The Jacksonville city council learned last night from the mayor’s office that the good state of Illinois giveth, as well was taketh away.
Jacksonville mayor Andy Ezard told the council during the workshop session Governor JB Pritzker put money in the surplus to success program.
This program was introduced in the city last year, and is designed to begin funding the process to take down buildings at the abandoned Jacksonville Development Center.
Ezard says that program has been proposed to be funded for this year.
The mayor says this may be an incremental process, once it begins.
He’s encouraged that the JDC grounds remains in the state’s plans.
But, Ezard says the unfunded mandates from the state took a hit with a slight reduction of state monies
He says the drop in funds for local governments was only 2-tenths of a percent, but the state had made headway in previous years to increase the fund for cities.
The Jacksonville city council gave final approval for the new low speed electric bicycle ordinance. There was some confusion among aldermen that the law would keep the bikes off city streets. But, police chief Doug Thompson says the only streets not to allow electric bike thru traffic were Walnut, Main and Morton.
The council agreed to give $10-thousand a piece to the Jacksonville Area Community Food Center, the Jacksonville Festival of Lights and the Governor Duncan Association. The lone no vote on the council was only for the donation to the Jacksonville Festival of Lights, and that came from alderwoman Terri Heape. She argued because the event charged $10 a person, it was restrictive for financial reasons for people unable to pay.
The money comes from the tax on video gaming in the city.
And, the council learned the owners of the Cherry Apartments on West State, the scene of a fire last month, are now on the clock. The city filed papers on the 13th, and once it clears the courts after 15 days, the city can take steps to take down the building. The city would still like to bill the owners for the demolition.