Comments on: An open letter to council

By: HS

HS — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:54:06 +0000

I think community events produce a lot of benefit to any town. Unfortunately it’s not all measureable, and I suppose sometimes you have to manage for the short term as the council has done. Eliminating the visitors that come for the bike race and Heritage Fest will also place many of our businesses “out of sight, out of mind”, especially to people from other towns. They won’t think of this as a shopping or entertainment or dining destination. Then the sales tax revenue will shrink even further and even more cuts will have to be made.
I think it was Barnett who said something like “Our town is defined by its core services”. Well, I think a town’s appeal and character are defined to a great extent by what there is to do. Community events are an investment. An investment that stretches beyond the mere calendar dates of the event.

There was a cut in the entertainment investment this past year, and as a result I went to the Fest only a time or two. When there were more notable bands in the past, I was down there constantly and spent more money and took note of some shops that I’d otherwise miss just driving by. Shopped at them throughout the year too!

As for “throwing a party” during tough economic times,…I say this is precisely the time to have such events. When families have to cut back on decent vacations & trips & luxuries, it’s the local stuff like this that makes it more bearable.

Sorry for rambling.

By: Trish

Trish — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:28:51 +0000

There is no reason that some of these clubs can’t continue on with their events. I feel that the craft faire would still be supported, the people who attend and shop the craft faire are still going to want to do that, Heritage Fest or not. People are still going to buy food from some local group at the craft show. On or two of the non-profit organizations can organize the show and still make some funds. It is not the end of the world.

By: Dilbert

Dilbert — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:37:34 +0000

I do feel sorry for that police officer that spoke up in the meeting last week. I would hope that he can find another job until he gets called back as a police officer. Not sure how long he has, but some union jobs have up to 5 years that they are called back. Hope he does well for himself and we welcome him back one day soon. That being said, I feel bad for every counselor losing their job, every Heritage Fest/Village worker that is out a job, every charity that counted on Heritage Fest for funds (ie – one of the women’s club sponsored the craft fair), and anyone else out a job.

My nephew had some problems when his mom passed away, and used the village counselors. They helped him a lot. The family did not have a lot of money and there is a sliding scale used to pay for help. I personally have never used them, but know that they are there to help. I have never heard how much this service was used. It is not something that people will generally advertise. How many hours of counseling per year did they do? Whatever the number, people will now have to go somewhere. I am sure there is some type of service that the county can provide, but it is nice having some help in your back yard…not going all the way out to the county buildings.

The City of Naperville laid off 43. They still have a deficit, and raised taxes 11%. They are still having their fests. Why? Because they charge for their fests and make a good penny. Instead of cancelling, could they have just put up snow fence around the fest and charged admission? Or just charge for the beer garden each night and not give the money to move some old house. Charge $5 to enter the craft fair….and keep the money from crafters for the village. I agree with Ben Franklin….lets make some money, not lose money on community events.

The one thing I will always miss is the ice carving. Hosting this Ice carving always guranteed me one thing…..a 50 degree day in February!!! Did we ever have a sub-32 degree day for this event???

By: Chad D. Walz

Chad D. Walz — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:41:58 +0000

As far as the school boards…

They just say its for the kids and the people just give them the money…what a crock!

By: Chad D. Walz

Chad D. Walz — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:41:20 +0000

Why should the taxpayers pay for either?

By: It's not about the money

It's not about the money — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:52:36 +0000

Dilbert,
why should the union have to pay for mismanagement by the police department?

By: DGDAD

DGDAD — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:41:46 +0000

Dilbert,

You hit the nail on the head…School boards laughing about making agonizing decisions about cutting expenses….

By: Dilbert

Dilbert — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:43:42 +0000

Hey “It’s not about the money”

I assume you are a police officer with your response. You seem to be getting your raise next year based on the info on page 15 of the proposed budget. Now did the police union ever offer to give up their raise in order to save the officers jobs??

On a separate note, I cannot believe how much information there is online about the budget. While I do understand that it is important to be frugal, I just feel that there is a lot of discussion here about what amounts to a small amount of money. If we keep the fest, meals on wheels, and counseling, it seems to add up to about $12 on my tax bill. I understand the “Core Services” statement, but we need a community. We need to help the people that need a little help. Are we really cutting the meals on wheels?? How is eating not core service?? We are really cutting the counseling?

The school boards are laughing that we are making agonizing decisions over such a small amount of money. Schools are where the VAST majority of our money goes to, and no one on here ever talks about the money the school boards spend, only about the personality conflicts that are present on the boards. Have we been asleep at the wheel. Does anyone know what increases there will be at the school districts??? 65% of my tax bill is 58 and 99. 9% is from the village.

If the village increases my tax 10% I pay $40 more.

If the schools increase my taxes 5%, I pay $225.

By: George Swimmer

George Swimmer — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:30:54 +0000

Black Friday, 5AM and the Wal Mart, Target, Best Buy parking lots are full. People have money and are spending it. Can HF find ways of at least breaking even?

By: Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:41:51 +0000

I never thought much of Heritage Fest. With a significant decline in revenues, the village has a huge problem, and is making what really isn’t a very hard choice. How we ever got to a point where there were that many well-compensated people working on money losing community events is beyond me. Seriously – that should be a question everyone is asking.

Take a look at the charts that the Village Manager showed at last week’s meeting. The last four years have been a disaster for this town. Only by cutting expenses has the village been able to keep a balanced budget. Since that is an unsustainable model, we can all count on increased taxes – with or without Heritage Fest. The headcount reductions are only going to need to increase, because the village’s revenue stream is not going to come back anytime soon. Many major retailers and car dealers are gone for good. The shift to online purchases will continue to increase, bringing down even more local retailers. The shift away from local retail has already hit the downtown market as recent events demonstrate.

Here’s a concept – with fewer people on the village payroll, there will be less pension obligations to worry about – and then we can bring back the fest. In 2043.