Excerpts from centralillinoisproud,com:
Tuesday night Peoria city leaders approved a new proposal that does make cuts to the fire department, but not the cuts some feared. Previously it was a possibility that 22 firefighters could be laid off, but a new proposal wouldn’t require any layoffs.
Firefighters retiring will not be replaced, but the plan will avoid having to layoff any firefighters. Two rescue squads are being taken out of service. Equipment from the rescue squads will not be transferred to fire trucks.
The city agreed on moving around TIF dollars and shutting down the Northside Riverfront TIF. Another change was the logistics of the Public Safety Pension Fee. The new proposed structure of the fee will be the following:
- $15 for parcels with no structure erected on the property.
- $50 for parcels 5,000 square feet or smaller.
- $250 for parcels over 5,000 square feet but less than 10,000
- $300 for parcel over 10,000 square feet
For the next 5 years this parcel fee will increase yearly $5 dollars for the property owners paying $50, and increase $50 per year for those paying $250.
While this will help the budget, there are still a number of other avenues the council must vote on before the entire $6 million-dollar gap is full.
