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‘Balanced budget’ for fiscal 2016 Sycamore officials express confidence in city’s future By ADAM POULISSE apoulisse@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – City officials have expressed confidence about the city’s financial future as they head near fiscal 2016, which begins May 1. “We’re cautiously optimistic,” Mayor Ken Mundy said. “The spending side is very well-controlled. All the departments have looked at discretionary spending, such as training and conferences and
things like that where we can control.” The fiscal 2016 budget totals $56.7 million in all city funds, including $29.3 million in pass-through fuel funds. General fund expenditures total $14.6 million, which will be offset by a nearly identical $14.6 million in general fund revenues, with almost $3,100 remaining. General fund revenues include property and sales tax, licenses, intergovernmental revenue, service
charges, transfers, fines and other income. The estimated general fund operating reserve, or starting fund balance, for fiscal 2016 is $4.9 million, or 34 percent of the planned general fund expenditures. The projected general revenues for fiscal 2016 are expected to be $142,783 more than the estimated general fund revenues for fiscal 2015 because of projected increases in sales tax, according to the budget. In addition, this will be the sixth year that the city’s property tax has not increased. A public hearing was held during Monday’s Sycamore City Council meeting but pro-
What’s next? City Council action on the proposed city budget for the fiscal year beginning May 1 will take place April 20.
duced no discussion among residents and little discussion from the council. It will go to a vote at the April 20 City Council meeting. City Manager Brian Gregory called it “a balanced budget,” and said that the city has rebounded from more troubling financial times. “We backed into the recession by using capital trans-
Ill. mulls expanded list of conditions for marijuana program By CARLA K. JOHNSON The Associated Press CHICAGO – Illinois residents have petitioned the state to add more than 20 medical conditions to the medical marijuana program, including anxiety, migraines, insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder. Petitioners identifying themselves as veterans of Vietnam and Iraq asked that PTSD be included, making emotional pleas for help, according to 269 pages of petitions obtained by The Associated Press through the state’s Freedom of Information Act. The state blacked out the names of petitioners before releasing the documents to protect patients’ privacy. “I am a Vietnam Vet and can only imagine how things would have been,” wrote one petitioner for PTSD. “While visiting in Colorado I had the benefit of trying cannabis in candy form ... and I felt wonderful. No thoughts of violence, self-deprecation, or hopelessness. My life would be different today.” Medical marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. California allows doctors to recommend it for a broad range of conditions, including arthritis, migraines and “any other illness for which marijuana provides relief,” according to the language of the 1996 ballot initiative that made the state the first to allow medical marijuana. Illinois law lists dozens of diseases, including cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS, that can qualify a patient for use with a doctor’s recommendation and a state ID card, but it is more restrictive than in other states. The marijuana industry wants a broader list to create a bigger market in Illinois. The Illinois Department of Public Health must approve any additions to the list. An advisory board made up of patients, nurses, doctors and a pharmacist is reviewing the petitions and will make a recommendation after holding a public hearing May 4. People can submit petitions twice annually, in January
fers, and every year we’ve been reducing our reliance on those from $728,000 in transfers down to $200,000 in this budget. We were able to reduce that another $185,000 this year that’s coming up. That’s a big step forward,” Gregory said. Besides the capital transfers, other financial upswings have indicated a good financial future for Sycamore. John Sauter, the city’s building and engineering director, gave a report to the council at the meeting stating residential housing construction has increased for the fourth consecutive year, outpacing the past two years. Mundy said he was pleased
to hear it. “We’re looking at that as an indication that things are turning around a bit,” Mundy said. “Now, we know there are still a lot of areas of the economy that are not doing well. People are either unemployed or underemployed, so we still face that.” Mundy added Gov. Bruce Rauner’s announcement regarding the state’s local government distributive funds also could impact the city. “The legislature certainly has the power to change our formulas for distribution just as they do with the schools and other things,” he said.
See BUDGET, page A3
ELECTION DAY
Voice your opinion Do you think Illinois’ medical marijuana law is too restrictive? Vote now at Daily-Chronicle. com. and July. The board will be “cautious and conservative” as it considers research, the severity of the illnesses, other remedies available and what other states have done, said Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, a suburban Chicago doctor and the board’s chairwoman. “We will not be able to approve all conditions,” she said. One factor the board absolutely will not consider is the wishes of marijuana business owners, Temple said. Regulations and the board’s bylaws forbid board members from having financial ties with the medical cannabis industry, she noted. Petitioners made the case for conditions including bipolar disorder, autism, psoriasis, chronic back pain, gout and osteoarthritis. Some said they already use marijuana illegally to find relief or they believe they know how it would help their condition: • “When I use cannabis, all of my intestinal muscles relax which provides immediate relief,” wrote a person favoring the inclusion of irritable bowel syndrome. • “Cannabis will help me to sleep better and it will help alleviate pain naturally,” wrote a person with chronic back pain. • “Cannabis would cause my mind to stop obsessive thoughts and it could help me conquer my fears,” wrote a person with obsessive compulsive disorder. Some petitions mention research done in Israel and other countries. U.S. research on marijuana is limited by federal constraints, but more studies are coming. Colorado will spend more than $8 million researching marijuana’s medical potential, awarding grants for studies on treating epilepsy, brain tumors, Parkinson’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Judy Svenson (left), the Paw Paw Township supervisor, checks her ballots Friday as she picks up her tabulation machine and election supplies from Lynne Kunde (right), DeKalb County election judge coordinator, at the DeKalb County Administration Building. Svenson is an election judge at Paw Paw Town Hall.
Candidates prepare for results DeKalb City Council, aldermen positions among those up for vote More online
By BRETT ROWLAND browland@shawmedia.com DeKALB – A relatively small number of voters will shape the future of some of DeKalb County’s most important governments at the ballot box Tuesdays. Among the contested races voters will decide are seats on the DeKalb City Council in wards 3, 5 and 7, the four members of the DeKalb-based School District 428 school board and the fate of three referendums, two of which involve tax increases. Among the DeKalb council races, incumbent Alderman David Jacobson is running unopposed in the city’s 1st Ward, and incumbent Alderman Monica O’Leary is seeking re-election in the 7th Ward. But the election is sure to bring new faces to the council from the 3rd and 5th wards, where a total of five newcomers are vying for spots on a council that oversees a budget of $79.4 million and provides services for 44,000 people.
For information on your polling place or to view a sample ballot, log on to http://dekalb.il.electionconsole.com/voter-lookup.php. For information about candidates in contested races and their position on issues, visit the Daily Chronicle’s Election Central site at http://www.daily-chronicle.com/ election-central/.
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Kunde carries a tabulation machine to an election judge picking up insurance company. their election material Friday at the DeKalb County Administration Change is imminent in the Building. Voters in 90 precincts from around DeKalb County will vote county’s largest school district today. where seven candidates, five Michael Marquardt, the office manager at DeKalb’s Kishwaukee Country Club, and Steve Kapitan, a scan coordinator at Jewel-Osco in DeKalb, are seeking the open seat in the 3rd Ward. In 5th Ward, Cameron Zelaya, an in-person counselor at the DeKalb County Health Department; Kate Noreiko, a
retired human resources director; and Michael Haji-Sheikh, an associate engineering professor at Northern Illinois University, are in a three-way race for the spot Ron Naylor is leaving. O’Leary, an auto repair shop owner, is trying to retain her seat in the 7th Ward in a twoway race with challenger Craig
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of them write-ins, are vying for four open seats on the District 428 board. With four board members leaving, Tuesday’s election could bring a new majority to power on the board, which oversees the district’s $77.2 million budget. The budget
See ELECTION, page A2
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