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D-428 faces $2.8M budget deficit By DAVE THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – DeKalb School District 428 is projecting to enter the 2013-14 school year with a $2.8 million deficit, but that could change with the governor’s signature. That deficit – which is $500,000 more than the deficit the school district had for 2012-13 – is based on the state lowering the amount of general state aid to 83 percent. General state aid is a formula for education funding
that takes into account local wealth and student attendance. But with Illinois lawmakers passing a state budget that kept funding for local school districts at 89 percent, the district’s deficit would only be $2 million. Gov. Pat Quinn has yet to sign the budget into law, so the district is playing it safe, said Andrea Gorla, assistant superintendent for business and finance. “Until that’s signed, we’re not putting anything in writing,” Gorla said. “We’re not
Tom Matya District 428 board president said there is much work to do to reduce deficit. committing to it.” The district projections were presented to the district school board at its Tuesday night meeting. The board did not vote on it. It usually approves the budget in September.
Board President Tom Matya indicated that the reduction of the district’s deficit from $2.8 million to $2 million did not leave the board off the hook. “We still have a lot of work to do,” Matya said. DeKalb school officials said they lost $1.3 million in revenue for the 2012-13 school year when state payments were prorated at 89 percent. With each additional proration percentage point, they would have lost another $140,000. If lawmakers funded school
districts at 83 percent, DeKalb was expecting to lose another $840,000 in revenue. The Illinois State Board of Education oversees the general state aid allocated to them by the Illinois General Assembly. Officials at the state board make two monthly payments to school districts. When the legislature does not allocate enough money to public education, proration occurs. Other assumptions present in the budget projection were that additional health insur-
CODE ENFORCEMENT UNDERWAY IN DeKALB COUNTY
City workers battle tall grass amid growing complaints
Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
Matt Dyson of Genoa Public Works sprays for weeds Tuesday near the railroad tracks that divide North State Street in Genoa.
By STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com For many DeKalb County residents, the grass may not always be greener on the other side. But it may be taller. Many local police departments and code enforcement officers have seen a growing number of complaints over the past few weeks from residents concerned about lawn maintenance. Or the lack thereof. Whether property owners can’t keep up or they simply don’t want to, Sycamore police Lt. Cary Singer said code enforcement is already in full swing. “Everything’s growing really well now, and there are some people with legitimate reasons as to why they can’t get to it,” he said. Local laws vary on how tall is too tall for grass or weeds. DeKalb allows eight inches, while Sycamore and Genoa each allow a foot. DeKalb and Sycamore fine property owners at least $50, while Genoa just charges them the cost to mow the property. In Sycamore, if an officer finds a violation, he or she will issue a written warn-
ing, Singer said. The property owner then has five days to mow before being issued a citation. If the owner is still in violation of the code, the city will mow the lawn and bill the property owner. “Obviously, we encourage everyone to mow it, because they’re going to pay for it one way or another,” Singer said. For residents renting property, the maintenance responsibility belongs to the landlord, as long as he or she is the owner and is taxed for the property, Singer said. Even if the renter has legally agreed to, the landlord still will be fined if they do not mow. Lack of maintenance on properties in foreclosure also have become an issue for cities, said Genoa Chief of Police Ty Lynch. “A lot of them are property that people purchased as an investment, and they don’t think about mowing it,” he said. But most of the time, these properties belong to big banks that aren’t local, Lynch said. “The properties that have gone back to
Local mowing rules Maximum grass height n DeKalb: 8 in. n Sycamore: 12 in. n Genoa: 12 in. Fines n DeKalb: Minimum $50 n Sycamore: $50 first offense, $100 second offense n Genoa: No fine (charged for mowing cost after warning)
Judge accepts insanity plea in Colo. shooting By DAN ELLIOTT The Associated Press CENTENNIAL, Colo. – A judge accepted James Holmes’ long-awaited plea of not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday and ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation – an examination that could be a decisive factor in whether the Colorado theater shooting suspect is convicted and sentenced to die. The judge also granted prosecutors access to a hotly contested notebook that Holmes sent to a psychiatrist shortly before the July 20 rampage, which left 12 people dead and 70 injured in a bloody, bullet-riddled movie theater in suburban Denver. Taken together, the three developments marked a major step forward in the 10-monthold case, which at times has inched along through thickets of legal arguments or veered off on tangents. Holmes faces more than 160 counts of murder and attempted murder, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. He will now be examined by the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, but it’s not certain when the evaluation will begin or how long it will take. Hospital officials have said that before they meet with Holmes, they want to review evidence in the case, which prosecutors said totals nearly 40,000 pages. Judge Carlos Samour Jr. set a tentative date of Aug. 2 for the exam to be complete
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The judge also granted prosecutors access to a hotly contested notebook that James Holmes sent to a psychiatrist shortly before the July 20 rampage, which left 12 people dead and 70 injured in a bloody, bullet-riddled movie theater in suburban Denver.
Length of time to mow after citation is issued n DeKalb: 7 days n Sycamore: 5 days n Genoa: 7 days
Voice your opinion How often do you mow your lawn? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com. AP photo
Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes in court Tuesday in Centennial, Colo. Holmes was allowed to change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.
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Judge Carlos Samour Jr.
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ance fees were being tacked on as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Gorla said these fees were being added on by insurance carriers as a result of the federal law. The district is expecting to pay $228,000 in fees during the 2014 calendar year. Another unknown is the ongoing contract negotiations with the local teachers’ union. Matya declined to comment on the negotiations, but Gorla said they expect a resolution in a month or two.
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