Here is the NG article:
Three council members said the city needs to support the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District and can't allow some residents to opt out of property taxes for some services.
Council member Tom Bruno said cities like Champaign-Urbana, with a university with 45,000 students, require a mass transit system.
"Just because you're not riding a bus is not sufficient justification, in my opinion, for not paying your fair share," he said.
Council member Marci Dodds said that when voters in southwest Champaign voted in March 2006 to create the Champaign Southwest Mass Transit District, they were voting for "secession, pure and simple."
"We can't be a great city if we start splintering into smaller groups ... and end up cherry picking what city services we want," she said.
Feinen was the only Council Member to vote against intervention.
My thanks to the only elected voice of reason on the Champaign City Council, Deborah Frank Feinen.
So how does this work? Do friends of CSWMTD all gather together at someone's house and confront CSWMTD? I don't get it.
What is the legal apparatus that empowers a municipality to "intervene" in a preexisting lawsuit?
What the HELL are these people smoking?
I've got an idea...why doesn't SW Champaign just secede from Champaign? Is that possible? What is the process for seceding from a municipality.
Didn't some folks west of Urbana try to incorporate a new town in order to avoid becoming part of Urbana? Why did that fail?
Mr Curious
No, it's not possible. I don't think they have enough square mileage to do it anyway. MTD just saw all the rich people out there, told them they needed bus service, and extracted their property tax from them leading to a nice little windfall for them. The rate charged for them (I assume) is the same, but since the property values are higher, they get much more money per house than say, in the downtown area. And likely, not a single person out there will step foot on an MTD bus ever. All profit, no cost.
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j
Part-Time Pundit
That's cute - a newspaper reporting news. Haven't they heard that they are an anachronism? There will be a for rent sign on the NG building in 10 years. I'll bet you.
Where is Bob Kirchner when you need him? There has got to be something actionable about this intervention b.s.
You really need to do just a little background work 'Mr. Curious' before you ask a question. Here I will help you a bit===Most of the SW Champaign MTD is NOT in the City of Champaign currently nor does the majority of the District area even have pre-annexation agreements to ever become part of the City of Champaign.
Maybe the Mayor of Champaign, Tom Bruno and Marci Dodds need to get out a bit more. They should get on a CU MTD bus and head out to the area in SW Champaing that was forced annexed by that district. They will not get to far into the Champaign Southwest Mass Transit District before they are not even in the City of Champaign. In fact most of the property in the Champaign Southwest Mass Transit District has yet to be forced annexed into the Champaign Urbana Mass Transit District. I hope they have lots of time as they are transferring to another bus next to the Dollar store in Country Fair. That often takes over an hour depending upon where you are headed in Champaign. Oh and they get out into SW Champaign, they should stay on the bus or they will have to call the CU MTD to get back and it cost a $1.00 unless you are a senior citizen, then its free. Come on Mayor, bring your supporters----no fair calling your buddy Volk and making special arrangements.
Snotty Anonymous-
Wow, that's more amazing than I expected. What is Champaign doing poking their beeks into something that isn't even a part of Champaign?
The one comment I found funny was that of Marci Dodds who said that the MTD hadn't been the poster child for good behavior, or something like that. Everyone apparently acknowledges that the MTD doesn't represent the public very well, unless you like to see empty buses driving throughout the City, but apparently no one can do anything about it.
Lincolnshire Fields Country Club is 168 acres and zoned agricultural. Most of the area immediately ajoining the country club is in the county for taxation purposes. Once you cross Staley, Kirby, or Windsor, you are in the City of Champaign. Trails, Glenshire, Ironwood, The Greens, etc. were forced into the city. Want water and sewer? Property taxes doubled. I have a nice $300K house surrounded by golf course and my property taxes are $3,200.
It makes me sick to think that 30 years of my taxes qould be wasted on a fountain that enhanced a council members husbands property. Come on Marci.
And why do we have a 12 person city planning department that can't find a better alternative than spending $160 K of taxpayer money for curb cuts for Boulder Ridge and Sawgrass. Does Clint intimidate you that much? Or spending $80K each for an outside consultant to develop plans for Curtis Rd and Country Fair. Come on Bruce.
Tom Bruno seems to have a problem with SW Champaign. Just because we don't want stinkling, loud, empty, busses racing down quiet residential streets doesn't make us bad citizens. Come on Tom.