City council to vote on tax levy

Mackenzie Freund, City Editor

After being put on file for public inspection, the Charleston City Council will be voting on the Annual tax levy ordinance for the next fiscal year beginning May 1st 2016.

The levy will be voted on during the City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Charleston City Hall.

The council will also be voting on two resolutions for transferring tourism funds for two events happening in December 2015 and July 2016.

The Charleston Tourism Advisory Board met on Monday to recommend the transfer of funds from the tourism department

The funds being transferred from the tourism department will be used for the Girls Holiday Tournament and for the Red White and Blue days.

The Trojan Booster Club requested $1,000 for the Girls Holiday Tournament happening on Dec. 28th trough the 30th of 2015; the request was submitted by Diane Ratliff, the tourism supervisor.

There is a resolution to also give $5,000 of tourism funds to the Fourth of July Committee for entertainment expenses, according to the City Council agenda.

The expenses will be used for the Red White and Blue days happening on July 3rd and 4th.

Both resolutions have a staff suggestion to approve and waive the layover period.

Also on the agenda is a resolution to appoint an Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Agent, or IMRF.

According to the resolution, it is necessary to appoint an authorizing agent for IMRF reporting and in the past it has been the Director of Human Resources who is appointed.

The resolution says “it is the opinion of the City Council of the City of Charleston that in the absence of a Director of Human Resources, the Comptroller should be appointed as the IMRF Authorized Agent.”

The staff recommendation is to waive the layover period and approve of Comptroller Heather Kuykendall to be appointed the IMRF agent.

The City Council will also be voting on the approval of a petition of KB Properties and Development LLC.

The application was submitted by Kirby Johnson, of KB Properties and Development, LLC. The application says a brief project description is an “addition to adjacent property 1920 18th to facilitate business growth.”

A letter from Lori Douglas was included with the application that says she, as managing partner and owner of LHLD, LLC, also known as Dirt Doctorz, entered into an agreement with Johnson to sell the property.

A hearing on the petition was held by the Charleston Board and Zoning Appeals and Planning, BZAP, on Dec. 10th and was voted on to approve the petition. BZAP recommends that the City Council waive layover period and approve.

Along with the names resolutions and ordinances, the City Council will also be voting on items in the consent agenda, including meeting minutes from the Dec. 1st meeting, payroll, bills payable, the comptrollers report, and four raffle licenses.

The raffle licenses are for four events happening between Jan. 1st and Feb. 1st 2016.

The Charleston Rotary Club will be doing a weekly raffle from Jan. 1st to Dec. 31st 2016 to raise money for technology in Charleston Schools and other projects.

The raffle will be at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Charleston Carnegie Public Library according to the agenda.

The Selfless Volleyball Academy began a raffle sale across the city on Dec. 7th to reduce the cost of club volleyball for children to play.

The winners will be chosen on Jan. 6th at Jefferson Elementary at 7 p.m.

The Kiwanis Club of Charleston submitted a raffle license for an event at the Moose Lodge #1388, 615 7th St., on Jan. 29th at 7 p.m. to raise funds for community service projects.

The purpose of the last raffle license is to “recognize and give a little something back to our dedicated employees” of the City of Charleston.

The raffle is set to begin on Feb. 1st. Winners will be announced that same day between 6:30 and 7 p.m.

There will also be an annual city audit review done at the end of the meeting before the public presentations begin, done by Kelsey Swing. Swing is a partner in the accounting firm of Gilbert, Metzger, and Madigan, LLP.

Charleston Mayor Brandon Combs will also be re-appointing Gary Cole, Dale McCullough and Gordon Tucker to the Charleston Tree Commission. Kevin Macy and Ian Pendergast-White will also be appointed to three-year terms.

 

Mackenzie Freund can be reached at 581-2812 or at mgfreund@eiu.edu