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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
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DeKALB COUNCIL CONSIDERS CREATING TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT
Aldermen mull over city raises DeKalb gives preliminary nod to staff salary boosts By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com
Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
(From left to right) Patty and Steve Tallitsch, both of DeKalb, are served June 19 by Scott Morrow, owner of Flippin’ Eggs, at the restaurant on South Fourth Street in DeKalb. The DeKalb City Council is considering establishing a tax increment financing district along South Fourth Street to spur economic development in the area.
Focus on South Fourth Street 32 percent of commercial space is vacant Voice your opinion
By DAVID THOMAS dthomas@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Business owners and some residents are excited about the redevelopment possibilities that a tax increment financing district could bring to the South Fourth Street area. By far, the old Protano’s Auto Parts site was named as being the biggest eyesore in the area. Scott Morrow, owner of Flippin’ Eggs restaurant at 831 S. Fourth St., noted that “it’s been empty
Which would be the best use of city economic development funds along South Fourth Street in DeKalb? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.
for so long.” The city is considering establishing a new special financing district along a narrow stretch of South Fourth Street between Taylor Street and Fairlane Ave-
nue, as well as two parcels along Sycamore Road. The district would sit in the 4th Ward, represented by Alderman Bob Snow, and the 5th Ward, represented by Alderman Ron Naylor. TIF districts raise money for redevelopment by freezing the amount of property tax that local governments receive from landowners in a given area. As property values and property tax
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We want more and more stuff around here, so people aren’t just coming for State Farm, or just coming to get their car fixed.” Scott Morrow Owner of Flippin’ Eggs
See TIF, page A2
DeKALB – The DeKalb City Council gave an initial nod to a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment for all of its nonunion staff, but its passage won’t be smooth. DeKalb aldermen spent the majority of their four-hour meeting Monday discussing the city’s financial outlook and whether giving raises to city employees would be prudent. All aldermen agreed, though, the city needs a new comprehensive plan for economic development, downtown development and general goals. “I think we need to take the time, and we will over the next several weeks and months, to revisit those policies,” Mayor John Rey said. City Council members took six divided votes over rehiring the city attorney, the city’s economic development consultant and the city’s lobbying firm. At the end of the night, majorities voted to keep Dean Frieders as city attorney without a pay raise keep Roger Hopkins as the economic development consultant with the 2 percent raise, and keep mCapitol Management as the city’s lobbying firm. While the council voted to “receive and file” the 2 percent raise unanimously, some aldermen have indicated their opposition to it. The aldermen are expected to discuss the issue again July 8. Aldermen also are divided on their perceptions of the city’s financial outlook. City Council members approved
“I think we need to take the time, and we will over the next several weeks and months, to revisit those policies.” John Rey DeKalb city mayor on comprehensive plan and economic goals
See CITY COUNCIL, page A2
Supreme Court overturns key part of landmark voting law The ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON – A deeply divided Supreme Court threw out the most powerful part of the landmark Voting Rights Act on Tuesday, a decision deplored by the White House but cheered by mostly Southern states now free from nearly 50 years of intense federal oversight of their elections. Split along ideological and partisan lines, the justices voted 5-4 to strip the government of its most potent tool to stop voting bias – the require-
ment in the Voting Rights Act that all or parts of 15 states with a history of discrimination in voting, mainly in the South, get Washington’s approval before changing the way they hold elections. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a majority of conservative, Republican-appointed justices, said the law’s provision that determines which states are covered is unconstitutional because it relies on 40-yearold data and does not account for racial progress and other changes in U.S. society.
John Roberts
Barack Obama
The decision effectively puts an end to the advance approval requirement that has been used to open up polling places to minority voters in the nearly half century since it was first enacted in 1965, unless Congress can come up with a new formula that Rob-
erts said meets “current conditions” in the United States. That seems unlikely to happen any time soon. President Barack Obama, the nation’s first black chief executive, issued a statement saying he was “deeply disappointed” with the ruling and calling on Congress to update the law. But in the South, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said that, while the requirement was necessary in the 1960s, that was no longer the case. He said, “We have long lived up to what happened then,
and we have made sure it’s not going to happen again.” The advance approval, or preclearance, requirement shifted the legal burden and required governments that were covered to demonstrate that their proposed election changes would not discriminate. Going forward, the outcome alters the calculus of passing election-related legislation in the affected states and local jurisdictions. The threat of an objection from Washington has hung over such proposals for nearly
a half century. Unless Congress acts, that deterrent now is gone. That prospect has upset civil rights groups which especially worry that changes on the local level might not get the same scrutiny as the actions of state legislatures. Tuesday’s decision means that a host of state and local laws that have not received Justice Department approval or have not yet been submitted can take effect. Prominent among those are voter identification laws in Alabama and Mississippi.
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