There was a hearing today in the case of the Champaign Southwest Mass Transit's petition to not be in the CU Mass Transit District. (05 CH 206) In a half hour hearing, Judge Leonhard denied the motion of the City of Urbana to intervene in the case, but granted the same motion to the City of Champaign, based upon their intergovernmental agreement with CUMTD regarding annexations. Good news for citizens of Urbana who won't have to pay city legal staff to work on a case that has absolutely no bearing on their community.
The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for February 26, 2008.
Bah... Everyone knows its better for America to let Urbana tell citizens of Champaign what they should pay in taxes.
case that has absolutely no bearing on their community.
I'd say that the outcome of the case has some miniscule, indirect effect on Urbana. If CSWMTD wins, CUMTD's taxing base will decrease - the lost potential revenue might impact the level of service they provide or future tax rates.
However, that's only true if CUMTD's hurting for money. Which they're not. So the initial assessment is true for the time being.
We need to reign in the activiest judiciary. This judge has overruled action taken by the elected representatives on the Urbana City Council. Another example of the judicial branch legislating from the bench.
Illinois has more municipal corporations than state. Look at your tax bill. You will see library districts, public health, mtd, school, city, drainage, etc. Look at the duplications of services. In 1980 or it might have been 1979 then took a straw poll of the Urbana and Champaign City Councils on the question of merger of the two towns. One lady came up to me before the vote and asked: I belong to the First Presbyterian Church in Urbana. There is also a First Presbyterian Church in Champaign. If you merge the two cities, who will be first. I had no answer to that, but was the only vote for merger counting both cities.
The issue in the MTD case is whether you want an area wide infrastructure for mass transit. I am personally in favor of easier annexation rules so that we can eliminate the duplicity of services. This is where the cost is. We are so concerned that we do not have to pay $10 more in the short run, that we pay $20 more in having two separate entities doing things in the long run. The MTD gets massive federal aid. If Savoy has there own bus service there is no way the cost will be less. In business school you learn about fixed costs of services. Two systems have a higher fixed cost. Now the issue.
Did Urbana have a dog in that fight? In the court system there is an issue of standing. It is not activist judges, (that would be Roe v. Wade). Standing is an issue that says that courts should not get involved. Thus Judges will not get involved with political questions. The issue of whether Topinka could overturn the election because of fraud is an example of that. The Court would not get involved because it was a political question and courts (sorry Florida Supreme Court) should not get involved.
Urbana may be right that Savoy is weakening the infrastructure of the MTD and they want to help, but are not close enough to the fight that they have standing. In my opinion this was the right result.
People shouldn't be talking about the merger of 9hampaign and Urbana. That's not the problem. Savoy is. It's time those cheese-eating tax-evading bus-hating monkeys stop being a leech on the county. The should be annexed into Urbana or we should call up the National Guard to bring them back into line.
Um, if Savoy were going to be annexed (which they can't be forced to do) it'd be into Champaign ( we got there first, they're ours!! ) :-P :-D ... And they DO pay taxes... they just choose not to pay YOUR taxes...
If Urbana COULD grow, phisically not just in ego, they could annex Philo.....
ah the Christmas troll.... tra-la la la la, lala la la.
Please don't feed the troll.
If someone has nothing constructive to say, it's really not that hard to just ignore them.
If Savoy has there own bus service there is no way the cost will be less.
Urbana may be right that Savoy is weakening the infrastructure of the MTD and they want to help, but are not close enough to the fight that they have standing.
This ruling has nothing to do with Savoy. It's the Southwest Champaign area that is in question. Savoy is a separate governmental body that is sovereign.
"If Savoy has there own bus service there is no way the cost will be less."
No doubt. The Champaign Urbana Mass Transit District is renowned for their efficiency. No one could possibly do better. Not really even worthy of discussion. Case closed.
"The Champaign Urbana Mass Transit District is renowned for their efficiency."
What a joke!!!! How do you calculate the efficiency of an empty bus, or as bus with only one rider.
The MTD has absolutely no sense of efficiency, and appears to care less.
I'm thinking that anon 11:55 is tongue-in-cheek. I sure hope so anyway. Too much evidence to the contrary.
I dunno. I've been riding the bus quite a few times all week, it's the supposed "dead week" between Xmas and New Year, the students are gone, and yet... the buses had quite a few people. The 5W this afternoon around 2ish, every seat had at least one rider in it from downtown Urbana to Champaign. Lots of people on the 7, also, and plenty of people sitting in the transit center.
A small victory to the Champaign Southwest Mass Transit District in their struggle against the mega million dollar CU MTD and now their bed partners the City of Champaign. Keep up the fight against this 'No Account" Money Pit for Tax dollars call the Champaign Urbana Mass Transit District.