Post by sushi on Mar 27, 2008 5:01:53 GMT -6
Furstenau suit blamed for property tax hike
Editor's note: This is the text of the letter Councilman Grant Wehrli read at Wednesday afternoon's Naperville City Council meeting relative to setting the property tax rate.
We are about to vote for the largest municipal property tax rate increase in 17 years.
In a time when we are all feeling the sting of a difficult economy, this is a difficult thing to do.
As a city we run a very lean business. Even a slight decrease in revenues causes us to look at cutting expenses in response. We are at a point now where any further cuts would cause us to decrease the service level of critical city functions. It may come to this, but it is something that I would rather not do.
I do have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers to let them know this. Two-thirds of this tax increase is to pay for the defense of the city and its employees from the litigation filed by Councilman (Dick) Furstenau. Without this litigation the bulk of this tax increase would not be necessary. These facts can be verified through the city's finance department.
The city of Naperville has a statutory requirement to defend its employees when they are acting within the scope of their employment. Even without this legal requirement to defend our employees, it is the right thing to do. Our employees are some of the most professional people in municipal government or any other industry that I have ever worked with. However Councilman Furstenau, if you think there is wrongdoing in any of our departments; bring the facts to this council. I don't think any of us would stand for anything less than the highest level of ethics and professionalism in our workplace. Transparency in government is a must.
As the scope of this lawsuit has ballooned, so have the costs.
Councilman Furstenau, through his attorneys, has made it clear that he will expand this lawsuit to include anyone who speaks out against him or has a different viewpoint on issues than his. Unfortunately this trend will most likely continue and the only people that will benefit are the attorneys on both sides.
Councilman Furstenau, we were all elected to put our personal interests aside when conducting city business and do what is best for the city of Naperville and all of its residents. Your own self interest is causing the largest municipal tax rate increase in 17 years. In the best interest of all taxpayers, I implore you, take a long look at what you are doing. Your current course of action only benefits the lawyers and is an unnecessary financial burden to all residents.
Grant Wehrli
Councilman
City of Naperville
Editor's note: This is the text of the letter Councilman Grant Wehrli read at Wednesday afternoon's Naperville City Council meeting relative to setting the property tax rate.
We are about to vote for the largest municipal property tax rate increase in 17 years.
In a time when we are all feeling the sting of a difficult economy, this is a difficult thing to do.
As a city we run a very lean business. Even a slight decrease in revenues causes us to look at cutting expenses in response. We are at a point now where any further cuts would cause us to decrease the service level of critical city functions. It may come to this, but it is something that I would rather not do.
I do have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers to let them know this. Two-thirds of this tax increase is to pay for the defense of the city and its employees from the litigation filed by Councilman (Dick) Furstenau. Without this litigation the bulk of this tax increase would not be necessary. These facts can be verified through the city's finance department.
The city of Naperville has a statutory requirement to defend its employees when they are acting within the scope of their employment. Even without this legal requirement to defend our employees, it is the right thing to do. Our employees are some of the most professional people in municipal government or any other industry that I have ever worked with. However Councilman Furstenau, if you think there is wrongdoing in any of our departments; bring the facts to this council. I don't think any of us would stand for anything less than the highest level of ethics and professionalism in our workplace. Transparency in government is a must.
As the scope of this lawsuit has ballooned, so have the costs.
Councilman Furstenau, through his attorneys, has made it clear that he will expand this lawsuit to include anyone who speaks out against him or has a different viewpoint on issues than his. Unfortunately this trend will most likely continue and the only people that will benefit are the attorneys on both sides.
Councilman Furstenau, we were all elected to put our personal interests aside when conducting city business and do what is best for the city of Naperville and all of its residents. Your own self interest is causing the largest municipal tax rate increase in 17 years. In the best interest of all taxpayers, I implore you, take a long look at what you are doing. Your current course of action only benefits the lawyers and is an unnecessary financial burden to all residents.
Grant Wehrli
Councilman
City of Naperville
Otherwise it gets really boring. When I saw your posts this morning, I just knew sushi was going to be on the menu today.. hehe..