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DIXON, A3
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Tuesday, October 28, 2014
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
WHITESIDE COUNTY SCHOOLS | SALES TAX REFERENDUM
Taking another shot Superintendents hope fourth time a charm BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570
More on A8
The County School Facility Occupation Tax will be on the ballot in Whiteside County for the fourth time in 7 years, but the county’s nine school districts hope the results will be different this time. Voters have turned back the sales tax referendum each time. Opponents had 54.2 percent of the vote last year. Also known as the 1 percent sales tax, the local option was written into state law in 2007 as a means of shifting some of the burden for school funding from property taxes. If the school tax is approved by voters Nov. 4, the sales tax on many purchases in Whiteside County will rise to 7.75 percent, from 6.75 percent. Most of that is state sales tax.
See how much funding each local school district stands to gain, should the referendum pass. The money from the tax can be used only for maintaining, renovating and upgrading existing school buildings, new construction projects, and paying off bonds sold for buildings and maintenance purposes. The tax is not assessed on groceries, medication, services, farm equipment, cars, trucks, ATVs, boats, RVs, and mobile homes. With state funding dwindling, the county’s superintendents say they are increasingly challenged to keep up with maintenance expenses incurred with aging buildings. In the Rock Falls High School district, the situation has
reached a tipping point, Superintendent Ron McCord said. “Our high school was built in 1920, and our Operations and Maintenance Fund is at a critical state,” McCord said. McCord said several pricey projects must be done in the next year, including new roofs over the main gymnasium foyer area and over the stadium locker rooms. Without the sales tax increase, which would raise an estimated $340,000 a year for his district, property taxpayers will again have to foot the bill, McCord said. “We’ve drained Health/Life Safety and working cash, so without the sales tax, we’ll be forced to issue more bonds and raise [property] taxes as soon as possible,” he said. SHOT CONTINUED ON A8
STATE’S HARVEST PROGRESSES, BUT TRAILS AVERAGE CLIP
ELECTION 2014 |
17TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT RACE
Bustos, Schilling hit trail Campaigns going mobile, keying on middle class, jobs BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529
The middle class, jobs and the economy are expected to be the topics both Cheri Bustos and Bobby Schilling talk about on the campaign trail in the final week leading up to the election. The race for the state’s 17th CongresCheri sional District seat Bustos will be a rematch of the 2012 election, when Bustos, D-East Moline, defeated then-incumbent Schilling, R-Colona, who had served one term in office. Bobby In the past several Schilling months, both candidates have had national party leaders campaigning for them in the state. TRAIL CONTINUED ON A4
Bios on A4 Biographical information on candidates in 17th Congressional District, 36th Senate District races
36TH SENATE DISTRICT RACE
Firefighter challenging Sen. Jacobs Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Leaving a trail of dust and corn stover in his wake, a farmer harvests a field of corn Monday afternoon just outside Dixon. According to the Illinois Crop Progress and Condition report released Monday by the USDA, the state’s corn harvest is 59 percent complete, 13 percentage points shy of the 5-year average and 12 points off the completion percentage as of Oct. 26, 2013. But the harvest was up 16 points compared to Oct. 19, when it was 43 percent complete. The soybean harvest is 63 percent complete, 14 points behind the 5-year average and 20 off last year’s pace.
WEATHER GOOD FOR HARVEST ... IN THE WATER, TOO • A group of siblings from Oregon (right) learn the ropes – or lines? – from their grandmother while fishing at Lowell Park in Dixon. If you didn’t get out to enjoy the unusually warm weather Monday, you can live vicariously through the grandkids with more photos on A11. • Is it time to work smarter, not harder, on the farm? Read about high-tech equipment that helps a Granville farmer better manage his yield on A12.
Term limits central point of contention BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570
State Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, cites his experience as a compelling reason to re-elect him to the 36th District Illinois Senate seat. Republican challenger Neil Anderson sees the incumbent’s 9 years in the state legislaMike ture as an example Jacobs of why term limits are needed. Anderson, a firefighter and paramedic in Moline, said fighting to get term limits instituted would be his top priNeil ority, if he is elected. Anderson CHALLENGING CONTINUED ON A4
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TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 163 ISSUE 126
INDEX
ABBY ................... A7 BUSINESS ......... A12 COMICS ............... A9
CROSSWORD....B12 LIFESTYLE ........... A7 LOTTERY ............. A2
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
Today’s weather High 59. Low 37. More on A3.
Trick or treat Find your local time, A8.
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