©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| Galesburg Mayor's Goals: No New Taxes, Work On Existing Goals |
Galesburg's mayor says he supports the city manager's assertion that 2009 doesn't need to see many more goals other than those that are already being worked on, and also says he will support nothing that costs the taxpayers more money.
Mayor Gary Smith told a Galesburg City Council goal-setting session Monday night that he, like Dane Bragg, believes the multi-year projects like the construction of a new water plant at Oquawka and the efforts to get train overpasses in town built should be at the top of the list, but he also doesn't want to support anything that involves a tax increase.
Smith tells WGIL anything that will raise taxes on residents right now is, in his words, a terrible idea. "People need to spend what few dollars they have more on discretionary items," Smith said. "We can get it through tax dollars, or we can get it through them spending money at Wal-Mart. But spending money at Wal-Mart at least increases the employment level -- and at other places it increases the employment level there."
Smith says he's not against new taxes if there's a compelling need for them -- he says Fiscal Year 2009 isn't the year for them.
The City Council Monday night heard, among other ideas, from a resident who wants most of the project that would turn Peck Peck into an improved train track viewing destination abandoned, because he says it doesn't really serve the needs of railroad enthusiasts.
Aldermen also urged the city to take a more active approach in marketing Logistics Park Galesburg -- one alderman saying she is losing faith in the current developers, making an indirect reference to the Galesburg Regional Economic Development Association. |
|
| 08 12 08 by Newsroom |
Click here for the WGIL News Archive
Click here for national news
The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.
