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Wednesday, August 5, 2015
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
ILLINOIS | BUDGET BATTLE
‘Something’s not right’ Forum struggles to stake out answers somewhere in the middle ground to what’s wrong in Springfield BY BRENDEN WEST bwest@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @BWest_SVM
ROCHELLE – Gridlock over public pension and education funding may reside in Springfield with state legislators. But its impact – and abil-
ity to evoke strong emotions – is far reaching, as evidenced by Rochelle Township High School audience members Tuesday night. For 2 hours, former Republican Senate candidate Patrick Hughes and Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Bud-
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Senate finds a solution amid the stalemate for Illinois’ social services. Page A5 get Accountability presented different sides of the budget issue during a forum hosted by hosted by the Illinois Associa-
tion of School Administrators. An audience of about 80 contained a number of area educators, including some from the Sauk Valley. As lawmakers weigh their options – and the delay in setting the state budget goes on – Hughes’ contention is that high
taxes in Illinois handcuff economic development. He pointed to the state’s 20-year net population decline as evidence that dollars and jobs are leaving the state, resulting in less tax revenue for governments to work with. FORUM CONTINUED ON A5
CITY COUNCIL
NEIGHBORS CALL IT A NIGHT IN STERLING
Consultant to Dixon: Bridge the gap – now If you don’t, he tells leaders, a pension pitfall awaits them BY BRENDEN WEST bwest@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @BWest_SVM
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
ABOVE: Sethina Lerma, 4, of Sterling eyes a duck to pluck Tuesday evening during a National Night Out celebration at Wallace Park in Sterling. She picked the right duck and won a treat. City of God Church also held a bucket brigade to purchase and distribute back-to-school backpacks. National Night Out events are held to help build stronger relationships between communities and local law enforcement agencies, in turn making neighborhoods safer. Go to natw.org/ for more information. RIGHT: Javorion Moman, 3, holds up his spiffy new Batman backpack so his cousin, Darel Young Jr., can take his photo at the National Night Out event. For more photos, see A2, or go to saukvalley.com.
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IN THE COURTS
Lawyer: It was defense, not attempted murder BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521 @SeaWarren
DIXON – A 26-year-old Sterling man facing attempted murder and other charges plans to argue self-defense at trial. In a document filed July 24 in Lee County Court, Mario Garnica’s attorney, Jim Mertes,
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TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 164 ISSUE 68
DIXON – There’s a growing problem in Dixon, but it’s not a unique one. Across the state, the gap between police and fire pension fund assets and their liabilities has grown to a point where cities are hardly covering half of their total liability obligation. The Illinois Department of Insurance reported that gap grew to $8.6 billion in 2012, and it has grown since. The new city council met with its police and fire pension committees Tuesday afternoon, for no particular reason other than, simply put, it behooves the city to start thinking now about closing that gap, consultant Jon Willhite said. “It’s just a It’s just a matter matter of time of time before before people realize that people realize these are oblithat these are gations that obligations that are going to be are going to be very, very diffivery, very difficult cult to achieve,” said Willhite, a to achieve. senior instituJon Willhite, tional consulConsultant with UBS, tant with UBS, a financial services firm a financial services firm. He pointed to extra reserves – “moneys that may help pay for costs as they’re being accrued” – unique to Dixon. Throughout a nearly hourlong presentation, Willhite kept referring to the “funding ratio” – the percentage of total assets versus the unfunded pension liability. Statewide, the ratio was at 55-to-45 in 2012. Willhite said cities will need to catch up, increasing the ratio to 90-to-10 percent by 2040. Willhite is advising that cities act sooner, rather than later. A city’s obligation to pay its liability never goes away, he said, and failure to properly pay the pension fund could result in cuts elsewhere by the state. Or it could mean cities will have to raise property taxes – a deterrent to business and population growth. Conversely, if Dixon leaders make strides in the near future, Willhite said yields will come in the long term. The city could capitalize on compounding interest by injecting more dollars into the pension funds, creating new investment opportunities, lowering property tax rates and improving the city’s credit rating over time.
said a violent fight broke out between Garnica and his thenboyfriend, and the 29-yearold was injured when Garnica fought back. Garnica has been jailed on $300,000 bond since his Feb. 3 arrest. Mertes is seeking to have his bond reduced; that motion will be heard Aug. 18. He also is indicted on two counts of armed violence, four counts of aggravated domestic
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battery, and two counts of battery. He is accused of showing up at the Dixon man’s apartment on Jan. 19, stabbing him in the neck, and beating him on the head, shoulders and arms with a metal pipe. Garnica was a bilingual firstgrade teacher at Jefferson Elementary School in Sterling at the time of the fight. His contract was not renewed.
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ......... A11 COMICS ...............B5
CROSSWORD....B11 FOOD ..............A9-10 LIFESTYLE ........... A8
Mario Garnica
LOTTERY ............. A2 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6
PENSION CONTINUED ON A5
Today’s weather High 84. Low 60. More on A3.
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