Did you know if you live in the area surrounding West Chestnut and own the home you live in, you can apply for a grant from the city to help rehab your home? Me either. There's a decent amount of paperwork to fill out but you can get up to $40,000 to repair your home, as long as the value remains below $258,690 after all the work gets completed.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
State Finance Moved
Looks as if the State Finance location that closed up on N. Illinois has moved to Eastgate Plaza. Probably a better location as the parking there is certainly better than their old location.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Flood Plain Insurance
The reason mortgage lenders make you buy flood plain insurance if you buy a home in a flood plain is that the home is likely to get flooded. I am not sure what Congress' rationale was back in 1968 to pass a law allowing people to keep putting in homes where they should not be, but I am glad to see it coming to an end. I feel sorry for the people who have house in the area and likely the ones who bought houses there under the old program should be grandfathered in, but it does not make a lot of sense to keep subsidizing such behavior.
Friday, June 7, 2013
New Bar in Downtown
Looks as if there may be a new bar moving into downtown. On the agenda for the Liquor Control Commission 's next meeting is an application for a Class B liquor license for the University Lounge, which lists its address at 520 S. Illinois Ave, the site of the recently closed Country Goddess. The building seems pretty small for a bar, as it is only about as big as the El Greco building. Plan apparently however is to add a beer garden to the building, if approved, which would likely go in the empty lot next door.
However, putting a beer garden there would run counter to the city's expressed desires of seeing an actual storefront infill the location, one of the reasons, from what I have heard, that the city did not wish to sell the property to El Greco for construction of an outside dining patio.
However, putting a beer garden there would run counter to the city's expressed desires of seeing an actual storefront infill the location, one of the reasons, from what I have heard, that the city did not wish to sell the property to El Greco for construction of an outside dining patio.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Oakland Avenue Auto Repair Re-zoning
Planning Commission meets at seven tonight to discuss three re-zoning requests. The one likely to get the most attention is Lindsay Fisher's request to rezone the area at 413 N. Oakland to a Neighborhood Business District and then apply for a Special Uses permit to allow Oakland Avenue Auto Repair to re-open after the city served it a cease and desist order last month.
The problem is the people who live in the area moved there without the expectation that an auto repair shop would set up operations next door, increasing both the amount of noise in the area and the amount of exhaust coming from the facility. Maintaining their quality of life argues against against approving the permit.
However, the city is actively encouraging development in that area, witness the designation of the stretch of Oakland running from Sycamore to the old high school complex a couple of blocks south, as a TIF Distict. Given this, Fisher could reasonably argue that the city wants development there, which is just what the business will do.
The problem is the people who live in the area moved there without the expectation that an auto repair shop would set up operations next door, increasing both the amount of noise in the area and the amount of exhaust coming from the facility. Maintaining their quality of life argues against against approving the permit.
However, the city is actively encouraging development in that area, witness the designation of the stretch of Oakland running from Sycamore to the old high school complex a couple of blocks south, as a TIF Distict. Given this, Fisher could reasonably argue that the city wants development there, which is just what the business will do.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Dillinger's Feed Store
Certificate of Appropriates Committee meeting at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon at Dillinger's Feed Store to discuss demolition of the building. Dillinger's has sat empty for a couple of years now and my understanding is the current owner would like to demolish it in order to provide more parking for the Newel House building. However, since Dillinger's is one of the oldest buildings remaining in the downtown area, the owner needs approval from the committee before demolition can start. Given Carbondale's track record on preservation, however, dollars to doughnuts the committee approves it and the building gets razed by the end of summer.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Internet Sales Tax
Saw this letter (Scroll down)in last week's Southern from a reader complaining about the push to collect sales tax on internet purchases.
First, it is not a new tax. By state law, anytime you buy something in a state that collects a sales tax, you are supposed to pay the sales tax. There is a spot on your income tax form for you to record the tax due on any items that you purchased during the previous year that are subject to sales tax on which you did not pay the tax. Do people pay it? Usually just attorneys and tax accountants. The rest of us are scofflaws since it is too much trouble and expense for the Department of Revenue to chase each and every person down to collect the sales tax due. That still doesn't mean you are not legally required to pay sales tax on your internet purchases, just that almost all of us don't.
Secondly, the Federal government actually exempted online retailers from the requirement to collect sales tax, unless they had a physical presence in the state as it was perceived as too big a financial burden to require them to collect and remit the tax in the early days of internet sales. Today, however no-one can seriously argue that companies such as Amazon, Zapdos, Overstock, etc. still need financial support, especially since software has advanced to the point that collecting and remitting it could easily be automated. If Staples is able to collect sales tax from me for online purchases, I see no reason that Newegg.com cannot do the same thing.
First, it is not a new tax. By state law, anytime you buy something in a state that collects a sales tax, you are supposed to pay the sales tax. There is a spot on your income tax form for you to record the tax due on any items that you purchased during the previous year that are subject to sales tax on which you did not pay the tax. Do people pay it? Usually just attorneys and tax accountants. The rest of us are scofflaws since it is too much trouble and expense for the Department of Revenue to chase each and every person down to collect the sales tax due. That still doesn't mean you are not legally required to pay sales tax on your internet purchases, just that almost all of us don't.
Secondly, the Federal government actually exempted online retailers from the requirement to collect sales tax, unless they had a physical presence in the state as it was perceived as too big a financial burden to require them to collect and remit the tax in the early days of internet sales. Today, however no-one can seriously argue that companies such as Amazon, Zapdos, Overstock, etc. still need financial support, especially since software has advanced to the point that collecting and remitting it could easily be automated. If Staples is able to collect sales tax from me for online purchases, I see no reason that Newegg.com cannot do the same thing.
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