News Quiz
  • Opinion
    • Letters To The Editor
    • Editorial
    • Columnists
  • Radio
    • Affiliates
    • Live Video
      • HLNF Live
      • RTMP Direct
    • Network Schedule
    • Network Streams
    • Podcasts
      • Radio Network
      • Podcast Network
  • Features
    • Classifieds
      • Current Ads
      • Job Board
        • Job Listings
        • J2CTalroo
        • Post a Job
        • Receive Alerts
        • ZipSearch
    • Community Calendar
    • News Feeds
      • Statehouse
      • Legislative
      • Breaking News
  • Store
  • Deals
  • Calendar

No products in the cart.

Heartland Newsfeed
No Result
View All Result

Shrinking Decatur to face budgetary hurdles in coming year

Guest Poster by Guest Poster
February 19, 2018
in Business & Lifestyle, Business News, Capital Area Region, Decision 2018, East Central Illinois Region, Financial News, Governmental Watchdogs, Illinois, Illinois Executive Watch, Local, Politics, Taxpayer Outrage
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Donate
0

DECATUR (Illinois Policy Institute) — After passing an unbalanced budget in 2017, Decatur will have to address its declining population and revenue as it looks ahead to crafting future budgets.

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2019 continues a reduction to a state financial shell game. While ultimately a benefit for Illinois taxpayers, it’s a move that will force shrinking cities to reform local finances.

As part of the fiscal year 2018 budget state lawmakers passed in July 2017, the Local Government Distributive Fund, or LGDF, was cut 10 percent, a funding level Rauner is recommending for his 2019 budget as well. LGDF distributes shares of state personal and corporate income taxes to local governments not based on need, but on share of the state population, usually accounting for 3 to 6 percent of a local government’s revenue.

This subsidy from state government fuels reckless spending and unaffordable benefits at the local level. Considering Illinoisans pay among the highest property taxes in the nation, continuing to reduce LGDF is an important step forward for taxpayers.

However, since the fund is based on population, shrinking cities will feel the effects first and foremost. No city would feel that more than Decatur, Illinois’ fastest shrinking city.

Decatur’s fiscal year 2018 budget, passed in December, was more than $3 million out of balance, in large part due to Decatur’s shrinking tax base. Revenue from sales taxes, cables taxes and hotel taxes all declined, a direct result of Decatur’s significant population dip. From 2010 to 2016, Decatur’s population dropped 3,400, or 4.5 percent, making it the fastest shrinking city in Illinois with a population over 50,000.

That population loss also accounted for a loss in LGDF funding: Decatur lost $1.4 million in state revenue due to both its population shrinking and the reduction in the fund.

In addition to the subsidy from state government, Decatur has relied on tax hikes in the past to compensate for its population loss, including instituting a food and beverage tax, hiking its gas tax and raising its property tax levy, intensifying the burden on struggling taxpayers. To the city’s credit, Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe told WAND-TV in December that another tax hike would not be ideal for Decatur residents. But given the rapid rate at which the city is shrinking, it needs to find ways to reform its finances moving forward.

Likewise, the state of Illinois should not restrict Decatur’s ability to get spending under control. Reducing LGDF funding is a positive step. But additionally, reforms to make Illinois’ workers compensation system more competitive with the rest of the Midwest would be a boon for Decatur employers and employees alike, as would reforms to collective bargaining for government worker unions and broken state and local pension funds. All of these spending reforms can help a city like Decatur grow and meet its budgetary challenges ahead.

Guest Poster
+ posts
  • Guest Poster
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/guestposter/
    LETTERS: Ranked choice voting
  • Guest Poster
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/guestposter/
    JASE Medical is disrupting the medical industry
  • Guest Poster
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/guestposter/
    Four gifts for the sports enthusiast on Prime Day
  • Guest Poster
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/guestposter/
    The basics to protecting your family's financial health

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Telegram
  • Print
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...
Tags: Bruce RaunerDecaturfood and beverage taxgas taxGov. Bruce RaunerIllinoisJulie Moore Wolfelocal government distributive fundproperty tax levy hikeWAND-TV
Share196Tweet123Share5Send

Discussion about this post

📻 ON AIR NOW

.
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Five things you should know before purchasing auto insurance

    614 shares
    Share 246 Tweet 154
  • Nokomis council passes dumpster ordinance

    543 shares
    Share 217 Tweet 136
  • Illinois to see two gas hikes in 2023

    538 shares
    Share 215 Tweet 135
  • Viola Armstrong, 92, Pana

    531 shares
    Share 212 Tweet 133
  • Leto Voudrie, 83, Moweaqua

    529 shares
    Share 212 Tweet 132

HOURS AND INFO

800 Capps Ave.
Nokomis, IL 62075-1415
admin@heartlandnewsfeed.com
Online all the time 
Office Hours: 8 AM to 8 PM
Newsroom: (217) 569-4230
Listen Line:
(217) 569-4230 ext. 1
Advertising:
(217) 718-5281
After-Hours:
(217) 565-9709 / (217) 565-9273

Sitemap | Published Press | Privacy Policy
Staff Email | Independent Media

LIVE WEBSITE VIEWERS

.
ADVERTISEMENT

DEADLINES

Daily: 11 p.m. Central
Weekend: 11 p.m. Central
Sports: 11 p.m. Central

Upcoming deadlines
NYE/NYD: December 30, 5 p.m. Central

WEBRINGS

Hotline Webring: Previous — Next

Some rights reserved 2017-2023 by Heartland Newsfeed, a subsidiary partnership by Heartland Internet Media Networks and Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois LLC. Content published by Heartland Newsfeed staff is covered by the BipCot NoGov license. This allows use and re-use by anyone except governments and government agents. License on record. JNews theme designed and developed by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • World
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Health
    • Travel

Some rights reserved 2017-2023 by Heartland Newsfeed, a subsidiary partnership by Heartland Internet Media Networks and Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois LLC. Content published by Heartland Newsfeed staff is covered by the BipCot NoGov license. This allows use and re-use by anyone except governments and government agents. License on record. JNews theme designed and developed by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

00:00
00:00
WP Radio
WP Radio
OFFLINE LIVE
%d bloggers like this: