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Staff recommends keeping current system On Tuesday council will again visit the next garbage contract.  DGreport readers already know the options, but now staff has weighed in, recommending the existing program be kept in place for another three years.  This is a first reading (workshop) of that motion, and council is expected to vote next week on [...]

Village Operation Center workers will see raises In December of 2008, the Village Operation Center (VOC) employees voted to unionize and choose the Fraternal Order of Police as their exclusive bargaining agent. The unit is comprised of all full time operators. Staff has been negotiating a collective bargaining agreement since April of 2009. Staff has [...]

Tuesday was the Long Range Financial Planning meeting (see Required reading for background, as well as category budget for DGreports extensive posts on past budgets).  Barnett and Beckman were unable to attend.  All the curve balls and budget sucker punches thrown by the state we’ve already discussed.  There was a general agreement among council members that the existing [...]

At the last June council meeting Mayor Sandack referred to 4-5 resident comments on the village website regarding Long Term Financial Planning that starts on June 29th. The lack of input may be from lack of information. This link will take you direct to a 15 page village summary report on the current financial state, [...]

The state’s unfunded pension debt passed the $85 billion mark this summer.  That unfunded liability is squeezing out money for other valued needs, such as education and health care. It means the state has less money for things like child-care aid and fixing roads and schools, or paying some of the $1 billion it owes [...]

IL lawmakers get busy solving every problem. Nah, just kidding, they got busy sinking taxpayers even deeper in the red with irresponsible lawmaking.

Updated: 4 p.m. The village has added a page to its website explaining its share of residents’ property tax bills and linking to tax bill information presented by Assistant Village Manager Mike Baker at the May 4 council meeting. The village also uploaded a video of Baker’s presentation to YouTube, which can be accessed by [...]

The state is pulling us off the same cliff edge they jumped off years ago. David Vaught, Governor Quinn’s budget director, announced Quinn’s intention of reducing income tax payments to municipalities in Illinois by 30%. “You need to take a look and say OK, does everybody have skin in the game here?” Vaught said. “It [...]

At least 80 parents, students and teachers, including representatives of the Downers Grove Education Association, attended the Feb. 22 D99 school board meeting in an effort to convince the board to rehire North High science teacher Andrew Klamm, who reportedly will be denied tenure. Anticipating the large turn out, the meeting was moved to the [...]

Despite the elimination of the equivalent of 25.65 full-time positions, the Village of Downers Grove has managed to keep most of those employees on the job. “I’m happy to report there was a minimum number who actually left employment with the village,” said Village Manager Dave Fieldman. Only three full-time and four part-time employees actually [...]