Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 3

Decatur, Illinois, Wednesday, April 27, 1983 Page A3 bums rise mucin ax gkoh; PARCEL ID I SECLOT I TWNBLK I RNG TAX CODE! BILL NO. I TWP I LOTS I LOAN NO. loan coot DC-1-01-0001-001-01 111 055 00001 DECATUR CITY A 100000 001 1982 MACON COUNTY REAL ESTATE PROPERTY TAX 1st INSTALLMENT DUE JUNE 13, 1983 MACON COUNTY COLLECTOR 253 E. WOOD ST. RM.

108 DECATUR. ILLINOIS 8:30 A.M. 4:30 P.M. 2nd INSTALLMENT DUE SEPT. 1, 1983 LOT 1 BLK 1 OF DECATUR 1st ADD MAIL TO: JOHN D.

MARY DOE 123 N. MAIN ST. DECATUR, IL 62525 CHECK PROPERTY LOCATION OR PARCEL NUMBER TO MAKE SURE THIS IS THE CORRECT BILL ON WHICH YOU WISH TO PAY. IF OWNERSHIP OF THIS PROPERTY HAS CHANGED. PLEASE FORWARD THIS BILL TO NEW OWNER OR RETURN TO TAX COLLECTOR.

19.393 20.000 .5 1.0313 TAXABLE VALUE 17,000 Non-Payment of check by BanK voids this receipt. Penalty ot 1per month added to first installment after June 1st. Penalty of 1 per month added to 2nd installment after September 1st Cost of $2 0O for publishing as delinquent added after September 17. YOUR CANCELLED CHECK IS YOUR BEST RECEIPT. TAXING DISTRICTS RATE RATE TAX TAX .377600 .100000 .049700 .081900 ing the amount owed.

Taxes are figured by multiplying the equalized assessed valuation by the tax rate. If the tax rate stays the same and the assessment increases, taxes will go up. Multipliers are used to ensure that residents of different townships are assessed at an average of one-third. Without them, underassessed townships would pay too little and overassessed townships would pay too much in taxes. The tax levy is the amount of property tax money each unit of gov-erment must collect from local landowners to help pay for the coming year's operations.

The total tax extension for 148 funds will be about $50 million, according to County Treasurer Jim O. Edgcomb. The tax rate is determined by-dividing the property tax levy by the amount of taxable property in the community. The rate determined is applied against each individual's property tax assessment. Comparisons of exact rates are listed in the accompanying sample tax bill for the hypothetical Decatur Township house.

The county general fund and the city rates decreased slightly and the Decatur School District. Decatur Park District and Richland Community College rates increased. The 25 percent cut in the county's general fund rate passed by the voters in the fall will not be instituted until Tangney computes the 1983 tax bills next year. The tuberculosis sanitarium levy also was eliminated. Estimates, late bills go For the first time in the memory of Democratic and Republican officials, Macon County tax bills will be complete and almost on time.

An exact mailing date has not been determined by County Treasurer Jim O. Edgcomb. but he and County Clerk William Tangney have predicted the bills-will be mailed early in May. In the past, estimated bills have been sent out for first installments, and a follow-up bill has been used By ANTHONY MAN Herald Review Staff Writer Many residents of Macon County will experience the smallest tax increase in recent history when they receive this year's property tax bills. A slight decrease in the tax rate will help offset an increase in property values for a tax boost of about 3 percent for the average Decatur Township property owner.

A property owner whose home has a market'value of about $60,000 would pay $910.14 in taxes, up from about $883 last year, according to preliminary tax rates computed by County Clerk William Tangney. Roughly 60 percent of the land parcels in Macon County lie within the township's borders. Tangney said the tentative tax rates must still be checked, but the total for 12 districts which tax most of Decatur Township decreased from $5.3841 to to $5.3537 for every $100 of assessed valuation. State law requires assessments to be one-third of market value. That hypothetical house would have an equalized assessed value of $20,000 one-third of the $60,000 selling price.

It is also assumed the full general unlimited exemption of $3,000 has been applied for. reducing the taxable value to $17,000. The overall tax rate assumes the house lies within the Decatur School District. Decatur Township and the City of Decatur. A recently built, split-level house on a quarter-acre city lot might be worth $60,000, according to assessment officials.

It could include three bedrooms, two bathrooms, possibly a fireplace, central air conditioning and a patio. The multiplier, which is used to adjust the value of property in an entire township, will have a small effect on Decatur Township residents this ear. It will increase the assessed value of property 3.13 percent. The resulting figure is called an equalized assessed value. Although assessments do not increase taxes automatically, they play an important role in determin .156400.

C001 COUNTY CO 02 MENTAL HEALTH C003 T.B.SAN. C004 CO. HEALTH C005 CONSERV. DIST. T004 TOWN R004 ROAD PURPOSE 0053 DECATUR SAN 0063 DECATUR PARK 0071 MOSQ ABA DIST S061 SCHOOL NO.

61 0033 DECATUR CITY 0073 RICHLAND JR COLL .395200 090900" .009100 .045500 .151500 .012000 .259900 2.722200 .884500 .226700 64.82 14.91 1.49 7.46 12.92 24.85 1.97 42.62 78.39 4.89 446.44 145.06 37.18 .012000 .263500 .538600 64.19 17.00 8.45 13.92 26.59 2.04 44.80 91.56 5.07 w453.58 138.96 43.98 455.07 455.07 IF AN ADDITIONAL RECEIPT IS REOUIRED. RETURN ENTIRE BILL WITH PAYMENT. IT WILL BE RECEIPTED AND RETURNED TO YOU. 02980ET 2.66810TJ .817400 .258700 TAXES DUE TAXES DUE 1st INSTALLMENT 2nd INSTALLMENT TOTAL TAXES DUE 883.00 5.353700 910.14 TOTALS 1ST INSTALLMENT PAYMENT RECORD 2ND INSTALLMENT PAYMENT RECORD This sample tax bill has been computed for a house in Decatur Township with a market value of about $60jOjQX). county more than $8,500 in postage, envelopes, computer time and temporary help, he said.

County Clerk William Tangney is finishing his work on the tax rates. He then must figure out which of the property before the city ofbecatur computer can prepare the bilfsw Edgcomb's of fice rt rreji vm ails them out. The first payment will be payable 30 days after the mailing date, and the second installment will be due Sept. 1. don't get the bills out on time, the government runs out of money." Edgcomb said.

still has to operate, and we don't have the ability to print money like Washington does." A single billing will save the for the second payment. Only one will be sent this year. While many taxpayers may not relish the thought of getting their bills earlier than usual, Edgcomb said it is a major improvement. "lts important because if we 148 taxes apply 10 wnai pieces oi 4JMUM! arents air complaints 5c cJ By SCOTT SIMONS Herald Review Staff Writer MAKOA School officials have called for an open line of communication among parents, teachers and administration to counter parents' complaints of discipline and supervision problems in the Maroa Grade School. About 15 to 20 parents of pupils, particularly kindergartners, attended the Maroa-Forsyth School Board meeting Monday to discuss their complaints.

Cindi Clark, who moved to the community recently, has led a group of parents concerned about what they believe to be a lack of discipline, insufficient lunchroom and recess supervision, non-enforcement of rules and a lack of communication between the school and parents. In a letter to the school board, Mrs. Clark specifically noted noise levels and disorderly traffic flows in the hallways. She also asked that the board appoint a committee of parents to work with school officials to improve the situation. Maroa Grade School Principal Russell Aldr.idge read a prepared statement addressed to Mrs.

Clark that he and teachers signed defending the school's position against the allegations. The bottom line, he said, was that the teaching staff is proud of everybody involved with the school, including parents and pupils, and that the program is designed to fit pupils' needs. Speaking for himself and the teachers. Aldridge replied to a charge that rules are not enforced. He said copies of rules are sent home with pupils at the beginning of the school year and teachers make a concerted effort to enforce rules in a firm but fair manner.

He said the playground and lunchroom are adequately supervised, citing other area schools which have a higher ratio of supervisors to pupils. cern, adding the whole matter had "lost something in the translation." Aldridge said, "Everything has been hearsay and our feelings have been hurt." He said he did not encourage her visit because she did not make an. appointment, but parents at the meeting safd if appointments are, made, classes can be "staged" to appear better than normal. Superintendent Richard Irvin said classes would be disrupted if three to four parents visited classes unannounced each day. Aldridge also said it is hard to control both ends of a line of pupils walking in the halls.

But one parent said if pupils are asked to be quiet and continue to make noise, the line can be stopped until they are ready to be quiet. "They have to learn to follow the rules." the mother Aldridge countered that pupils also have to learn responsibility and that the school shouldn't have to "put a rein on them all the time." After the meeting, Mrs. Clark said she felt like the parents group was "getting the runaround." One woman, who asked not to be identified, agreed, saying her son found it difficult to eat because of all the commotion in the lunchroom. "But since the last meeting, they have stepped up the discipline," she said. At the least, the parents said, teachers and officials are aware of their concerns, which should provide more improvements in the future.

"We're just out to get a good school," Mrs. Clark said. "Our objective is to fight for our kids." Aldridge said the written statement was not a defensive measure but a statement of the facts. "We were just trying to correct some misinformation," he said. "The whole thing ballooned to where it shouldn't have.

They were making a mountain out of a molehill." For the 85 kindergartners through second-graders, Aldridge noted, there is a teacher and an aide. Mrs. Clark: and other parents, however, said they were concerned about the board's plans to dismiss the kindergarten aide at-the end of the school year. They suggested the board hire a person to work those periods at pay slightly above minimum wage. Board President Brenda Stubble-field said the board would welcome a proposal outlining their request.

Discipline, Aldridge said, is handled first by teachers, and through an office card system that keeps track of pupil behavior problems and the progress they make. "I feel we have good discipline," he said Tuesday. Disciplinary action can range from extra homework assignments to corporal punishment "two or three swats as a last resort." Mrs. Clark, however, said in her discussions with parents she called every parent in her son's kindergarten class the most severe punishment was standing for five minutes next to a wall. The teachers and Aldridge, as well as most school board members, agreed that a parents committee was not needed in light of the school's open-door policy.

Aldridge said parents are welcome to visit their child's class and to visit with teachers after making an appointment. If problems arise, he and board members added, the matter should be discussed first with the teacher, then the principal and then the board. Mrs. Clark said Aldridge did not encourage her to visit her son's class when she made the request and took exception to the written statement addressed only to her. She said she was representing more people who endorsed her letter.

She said no teachers were being "attacked" through the parents' con -iisr mfe 'M0k 'f; -s. Sfc Zff (Sir "K'V''': Photo by Herb Slodounik The slide starts at the Nelson Park pool, top, and ends near Lake Shore Drive, bottom. hi Wh oos Park water slide season to begin ing they might be subjected to liability," Greanias said. Among those testifying was Patrolman Harold Hawkins, who said a witness told police Fasnacht's car was weaving in a snake-like pattern as it was driven westbound in the 800 Block W. Wood St.

and into the side of the Smith car. The child's father, H. Smith, had attempted to avoid the Fasnacht car by pulling over to the side of the street. Other witnesses included Dr. Gerald Snyder, an emergency room physician, who, when questioned by Greanias, said Fasnacht "probably was intoxicated." Tests showed Fasnacht's blood alcohol level was .3, significantly higher than the minimum .1 level set by state law as a level of intoxication.

Other called included nurses and security guards at the hospital. Fasnacht appeared before Chief Circuit Court Judge Rodney A. Scott on Monday and requested that his bond of $10,000 be reduced so he could be released from the Macon County Jail. Greanias opposed the request and Scott denied it. By JUDY TATHAM Herald Review Staff Writer A Macon County coroner's jury Tuesday placed blame on a 57-year-old Decatur man in connection with a traffic accident in which a 4-year-old was killed March 2.

Nine witnesses were called at the inquest, where information to determine the sobriety of a man charged with reckless homicide was sought by Coroner Chris Vallas and State's Attorney Basil G. Greanias. In an unusually long inquest, a jury heard St. Mary's Hospital personnel and a Decatur police officer describe their observations of Richard Fasnacht, 57, who is charged in connection with the death of Timothy Smith, 4. of 164; Sunset Ave.

Greanias later said police were unable to get statements from the hospital personnel because of their apprehensions concerning their civil liabilities. Subpoenas were issued to the witnesses by Vallas. Greanias asked questions along with the coroner. "I appreciate the hospital's position, and I have no quarrel with' their reluctance to have their employees testify if they have any feel The Nelson Park water slide will open on May 14, and a Decatur Park District official anticipates it could draw as many as 30,000 customers before the warm-weather season ends. The facility was completed last year and opened briefly at the end of the summer.

This year, the slide will be opened about two weeks ahead of the Nelson Park swimming pool and about three weeks ahead of the Fairview Park pool, according to Ralph Rosser, director of parks. The early opening of the slide is designed to allow time for any changes that will be required before the heavy summer swimming season begins, Rosser said. The Nelson Park pool is to open on May 28 for the three-day Weekend in the Park program co-sponsored by the Park District and the Decatur Herald Review, while the Fairview pool is to open June 4. Hours for the water slide during the early weeks will depend on the weather, Rosser said. If it is warm enough, the facility will be open after school on weekdays and at 10 a.m.

on weekends. It will be closed when it cools in the evening. After schools close for summer vacation, there will be a 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. schedule.

A new water pump and chlorination system are to be added to the facility, Rosser said, but this will not postpone the opening. Also, splash guards will be installed in the curves to conserve water and give an added sense of security to people riding the slide. Once all the work is done, the cost of the facility will total about $400,000, Rosser said. The money to build the slide comes from a group of local investors. They will get a share of the revenue.

The Park District will manage the slide and receive 35 percent of the gross revenue. i The slide has two sections, one about 375feet Jong and the other about 400 feet. The cost will be $2.50 for eight tickets. Children 6 vears old and under will be required to wear lifejackets. A 7T.