GAZ_12232015

Page 1

Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.

ROCKETS TAKE THE LIONS’ Holiday treats SHARE OF POINTS without the guilt GIRLS BASKETBALL, B1

FOOD, A9-11

dailyGAZETTE Wednesday, December 23, 2015

SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854

BUDGET BATTLE | LOCAL IMPACT

A tax added and a tax raised

Pension problem trickles down to Sterling residents; council passes levy increase, adds utility tax BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier

STERLING – Cities may be paying the price for the budget battle in Springfield, but Sterling residents will have to chip in, too – and their payment will come due at property tax time, and every month in their utility bills. After passing an 18.76 percent tax

levy increase, and instituting a local utilities tax Monday, the City Council officially asked the state government to address the pensions situation that has in large part created the situation. The council also approved a resolution Monday urging the Legislature to adopt reforms to the pensions system that is putting many cities’ basic public safety services in jeopardy. TAX HIKES CONTINUED ON A4

Tax levy summary City Levy Amount General corporate ........... $392,761 Fire protection ................. $235,657 Police protection ............. $235,657 General and liability insurance ........................................ $411,216 Workers’ compensation.... $133,805 Library .............................. $345,630 Library building and maintenance ........................................ $31,420

PROPHETSTOWN

City Levy Amount Library general insurance .. $30,089 Municipal band tax ........... $56,750 Coliseum tax .................... $78,552 IMRF ................................ $224,220 Social Security.................. $210,150 Civil defense ..................... $10,356 Police pension .................. $978,830 Fire pension ...................... $974,055 Total city levy ................. $4,349,149

WHITESIDE COUNTY

Battle against heroin could get new allies Whiteside agencies will meet to discuss joining Safe Passages STAFF REPORT news@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5501

Making Christmas merry and bright No snow? No problem! Plenty of snowmen are scattered throughout Larry and Vicky DeNeve’s yard in Prophetstown – and they won’t melt, not even on a day like today, when temperatures are forecast to break records, with a high near 60.

Larry and Vicky invite folks to tour their decorated farm lane at 8057 Felton Road this Christmas weekend. The couple will have the lights on full display from Christmas Eve until New Year’s Eve. The two started to light up their lane about 5 years ago with 20,000 lights, but have scaled back a bit recently. But their yule-tidal wave of Christmas cheer still boasts about 15,000 lights, along with animal figurines and a manger scene. Go to saukvalley.com to see more photos.

MORRISON – In an acknowledgement of the area’s ongoing, and growing, heroin epidemic, several Whiteside County law enforcement agencies are considering getting on board Dixon/Lee County’s Safe Passage program. In the next few weeks, police agencies in Whiteside and Lee counties will attend a Law Enforcement Opioid Summit to brainstorm ways to attack the supply side of the drug problem, and to collaborate on ideas to ramp up enforcement, six agencies said in a news release late Tuesday afternoon. An exact date has not yet been set for the conference, but part of the conversation there will be about bringing the Morrison, Rock Falls and Sterling police and the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Department to the Lee County sheriff’s/ Dixon Police Department Safe Passage Initiative, established Sept. 1. The program encourages addicts to turn themselves over to police, who then help them get treatment. So far, 30 people have been successfully placed through the cooperative. “One death is too many, and this trend is deeply disturbing,” Rock Falls Police Chief Tammy Nelson said in the release. “As public safety officials, we have to change the way we look at this epidemic to stop this pattern and save lives.” HEROIN CONTINUED ON A5

A write Christmas ... Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com

DIXON

It’s a promise you can take to the bank School foundation guarantees raffle winner at least $2,500 – possibly more BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM

DIXON – The Dixon School Foundation is doing something this year that’s guaranteed to blow the top off its annual raffle.

$1.00

TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 162 ISSUE 11

Organizers are promising a payout of at least $2,500 to a lucky ticketholder in the trivia competition’s raffle. That’s a switch from the usual set-up, when a winner would get half the ticket take. The event is slated for Feb. 6 at Reagan Middle School. Organizers

INDEX

ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ......... A12 COMICS ...............B6

Santa’s mailbox runneth over with letters. Hundreds of good boys and girls from throughout the Sauk Valley have written the right jolly old elf to tell him what they want for Christmas. Check out what’s on their wish list in today’s “Letters to Santa” section.

expect at least 20 teams to sign up and hope to raise $10,000 for the foundation. Last year was the high-water mark for the raffle, with $1,166 in tickets sold, meaning a $583 payout. STUPOR BOWL CONTINUED ON A5

CROSSWORD....B12 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2

FOOD ..............A9-11 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6

Today’s weather High 60. Low 33. More on A3.

TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-625-3600

Need work? Check out your classifieds, B7.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
GAZ_12232015 by Shaw Media - Issuu