ScottTapley's blog

It's true...I am leaving Champaign County.  I accepted a portfolio manager position with 1st Source Investment Advisors, a registered investment advisor that owns the Monogram Mutual Fund family and manages nearly $3 billion in client assets.  I will begin working there by December 10.

I have deeply mixed emotions about leaving the area.  I've made a huge personal investment in the community and will dearly miss many friends, but I am very excited about joining the 1st Source organization.

I'm very grateful to Van Dukeman and Greg Lykins for the professional opportunities they provided me since they joined Bank of Illinois (now Busey Bank) in 1994.  I think I would have thoroughly enjoyed working with Scott MacAdam, Curt Anderson and other members of the Busey Wealth Management team, and I wish them all the best as they move forward in the merged company.

I'm also grateful for the opportunity to have served residents of S.W. Champaign County for nearly 10 years.  I've had a blast participating in several grass roots political activities, most notably organizing the anti-tax citizens group "We're Residents Against Tax Hikes," or W.R.A.T.H. (advocating in favor of the property tax cap, opposing two 1/4-cent sales tax referenda), and working with residents of S.W. Champaign to fight back against the CUMTD's forced annexation crusade (since the court allowed the CSWMTD board to intervene, the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of CUMTD's annexation powers will be able to continue moving forward with or without me).  I will miss some aspects of being a public official, but I will also enjoy some newfound anonymity for awhile.

I feel like I learned a lot during my tenure on the Champaign County Board.  I served in both the majority and the minority, during times of hyper-partisan divisiveness and more recently during a period of bi-partisan cooperation.  It is much more productive and worthwhile for the people of Champaign County when everyone works together, and I hope my colleagues in both parties will keep that in mind and resist the tendency to reject an idea simply because it originated from the wrong party or personality.

I intend to wait until a replacement has been found before resigning my county board seat, to ensure continuity in representation for District #3.  Let me know if you live in District #3 and are interested in the open seat.

The News-Gazette gave the CUMTD a quarter-page guest commentary to respond to Sue Schimmel's letter to the editor, and since they refused to print Sue's rebuttal you can only read it here on IP:

I am sorry that Mr. Anderson feels discouraged by criticism of the CU-MTD.  I am not sure what issues he feels we strayed from, but allow me to be clear where the "vocal minority" stands on the issues we feel need investigation.

1. We simply don't understand how a "vocal minority" can be blamed for the lack of communication between the MTD board and those that want and need MTD service.  Where buses are needed most (Public Health District, Plastipak, the North Prospect area as examples), a deaf ear is the result.  The MTD professes great interest in serving the community, but they manage to slight those that need it most and force themselves upon those that don't use the service.  It seems that listening is not one of the MTD board's fortes.  A very vocal MAJORITY told the MTD board that service was not wanted or needed in certain areas, but the result was forced annexation.  They insist that they know what's best for every element of our community, yet areas where buses are needed and wanted, service is lacking.  It stands to reason (also not an MTD forte) that we question their motivations.
2. Mr. Anderson tells us that we should feel good that the Federal government regularly reviews MTD operations.  Frankly, Mr. Anderson, the Federal Government doing anything does not make me feel good.  Rather "the vocal minority" would like to see some local investigation of what we feel are glaring inadequacies--the wastefulness and inefficiency of empty buses running where they are not needed, rate fare increases, and the highest tax rate of any MTD in the state of Illinois.  How are all of the millions and millions of dollars they receive from taxpayers each year being spent?
3. The MTD's mantra that the "vocal minority" are uncaring, self-serving members of this community who care not a whit about the "visually impaired, physically disabled and those who choose to use" the MTD is an offensive, unfair insult.  There are many in "the vocal minority" who give generously to wonderful community organizations that benefit the entire CU community.  There are also many more of the "vocal minority" who give of their time and talents to a multitude of community organizations.  In this case, Mr. Anderson, you don't have the "full story."  And if you think we don't pay taxes to support the MTD, I ask you where the $210,333 comes from that Unit 4 pays annually to the MTD to transport students?  Where does the $12.5 million come from that the State of Illinois gives you?  Where does the Federal grant money you receive each year come from?  All of that money is OUR money, OUR tax dollars, OUR contribution to the MTD.  We are tired of being painted as "self-serving" community members by the MTD board!  To imply that we are shirking our responsibility to this community simply because we don't want the CU-MTD in our area is ridiculous.
4. "The vocal minority" is pleased that the MTD can brag about the fact that 94% of 54% of households in CU are satisfied with the MTD.  I wonder if the parents of the most recently killed student are among that group?  Let me remind you of another set of statistics.  The areas which contain the "vocal minority" voted 79% to 21% to establish our own MTD district.  Why?  Because we know we can assess our areas needs and serve the very few who need public transport FAR more economically and efficiently that the CU-MTD.  The "vocal minority" does not believe in taxation without representation, a concept on which this country was founded.  We put a question on the ballot and people voted to fund our own MTD.  That happened before we were forcibly annexed into the CU-MTD district.
5. I strongly question that the CU-MTD should brag about "reduced congestion" and "improved air quality."  My neighbor and I carpool to the North Prospect area and on our way stop at the Community Recycling Center to drop off our plastic, glass, cardboard, tin, magazines and catalogs. I suggest we are being far better stewards of the environment than the numerous empty MTD buses we see on our way spewing fumes, wasting fuel, and causing traffic backups!

Constructive criticism is the way most people change their bad habits.  I ask that the CU-MTD take this criticism to heart and start to listen to ALL elements of the community, make a public accounting of every tax dollar they receive, and stop making negative references about "the vocal minority" who are sick and tired of being slandered simply because we choose to question the aggressive behavior (forced annexations) of the MTD board.

--Sue Schimmel, Champaign

Illinois' ban on fireworks must be the most-ignored and least-enforced law on the books...so, why not just get rid of it?

If our legislators can't agree on a budget, maybe they could agree to restore a small amount of personal freedom and repeal the ban.

It wouldn't reverse much of the damage that's already been done to the business climate in Illinois, but it would likely result in a few new businesses and jobs in the state.

Rod (I'm sure Blagojevich reads IP to keep a pulse on downstate Illinois--that's why he doesn't need to spend any time physically down this way), are you listening?

The Champaign City Council has on its agenda a Resolution Authorizing the Intervention into Cases Involving the Creation of the Southwest Transit District [sic].  You can read for yourself the WHEREAS's to see the reasoning behind the City's desire to intervene.  All of the basis for the City's intervention is predicated upon the assertion that the CSWMTD board is determined not to provide transportation services--clearly a matter of opinion and not substantiated by any CSWMTD board members. 

I'm not an attorney, so I don't understand how the City has any standing intervening in my lawsuit against CUMTD--regardless of whether the CSWMTD chooses to intervene (to me, the CSWMTD has an obvious and legitimate interest in an intervention).

Maybe the CUMTD feels its case is weak and/or the law is so vague they think that believe having the political support of another municipality will help them curry favor with the court? 

The City's intervention may be irrelevant, though, because the questions to be decided by the court are: 1) is the CUMTD's annexation power constitutional (forced annexation without any public petition or vote)? and 2) can the CSWMTD district's voters' rights be disenfranchised by an intentional act by CUMTD to thwart a referendum process to create a separate transit district that began before the CUMTD started their annexation process?

These questions have nothing to do with whether the CUMTD's actions are consistent with the City's agenda, plans or opinions.

The CSWMTD (Champaign South West Mass Transit District) Board met for the first time last Wednesday evening, so an IlliniPundit update is in order.

At the meeting, the new CSWMTD board set out its initial priorities.  The consensus of the board members was that it makes no sense to even have a CSWMTD if the CUMTD's annexation is not overturned by the courts; therefore, priority number one is pursuing resolution of the court case against the forced annexation of parts of the CSWMTD territory.  The CSWMTD board also scheduled a second meeting for Monday, January 21 (7PM at Windsor Road Christian Church) to discuss funding that lawsuit via a small property tax levy which would have to be approved by CSWMTD voters.

The CSWMTD board's intent is to come up with a plan (at the January 21 meeting) to present to voters at a public hearing to be held on February 8, and then, if there appears to be public support at that public hearing, place a tax referendum on the April 17 ballot.  The meeting on the 21st and the public hearing on February 8th will help answer, among other questions, the amount to ask the voters to approve.  An amount equal to 1/10 of the CUMTD's levy was discussed at the first CSWMTD meeting.

If the CSWMTD tax levy is approved, the CSWMTD would join the lawsuit that has been filed (by me) against CUMTD's annexation.  If the CSWMTD levy fails to get voter approval, the CSWMTD would likely dissolve itself and the lawsuit against CUMTD would be dropped (unless an alternate, private funding source materialized).

Past tax referenda haven't fared as poorly within the CSWMTD boundaries as I would have guessed.  In Champaign #2 (the majority of the CSWMTD area), the nursing home capital improvement and the first quarter-cent public safety sales tax passed, and the operating tax for the nursing home, Unit #4, and the second quarter-cent referenda failed.  But Champaign #2 had different boundaries in 1997 and 1998 for the quarter-cent referenda.  So it will be interesting to see how this referendum (if it makes it onto the ballot) turns out.

From a post on porkbusters.org, a bill sponsored by Conservative Senator Tom Coburn and Liberal Senator Barak Obama, The Federal Funding and Accounting Transparency Act, would create a website with access to information on nearly all recipients of federal funding.

A direct quote from the post on porkbusters:

"The bill would work by creating a google-like system where you could search for federal funds, earmarks, pet projects almost as instantly as Senators and Representatives propose them. It would create instant transparency and accountability. Lest we think it's a silly idea, such a system has already been in place in Estonia for the last several years and has shown to be an effective means to incentivize lawmakers not to make wasteful appropriations. What was done in the darkness has been brought into the light."

Read the rest of the post here...

As a financial analyst, I was intrigued by Gov. Blago's purported price tag for his proposed sale of the Illinois Lottery. I realize that prospective buyers would have more information at their disposal than can be garnered from the Illinois Lottery website, but my back-of-the-napkin stab at a valuation is much less than $10 billion. And Blago's estimate of generating $650 million/year for 18 years from $6 billion of the sale proceeds is a stretch to say the least. For discussion purposes, here are some assumptions and quick math for putting a value on the lottery: Assumptions: 1) Buyer is allowed to keep the 33.4 cents of each lottery dollar currently earmarked for education funding. 2) Buyer is required to maintain the current payout ratio of 56.3 cents on the dollar. 3) Buyer continues same level of spending (10 cents of each dollar) on retailers/vendor incentives, employee salaries and advertising. 4) Buyer nets income of $400 million after-tax on the $619 million gross income from former education dollars. 5) Buyer is willing to pay 13 times after-tax earnings (perhaps a generous multiple for a revenue stream that has not been growing lately).

$400 million X 13 = $5.2 Billion

Even if you add in the lottery's $750 million investment portfolio, you only get to $6 billion--nowhere near Blagos' $10 billion estimate. Blago claims he would only need $6 billion to generate $650 million/year (2007 through 2025) to replace the $619 million/year in education funding from the Lottery. But he didn't reveal how he expected to generate the implied 8.5% internal rate of return--perhaps an unreasonable expectation considering the lottery is currently only generating 7.2% on its investment portfolio. Perhaps the same people who are telling the Gov. that delaying contributions to the state's pension plan won't hurt anything are the same folks providing the advice on selling the lottery. NOTE: For those of you who can do math and noticed that my breakdown of the lottery dollar didn't add up to $1, I was using the numbers on the Illinois Lottery website which don't add up to $1 either. :-)

The votes weren't there to approve the CUMTD appointments last night.  But the real news, in my opinion, is that after the meeting Beckett and Wysocki informed me that applications other than Friedman and Stewart will be considered. 

Hopefully, this will get publicized adequately that enough applications are received that Friedman and Stewart aren't reappointed for lack of alternatives.

James Madison, the father of the Constitution, once wrote: "Government is instituted to protect property of every sort...that alone is a just government, which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own."

Yet, the current craft of the rewriting of Champaign County's zoning ordinance, which has now been ongoing for more than a decade, contains all sorts of restrictions that verge on "takings" of private property.  Some of the highlights (or lowlights, depending on your perspective):

1.  "Stream protection buffers" that prevent landowners from maintaining their property without asking the county's permission to cut down trees.

2.  Landowners will only have the right to erect one house per 40 acres.

3.  In "Rural Planned Development Districts" landowners lot sizes will be restricted to 10 acres.

4.  And no part of a "Rural Planned Development Districts" can be on "best prime farmland."

5.  If you have more than a certain number of trees on your property, you will have to ask the county's permission to cut down a tree.

Whatever happened to freedom and property rights?  Half of Champaign-Urbana was built on "best prime farmland"...if it's that sacred, shouldn't we knock down all our houses and plant corn?  If a farmer can make more money doing something other than farm on his "best prime farmland," why should the government tell him he can't do it?

If it wasn't bad enough that the CUMTD is wasting tens of thousands of dollars on attorneys and lobbyists furthering their agenda of forced-annexations, now they're using tax dollars to tell people how to vote--a clear violation of Illinois election law.

CUMTD's campaign flyer notes that “the timing of this Open House may be viewed by some as an attempt by the MTD to sway the vote.”  In the next sentence they confirm that their intent is to affect the "decision you will make at the polls on March 21^st."

One would think that a several thousand dollar expenditure by the CUMTD for a mass mailing and an open house (that includes a "Kids' Zone...all types of transit vehicles on display as well as some child-friendly activities too!") would be a bigger deal than a thirty-nine cent postage stamp misuse by a County Board member.

We raised enough money (about $500) for yard signs and flyers, so if you have some time and would like to help”¦

Come be a part of invalidating CUMTD's undemocratic forced annexations by distributing “vote yes” flyers March 4-5 and 11-12 (we will also be distributing flyers soliciting funds to help defend against CUMTD's legal challenges). We're just "dropping" (i.e., no knocking), so it should be quick/painless.

Send me an e-mail at s.tapley@sbcglobal.net and I will coordinate starting times and locations.

If you're sympathetic to our cause but don't have time or ability to help”¦your check payable to “CSWMTD Supporters” would be welcomed. I estimate we will need another $15,000 to $20,000 to defend against CUMTD's next round of legal challenges.

(Checks may be mailed to me at 4405 Crossgate Drive, Champaign 61822 or Brett Kepley at Rawles, O'Byrne, Stanko and Kepley, 501 W. Church St., Champaign 61820.)

The Illinois Appellate Court denied CUMTD's request for immediate appeal of Judge Leonhard's denial of CUMTD's motion for summary judgment.

According to the Champaign South West Mass Transit District's counsel, Brett Kepley, "There is nothing CUMTD can do to stop the referendum from occurring in March.”

The following question will appear on the ballot of voters in the participating area:

“Shall the area bounded on the north by Interstate Highway 72; on the east by Interstate Highway 57; on the south by Champaign County Road 1300 North; and on the west by Champaign County Highway 19 be organized as the Champaign South West Mass Transit District?"

Score one for democracy!

If you're looking for another good cause to support with your charitable giving in 2006, please consider donating to the "CSWMTD Supporters" committee that is waging a legal battle against the CUMTD's forced annexations.

Thus far, the CSWMTD has succeeded at every juncture. Every one of the CUMTD's legal attempts to stop our democratic referendum (motion to intervene, motion to reconsider, motion for summary judgment) has ended the same way--failure.

However, if the CSWMTD is to succeed in reversing the CUMTD's forced annexations, many thousands more dollars will need to be raised to continue to put up a stiff defense to CUMTD's taxpayer funded legal challenges. In the next three months, there will likely be further challenges to the referendum followed by a CSWMTD suit to stop the CUMTD's forced annexations and tax levy.

It is the understatement of the year to say that much is at stake. If the CSWMTD is successful in having the CUMTD's forced annexations declared unconstitutional, all of CUMTD's recent annexations could ultimately be invalidated.

Checks made payable to "CSWMTD Supporters" can be forwarded to any CSWMTD Committee member below (all are in Champaign's 61822 zip code):

Scott Tapley
4405 Crossgate Drive

Sue Schimmel
2020 Bentbrook Drive

Jerry Benson
1905 Trout Valley Drive

Bob Fenwick
1703 Brighton Court

Kathy Buttitta
4509 Copper Ridge Rd

Phyllis Overman
4005 Crail Road

John Wierschem
1519 Bridge Point Ln

You may also send checks directly to Rawles, O'Byrne, Stanko & Kepley at 501 West Church Street, Champaign.

Thank you for your contribution to democracy and freedom!

P.S. If you have already contributed, please accept this "thank you" as we have been saving on expenses by not sending thank you notes via mail. Also, please consider making a second contribution to move us closer to final victory!

If you would have thought that CUMTD Executive Director Bill Volk would clean up his act after the News-Gazettte published a figure of $41,000 spent by the CUMTD for his travel expenses in 2003, you would have thought wrong.

The CUMTD is in desperate need of accountability, and that can only start by installing new board members who will do more than just rubber stamp everything Volk wants.

While telling the Village of Savoy and the public that it was willing to enter negotiations to avoid the need for creation of a Savoy Mass Transit District, guess what CUMTD was doing behind the scenes?

During the veto session, CUMTD's director, Bill Volk, and a CUMTD-paid lobbyist, were in Springfield trying to get legislation passed that would stop Savoy and S.W. Champaign residents from creating mass transit districts.

Can you say negotiating in bad faith? Is there no length to which Bill Volk would go to crush democracy and the will of Champaign County residents?

This is the best proof yet that the CUMTD board needs to be directly elected. An elected board would have the will to deal appropriately with Mr. Volk. An elected board would likely dedicate more CUMTD resources toward improving efficiency, safety and service and spend less money on lobbyists and attorneys whose sole purpose is forcing an unwanted agenda down the throats of local residents.

It's time to start contacting our representatives in Springfield and asking them to sponsor a bill enabling direct voter election of CUMTD board members. Here are some phone numbers”¦

St. Rep. Chapin Rose
558-1006
348-7673

St. Rep. Bill Black
782-4811
431-1986

St. Rep. Naomi Jakobsson
558-1009
373-5000

St. Rep. Shane Cultra
558-1039
558-1098
815-268-4090

Two people have told me that the Secretary of State's Office allows CUMTD to test/certify its own drivers. Is it true that the CUMTD can give bus driver licenses to its own employees? Something doesn't seem right about that.

Judge Leonhard ordered the referendum question on the ballot, March 21, 2006. I am certain this isn't the end of it, though...MTD (and CSWMTD) have already filed additional motions with the Circuit Court.

When you start adding up $41,000 for the director's travel budget, hundreds of thousands of dollars for "research" and lobbying for a tram proposal residents don't need or want, $800,000 in new federal funding, and dozens of empty $350,000 buses instead of smaller/cheaper vans at a fraction of the cost...the CUMTD could get by with a property tax levy of ZERO.

That's right--ZERO.

Property taxes are only a small portion of the CUMTD's budget (currently 15% and was only 10% as recent as a couple of years ago). By operating more efficiently (and/or raising some fees), they could join the other Illinois MTD's that don't levy any property tax at all. Then, there wouldn't need to be any heavy-handed forced annexations.

What if we government officials spent more of our creativity on taking less in taxes instead of trying--to quote the CUMTD's executive director--to "capture all that we can"?

For my first entry, I thought I'd post the guest commentary that was published in Sunday's News-Gazette...

Believe it or not, many residents of S.W. Champaign have nothing against mass transit. But an overwhelming majority is adamantly opposed to the current CUMTD board members and executive director’s unresponsiveness to the desires of those they claim to serve. Here are just seven of the CUMTD’s actions that have created this widespread ill will with the public: 1) too many empty buses driving through neighborhoods that don’t need or want them, 2) raising its tax rate to the highest in Illinois right before the tax cap took effect, 3) building an extravagant $10 million headquarters in downtown Champaign, 4) proposing a $200 million tram system and 5) spending $500,000+ on junkets to Europe and other tram “research,” 6) force-annexing neighborhoods after disregarding intense public opposition, and 7) dismissing any opposition to their proposals by calling their detractors “uneducated” or “lacking understanding.”

Insensitivity of this magnitude is rare for a public taxing body, because most are elected directly by voters who typically have a very low tolerance for arrogance. But the CUMTD board members are appointed by the Champaign County Board, which effectively insulates the CUMTD from direct public accountability. Two weeks ago, CUMTD Chairman George Friedman said on WDWS that he’s against elections for board members because “he doesn’t want to get bogged down in politics.” Well, there are thousands of C-U residents who wish the CUMTD board spent more of its time listening rather than lecturing. Direct election of board members by C-U voters might transform the CUMTD’s hearings into “listenings.”

Recently, the CUMTD has accused S.W. Champaign residents of just trying to get out of paying their fair share of taxes. But in order to believe the CUMTD’s claim that this is about “making them pay their fair share,” you have to believe that the CUMTD genuinely intends to spread the tax burden—i.e., lower the tax burden on taxpayers currently in the district. But remember what Bill Volk said just last December, “The reality is, if you don't take what the state law allows, you never get it back…We'd be shortchanging our future if we didn't capture all that we can.” In his own words, it’s really not about spreading the burden as much as it is about grabbing every possible dollar.

The CUMTD’s comparisons of mass transit to vital services such as schools, police and firefighters are nothing but a giant red herring. Mass transit services do not address any life-safety issues, and schools, police, fire and sewers are obviously and universally held to be necessities. So any comparison to those absolutely necessary services is not the same.

While it is clearly not a necessity, CUMTD contends that “everyone benefits from mass transit so everyone should pay for it.” However, the “benefits” claimed by the CUMTD are wildly exaggerated. Recently, on WDWS radio, CUMTD Executive Director Bill Volk admitted, “We don't have traffic congestion right now. C-U has the shortest commute time in the country.” Yet one of the statistics most frequently repeated by the CUMTD is that “25% of all work trips in C-U are on public transportation, walking or biking.” If you have ever wondered why they included walkers and bikers, a trip to the U.S. Census Bureau website will help you understand. The 2000 census data show 20% (not 25%) travel to work by public transportation, walking and biking, and a full 67% of that group walks or bikes. That’s right, less than 7% of the 67,573 workers in C-U use public transportation. So the CUMTD’s claim that C-U would be overrun by a 25% increase in vehicle traffic without bus service is nothing but a myth. Furthermore, just because you’re not paying property tax dollars to CUMTD doesn’t mean you’re not helping to pay for their services. The federal government subsidizes mass transit with taxes paid by everyone. As a matter of fact, most of Illinois’ mass transit systems don’t even levy a property tax.

One tax fairness issue the CUMTD never talks about concerns the damage the buses do to the roads. Each of those buses weighs between 30,000 and 40,000 pounds—even an empty bus does damage to a road equal to that of literally hundreds of cars. But the CUMTD doesn’t pay any motor fuel taxes which are used to build and repair our roads.

Residents of S.W. Champaign have petitioned the Circuit Court for a referendum to create a mass transit district because they believe the CUMTD has not, and will not, listen to their concerns. This is understandable since the CUMTD appears to have an agenda completely separate from fulfilling the needs of the community it serves. S.W. Champaign is simply asking for a chance to be heard—and listened to—and we deserve credit, not criticism, for having the courage to stand up to the powers that be and demand change.

Written by the CSWMTD Supporters Committee (Scott Tapley, Jerry Benson, Sue Schimmel, Kathy Buttitta, Robert Fenwick and Phyllis Overman).