Oct 3
| Contract/ Agreement | Maximum Accumulation Comp Time | Maximum Payout Comp Time | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFSCME | 240 hours | 240 hours | City can pay out some or all comp at any time |
| FOP | 146 hours | 130 hours | |
| IAFF | 205 hours | 205 hours | |
| Chp 3/Mgt. | 60 days | 60 days | Employee can request a 1-time buyout prior to retirement |
Yes, that’s correct: on Planet CityofDeKalb, some employees get to accumulate comp time for years and years.
And, yes: for management employees, the maximum payout is 60 DAYS. Read the rest of this entry
Oct 2
Here is the southwest corner of Route 38 and Seventh Street, a high-traffic area where the city bought up Ralph’s place and demolished it with TIF money in the name of economic development.
I’ll bet we’ve spent more than $150,000 on this property and all we’ve got to show for it is an overgrown, overpriced flowerpot. Where are the For Sale signs? Does city hall have none to spare?
Oct 1
Farmers’ and Traders’ State Bank in Shabbona recently agreed to accept a Consent Order from the FDIC. FDIC issued the order one month ago and made it public yesterday, as is its usual procedure.
Yesterday also a bank in Plano, Texas, became the 74th bank to close in the U.S. in 2011. Bank failures peaked last year at 157, and in 2009 we had 140. Failing banks tend to be smaller this year than in the past few.
Still, the list of troubled institutions continues to grow. FDIC does not publish its official problem banks list, but Calculated Risk Blog has posted an unofficial list using public information since August 2009 when its count was 389, and by the end of this past July it was 995. The list does not include bank failures or unassisted mergers.
CR’s on citybarbs’ Public Policy blogroll. It’s my go-to for housing information.
Sep 30
Continuing what I started yesterday:
| Contract/ Muni Code | Max Accumulation Sick Leave | Max Payout Sick Leave |
|---|---|---|
| AFSCME | 330 working days | 90 working days |
| FOP* | 117 working days | 90 working days |
| IAFF | 51.33 hr weekly schedule: 52 shifts 37.5 hr weekly schedule: 120 shifts | 51.33 hr schedule: 45 shifts, & equivalent for 37.5 hr schedule |
| Chp. 3/Management | 330 working days | 90 working days |
Sep 29
Chicago City Council proposes reduction of vacation time payouts:
As it now stands, departing longtime employees can get paid for up to 75 vacation days they did not take while working for the city. Under Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan, the number would decrease to 30 at the start of 2013.
[...]
The changes are in part a response to the recent vacation cash-outs taken by departing officials from former Mayor Richard Daley’s administration.For example, former Police Superintendent Jody Weis got more than $76,000 for 64 unused vacation days. Through the end of last month, the city paid out $9.5 million in unused vacation pay, according to the Emanuel administration.
How do City of DeKalb vacation payouts compare with Chicago’s? Actually, quite favorably — at least on paper. Read the rest of this entry
Sep 25
This table was part of Friday’s long post, but deserves some attention of its own.
| Per Capita Debt, City of DeKalb | Per Capita Debt, Overlapping | Total Per Capita Debt, City of DeKalb Residents |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2004 | 467.10 | 608.75 | 1075.85 |
| FY2005 | 519.82 | 623.71 | 1143.53 |
| FY2006 | 505.96 | 617.67 | 1123.63 |
| FY2007 | 470.28 | 697.11 | 1167.39 |
| FY2008 | 578.46 | 1004.14 | 1582.60 |
| FY2009 | 521.54 | 889.79 | 1411.33 |
| FY2010 | 564.31 | 1,428.29 | 1992.60 |
You can find the breakdown of the FY2010 overlapping debt in this document, on p. 153.
FY2010 ended June 30, 2010. Let’s look at some of the GO bond issues since that date:
DeKalb County: $16,000,000, 10/14/2010
School District 428: $38,001,359.50, 8/4/2010
City of DeKalb: $9,320,000, 12/01/2010
City of DeKalb: $550,000, 10/5/2010 Read the rest of this entry
Sep 24
Rated PG-13 for language.
He’ll appear at the Egyptian Theatre October 6.
Sep 23
As a Home Rule community, DeKalb has no state-imposed legal limit on its indebtedness.
Non-Home-Rule municipalities (at least those under 500,000 population) do have a limit. It’s 8.625%* of the taxable value of the properties within their boundaries, and they must report compliance with the limit by computing Legal Debt Margins for their Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs).
Out of curiosity, I calculated DeKalb’s debt margin for the last few years to see if the city stays within the limit even though it doesn’t have to. Here’s where it led me. Read the rest of this entry
Sep 21
You thought they learned their lesson with the skating rink? Hah!
Sep 18
In this age when lies and prejudices masquerade as truth as never before, it can be very difficult to figure out what’s factual, and which sources to trust.
Nowhere is this more the case than in macroeconomics, yet we must decide upon which economic policies and legislation to support — soon.
One of my sources is Paul Krugman, because of what he’s demonstrably gotten right over the past four years. Krugman was one of the people to call the housing bubble a bubble, when other leading economists were claiming that the age of bubbles was past. He was able to explain to me, a child of the 70s, why hyperinflation was not going to happen this time. He correctly predicted where the stimulus would be found wanting, and that austerity measures at the federal level would lead to continued high unemployment.
Today in his blog, Krugman warns that the situation appears to be taking a turn that would make climbing out of the hole harder. Read the rest of this entry