Galesburg Council on Tuesday learned that there was a surprisingly high utility bill for the former Churchill Junior Building for part of November and December. Ward 7's Larry Cox pointed out the designated site of a community center has a bill close to $11,000 for the month. Parks and Recreation Director Elizabeth Varner called it a "shocker". Varner says she's contacted District 205 to find out why that bill is so high compared to last year when it was under District 205's care. 205 said there are storm trap doors that are a part of the problem. 205 also said they would have staff turn the heat on and off frequently. Since this expenditure wasn't anticipated Council Member Bradley Hix asked where near $11,000 funds would come from or what would need to be cut. City Manager Gerald Smith said he would work with Finance Director Gloria Osborn to address the shortage. Mayor Peter Schwartzman agrees that the high utility bill was "surprising". Schwa
Galesburg Council discussed the home rule sales tax increase on Monday that would increase revenue by about $950,000 annually. City Manager Gerald Smith says this is a means to funding infrastructure improvements and a portion of a community center, possibly in the form of issuing bonds and paying off the bonds with the new revenue. Smith says this is not an uncommon strategy for fixing capital infrastructure adding many city roads that have gone years without significant improvements. Right now about $400,000 annually is earmarked for capital projects. Alderman Bradley Hix says he's worried that borrowing or taking out bonds would be too costly because of high-interest rates. Alderwoman Jaclyn Smith-Esters asked if it was possible to reduce the food and beverage tax by .25%. Finance Director Gloria Osborne says that would impact the General Fund by about $200,000, and because public safety is funded out of the general fund, Osborne says she wouldn't recommend that. Mayor Pet
Galesburg Council had first reading of their 2023 property tax levy on Monday night and the $9.7 million levy is flat compared with last year. Based on the current Estimated Assessed Value from the 2022 tax levy, the property tax rate for the City would be approximately $2.64 for every $100 of assessed property value. About half of the levy is marked for police and fire pensions, about a quarter if for the corporate fund, and 17 percent is for the Galesburg Public Library.