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Mayor Issues Caution About Capital Budget
Getting the state of Illinois' promised share of money for three proposed rail crossing grade separations might almost be easier said than done.

That's according to Galesburg mayor and state employee Sal Garza, who issued a note of caution to the City Council Monday during a budget work session about the amount of money promised to fund the state's new capital bill.

Garza told aldermen from what he's hearing, if they thought the capital bill would actually be fully funded for now, think again.

"The bonding, as I understand it, is less than half of what was approved and placed," Garza said. "So it's approximately about $15 million. That's a concern. Just because a capital spending bill has been approved, doesn't necessarily mean the money is there, or the capability to get the money."

City Manager Dane Bragg told aldermen he's aware of that, and says before any work is started, grant agreements with the Illinois Department of Transportation will have to be executed first. And he says the city is looking into getting a line of credit established, too, in part, because of how historically slow the state has been in paying its bills.

The largest amount of the city's $36 million capital budget is for the three-proposed rail crossing overpasses at East Main, West Main, and North Seminary Streets, with bids being let on the West Main overpass around September of next year.
10 21 09 by Newsroom
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