Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.
HOOP HIGHLIGHTS MATH ADDS UP TO A WIN FOR WARRIORS: B1
SVM BASKETBALL ALMANAC: INSIDE
SECTION INSIDE
dailyGAZETTE Tuesday, November 24, 2015
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
STERLING
Tax hike making its way to council City needs more revenue, and its attorney is drawing up papers that could help get it BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
STERLING – The city attorney is drawing up a utilities tax ordinance that, if passed by the City Council, could add a new revenue stream of up to $2 million – and a new tax to
residents’ utility bills. Talk of implementing the tax heated up when a Local Option Sales Tax increase was put on the April ballot. At the time, residents were told that without the sales tax revenue, the city would have to further explore the utilities tax to address a $300,000 budget
deficit, soaring pension costs, and sewer infrastructure needs. Since residents turned down the sales tax referendum, another expense has entered the conversation. A wage and benefits study done for about 60 nonunion city workers brought recommendations
that wage increases be instituted for many of the employees. City officials have warned there could be dire consequences to not passing the new tax, which comes on the heels of a proposed 18.76 percent tax levy hike. TAX HIKE CONTINUED ON A5
Next meeting The City Council next meets at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7 at City Hall, 212 Third Ave., on the first floor in the Council Chambers. Go to sterling-il.gov or call City Hall at 815-632-6621 for an agenda or more information.
ILLINOIS BUDGET BATTLE | LOCAL IMPACT
DIXON
Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
Carol Fitzgerald, former long-time executive director of YWCA of the Sauk Valley, listens Monday as speakers from local agencies discuss the impact of the Illinois budget stalemate on Whiteside County residents during the Legislators Soup Kitchen.
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Dixon Knights of Columbus bar manager Gary Gornik totals up the bill Monday afternoon after purchasing 30 turkeys with all the fixings for Council 690’s annual Thanksgiving dinner. The turkeys will yield about 450 pounds of meat for the meal. The dinner is free to all who come to the hall, at 506 W. Third St. in Dixon, from noon to 3 p.m. Thursday. Council 690 will also be making deliveries. Call the hall at 815-288-1821 to schedule a delivery.
Agencies make their point, and their case, at Legislators Soup Kitchen
450 pounds of generosity
BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
Boxes of fixings and foil pans are stacked up in preparation for Thursday’s Thanksgiving meal. Last year, the council served 250 meals and delivered 250 more.
EDUCATION
Sauk’s dashboard gauges success Website helps college see where it’s been and where it needs to go BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
DIXON – It’s one thing to talk about what is going on at Sauk Valley Community College. It’s another thing to show it. The Sauk Valley Community College Board of Trustees on Monday learned about the college’s strategic planning dashboard website,
$1.00
TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 161 ISSUE 247
which breaks down what the college is doing well, and what needs to be improved. “It has really good qualitative data that shows how we are performing with transfer students, and it shows different measures of how successful we are being at the college,” Sauk President David Hellmich said. SAUK CONTINUED ON A5
INDEX
Local leaders get a taste of poverty
ABBY ................... A7 BUSINESS ......... A12 COMICS ............... A9
The website
Go tosvcc.edu/departments/irp/ reporting/dashboard/ to see the college’s dashboard.
Next meeting
The Sauk Valley Community College Board of Trustees will meet next at 6 p.m. Dec. 14, in the third-floor board room, 173 state Route 2, Dixon. Visit svcc.edu or call 815-835-6303 for an agenda or more information. CROSSWORD....B12 LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
ROCK FALLS – Hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, rice casserole, and chicken noodle soup: it’s not a meal fit for a king – nor is it a meal fit for low-income families. But it’s the type of meal many of them are forced to sit down to in Illinois. In Rock Falls on Monday, a state legislator, city and school officials, and local community leaders sat down to that same Online meal. The less-thanGo to saukvalhealthy lunch was on ley.com for more the menu at the annuphotos, and video, al Legislators Soup from Monday’s Kitchen, and it was lunch. the special-of-the-day for a reason. “We want to follow the theme of what we think is happening in Illinois,” said Beth Fiorini, administrator of the Whiteside County Health Department. “We want to demonstrate how those with low income have to feed their families.” What’s happening in Illinois – and what’s been happening for the last 5 months – is a budget impasse that’s putting state programs and local agencies in jeopardy, some of which help low-income families in the Sauk Valley. LUNCHEON CONTINUED ON A3
Today’s weather High 37. Low 31. More on A3.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-625-3600
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B6.