Electricity Lawsuit

Posted on August 15, 2014 by seektruth

Law firm Childress Duffy will soon be filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of Batavia’s electricity ratepayers. A community meeting will be held on Thursday, Aug. 21, 6:30pm at the Batavia Public Library for more information and the opportunity to get involved.

Update: Lawsuit was filed Aug. 19, 2014 at 9:03am in Kane County, IL. View the lawsuit here. 

If you are concerned that Batavia’s electricity rates are so high–with no relief in sight–and wish to join the class action suit, please visit prairiestateenergycampusclassaction.com and sign up. “The success of this class action is dependent upon the involvement of a large number of Batavia citizens,” says Childress Duffy.

Background on the Prairie State electricity contract can be found here as well.

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Workshop: Tax Increase, $15 Million Referendum

Posted on August 15, 2014 by seektruth

The proposed school board budget, now on display, includes expectation of the maximum tax increase they can legally get–an anticipated 1.5% increase (adjusted to the Consumer Price Index). So your taxes will go up again next year. There was no discussion of freezing or making cuts to the budget in any way. To their credit, the school board scheduled their public hearing on their budget for Tuesday, Sep. 16, 5pm.–NOT on the night of the vote as was their custom, but a week early to allow them time to consider public opinion. Mark your calendar.

The referendum that they voted to put on the Nov. ballot is for $15 in alternate revenue bonds. Continue reading →

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$15 Million School District Bonds?

Posted on August 2, 2014 by seektruth

At the July 29, 2014 Batavia School Board Finance Committee’s noon meeting (video here), the maintenance shed was a big item on the agenda. It seems fixing the current building for $135,000 is no longer being considered (the building may be used for cold storage of salt and mulch), and the focus has shifted to renovating and leasing-to-own a building owned by former school board president Ron Link at 804 W. Main St. The cost of renovation to get that building to move-in condition is estimated to be $424,000 (Mr. Link offered a $150,000 incentive against that cost), with a $12,000/month lease. This was the building that started at $1.5 million (p.115/193) in the original athletic fields redevelopment plan, grew to $3.1 million by the May 27, 2014 presentation, then $4.5 million by the June 24, 2014 Finance Committee meeting.

In order to finance this, along with the rest of the athletic fields redevelopment plan (like artificial turf), as well as other anticipated capital improvements like roofs and parking lots, Asst. Superintendent of Finance Kris Monn proposed issuing $15 million in alternate revenue bonds, to be repaid at the rate of $1.2 million/yr over 20 years. Continue reading →

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Batavia High School Artificial Turf?

Posted on June 12, 2014 by seektruth

On May 27, 2014, at the BPS101 School Board’s Finance Committee noon meeting, the sports boosters proposed to pay for the estimated $1.5 million artificial turf for the football stadium through a pledge of $100,000/yr. Aside from the additional cost to the taxpayers who would front the money (as well as interest, financing costs, maintenance, and replacement costs upwards of $400,000 every 8-10 yrs), what has not been talked about is that the use of artificial turf is controversial. Continue reading →

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