Property Tax Levy Increasing In Peru

Between the library, police pensions and recreation board, the city’s portion of your Peru property taxes is increasing slightly.

Alderman Dave Potthoff is the chairman of the finance committee.  He says nearly half of the money raised through property taxes goes to the Peru Public Library.  More than one third of your taxes is for the firemen and police pensions.

The city council approved the 2013 levy Monday night.  They’re asking for $990,700, $46,250 more than last year or a 4.9% increase.

Oglesby Tax Bills Headed Up

If you live in Oglesby, the city part of your tax bill is going up.

The Oglesby City Council last night put on file a 2014 tax levy with a 23 cent increase per 100 dollars assessed valuation.  That comes out to a rate increase of 2.3 percent.

The city is asking for 33 thousand dollars more in property taxes next year.  Finance Commissioner Paul Danekas says they are raising taxes because the city’s equalized assessed valuation dropped by nearly $1.5 million dollars.

Winning Lotto sold in La Salle

There’s no point in buying a lottery ticket if you don’t check to see if it’s a winner.  Someone bought a Lucky Day Lotto ticket at Illinois Valley Food and Deli.  The ticket matched all five numbers during Wednesday night’s drawing.  The prize is $225,000, but no one has claimed it yet.

The winning numbers were 7, 14, 25, 27 and 31.

The grocery store will receive $2,250 for selling a winning ticket.

Deck Fire Put Out In Mendota

The bright light coming from Mendota wasn’t Christmas decorations.

Mendota and Troy Grove fire departments put out a deck fire after getting a 911 call just after 1:30am Monday.  Firefighters say embers from scrap material that was burned earlier on the deck sparked the fire at 1007 2nd Avenue.

No one was injured.  Property damage estimate is $10,000.

Local Fatal Crash Numbers Holding Steady

When you drive down the interstate you probably notice the message board saying something like “900 deaths on Illinois roads this year”.  Thankfully the Illinois Valley hasn’t contributed to that number very often.

With just a month remaining in 2013, La Salle County has had 11 people killed in 11 different crashes this year on state highways or interstates.  The number of deaths is the same as all of last year and is way down from just five years ago when 26 people died on state roads in La Salle County.

Four people have died in four separate crashes this year in Bureau County.  Last year seven people died in crashes.

Two people died in one fatal crash so far this year in Putnam County.  That’s the most since 2008.

Statewide, 911 people have died on Illinois roads this year.