Recognize those who make local entertainment happen I enjoyed reading your article about all the music that was available in Woodstock this summer. (Declarations, Aug. 24) I especially like the hometown feel of the City Band concerts. However, I did want to make a clarification. The ZZ Top concert was held at the fairgrounds but […]
Steady growth and development in the Woodstock area has allowed local taxing units to cut their tax rates while increasing property tax levies. And those government units will get a bonus in 2022 – the city’s 23-year-old tax increment financing district will expire Dec. 31, adding about $5.9 million in taxable property to their budgeting […]
With Woodstock’s “new” tax increment financing district approaching its first anniversary, the city and Woodstock School District 200 finally have an agreement on compensating schools for extra costs caused by TIF2-inspired housing development. In a special meeting last week, the City Council voted 7-0 to approve an intergovernmental agreement with the school district that could […]
by Carl W. Gilmore For 21 years, Woodstock’s taxing bodies have operated under the weight of the downtown tax increment finance (TIF) district. Now, city fathers are proposing a new, overarching TIF district (TIF 2) that overlaps and substantially increases the area currently under TIF authority. By the time TIF 2 expires, Woodstock will have labored […]
Six people got up to speak – one of them twice – in the final public hearing by City Council on Woodstock’s proposal for a new tax increment financing district. But TIF fatigue toward the end of a 6-month-long approval process might have accounted for the relatively calm demeanor of opponents who showed up Dec. […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
