The draft ordinance would allow a tax of 7 percent collected on tickets or admission fees, at theatrical, dramatic, musical or spectator performances; motion picture shows, movies, videos, videotapes, DVDs; flower, poultry and animal shows; carnivals; amusement rides; animal acts; circuses; rodeos; athletic contests; and sports or games including but not limited to archery, shooting galleries and shooting ranges; boxing, wrestling, skating, dancing, swimming, racing or riding animals or vehicles, baseball, basketball, softball, football, tennis, racquetball, handball, golf, hockey, track and field, soccer, rugby, bowling, billiards and pool games, and including any lessons or demonstrations of any amusements.
Read the entire article in the News Tribune. Guess we must be trying to discourage having anything enjoyable in Peru. Go out of town for entertainment, it will be less costly.. It seems that perhaps the mayor needs to start talking to people who live her and not the mayors of bigger cities in the state. Most people that helped put this mayor in office are now cringing at the outlandish tactics he is now implementing.
48 comments:
I will be contacting my Aldermen. This tax is unreasonable.
I for one would be very reluctant to pay for anything that charges this tax in Peru. I will go elsewhere. About the only thing that really effects me is the shooting ranges and DVD's. We aren't luck enough to have a shooting range yet - but I do purchase movies on DVD. I guess I'll be going 100% on-line for my DVD's now. Come to think of it - I'll be able to avoid the Harl Infrastructure Tax if I go on-line.
"Since the idea that we have any kind of representation in government has become something of a sick joke, it follows that we suffer taxation without representation. Once upon a time, that sparked a bloody revolution..." - Quote from an Anonymous Patriot
Absolutely wrong. Why is it when you go to a bar a bottle of beer is $2-3? No tax. I don't understand. Maybe all the beauty shops and barber shops should tax haircuts. Wait, is it a flat $18 at one shop? Hummm. A register? Wonder if customers get a receipt.
Bar's are allowed to advertise drink costs with the sales tax included. They are also adjust the actual sell price so that with tax it is an even number - no pennies, nickels, and dimes that way.
Sales tax on gasoline is also included in the advertised price.
There is no sales tax on services in Illinois yet. If the legislature gets its way, that haircut will be costing an extra 7.25 %.
But what is your point. The amusement tax is just another way to squeeze money from the middle class.
Pay him with a check has to claim it when it's wort out to the business name
Sure seems like city of Peru could care less about fun in Peru. What's next taxing sled riding? You're a joke Peru!
I’ve been away on vacation in the old country taking care of windmills and I’m just now getting back to Peru. I am very happy to see that funds will be redistributed to fund this vital piece of entertainment infrastructure for the people of Peru. We need more Progressive initiatives like this tax on all things entertaining to pay for new and better entertaining things. Spreading the investment over the bourgeoisie of the Illinois Valley makes sense to me. After all, they can afford it – and once the capitalist investment is paid off, this greatly need revenue can be added directly to the General Fund to be redistributed again.
I think my friend the Ambassador of Deer Spotting needs to weigh in on this situation which is vital to us all.
Make it a point to read TAXING YOUR FUN IS NOTHING TO JOKE ABOUT in the Trib tonight on the Opinion Page.
We have so little family entertainment and outdoor recreation in this area already. Everyone is leaving now to go to the bigger cities for entertainment. Why push us away faster?
12:51 If our new governor has his way, you will see an increase in the base sales tax in illinois. The increase, added ON TOP OF Peru's ' various taxes and the county's tax, will make your purchases go SKY HIGH!! And guess what else will make you happy! Illinois is implementing sales tax to residents that purchase on amazon. Have you called your realtor yet to move out of state? On top of the govt. wanting to allow right to work areas with cheap labor, everyone outsourcing to seasonal staff that collects illinois unemployment checks during off seasons, and higher and higher sales taxes, you will start to notice that you are only going further in the whole each month. Welcome to Illinois!
9:39 PM, January 29, 2015,
As is stands now, we ALREADY pay almost 50% of our wages for one tax or another. Think about that when you vote. They even put a sales tax on top of the fuel tax in Peru, Illinois - imagine, taxing a tax - the Boss Harl infrastructure sales tax is also on Gasoline.
For the most part, unless I have an immediate need, I shop on-line through companies that have no presence in Illinois. I avoid all of the sales tax that way. Never bought anything from Amazaon and I won't now that they will charge sales tax. But there are plenty of on line retailers that charge nothing for sales tax because they don't have a store in Illinois - Duluth is one if you need an example.
The Government needs to come to the realization that people are being taxed to death. Time for THEM to step back and reprioritize the services they provide and start cutting back!
NO NEW TAXES!
If I was a public repressentative and heard comments that no one could hear me I'd speak louder, turn the mic on, or move the podium to a location that I would be heard from unless I did not want certain people to be able to hear. Just a thought in kind, very much like a politicians work in kind only way more proficient. To those who take a personal interest they will understand what I mean.
6:26 PM, January 29, 2015 - There is nothing in the NT on-line opinion page about:
TAXING YOUR FUN IS NOTHING TO JOKE ABOUT
I did not read it on line.
I am supporting waldorf he is buying so many trucks and vactors and now 7percent tax and getting into a lawsuit with a citizens that could have been solved by 8k check....maybe he will get 2 votes
Another good article on the opinion page of the News Trib(paper version) about paying attention to the legal notices in the paper.
Alonso,
You make sense. People tend to make judgments about any new idea. Do we need jobs and quality entertainment? Yes. We do and this is a example of progress in Peru. There are 3-4 people that will yell about any new idea in Peru. I think the greater majority stay quiet and support development like a new theatre or sand transportation. We have a good group of go-getters on the Peru council and I like what they are doing.
12:54 PM
Personally I think you are trying to persuade yourself that what you like is what everyone else likes. Have you not kept abreast of not only the comments on this blog but also on FB and particularyly the News Tribune FB page coments on the proposed theater which they thought would be proper to actually print in their print edition of the paper a few nights ago. Overwhelming against the way in which this theater is being funded and would not even be in their price range to go there. Open your eyes and be assured many many people don't like this idea. Just so you don't think it is just me, it doesn't matter to me unless you let the city get involved in taxpayer money being used in any way for the developer and your 7 % tax does not fly with the people who live here.
Another thought, has anyone thought about traffic and what a disaster it would be with the present road situation and many more cars? Venture Drive would like a cakewalk compared to traffic on the roads as they exist with a theater next to Hyvee.
5:59 PM, January 30, 2015
So you are saying that the NT does not put all the letters to the editor on-line?
I believe they put all letters to the editor that are written locally, I am not sure if they put everything that is written on the opinion page on line. The entertainment tax was taken from their face book page, it listed opinions and the names of the person.
3:40 it wasn't a letter to the editor. It was comments taken from the NT Facebook page and printed next to the open forum. The comments were overwhelmingly negative.
Lois @1:34 pm. The intersection at Hyvee off 251 is almost identical to the Venture Drive intersection. HyVee gas station is the Dairy Queen.
Ha - from fb
So, they're going to build a theater in an area that could really use development. A nicer one than the ones in Naperville and Bloomington - then charge the same ticket price as they do at their other theaters in the area - all while giving the city millions of dollars in taxes over decades and providing new infrastructure for more new businesses. sounds terrible.
1:08 - not exactly. The area is able to stand on its own and could be developed by any number of commercial enterprises. They are going to give close to a million dollars to a Real Estate trust to build a theater and rent it to the 4th largest movie theater chain in the country. To get the money back, the city will be taxing a number of "amusements" not limited to the ticket price of movies at this theater.
I don't know about you - but I'm partial to keeping my business and government separate. Our governments are getting a little to cozy with the big wig business guys. The government needs to get out of the way of private business - NOT FUND IT. I don't know when this all changed - but this is not the capitalism I learned about in school. Capitalism requires PRIVATE CAPITOL not government tax dollars.
Might as well start the boycott now. I for one will not step foot in the planned theater. I will no longer go to the Carmike Theater in the mall anymore either. Nor will I go to any Carmike Theater.
According to the radio this morning, the 7% tax is off the table. Thank you to everyone that contacted your Aldermen and voiced your concern about this unjust attempt at taxation!
Stay vigilant - the schemers and sill scheming a way to use public funds to pay for this private business development.
What I'd like to know 6:38 is when was this voted on by the city council? It was not voted on at the last meeting and the next one isn't until Feb. 8th. Where, when, and by whom are these decisions being made? The only meeting that was held this week thus far was the Public Services meeting. Are they making all of the city decisions?
totally agree with 5:18. that's why my family doesnt shop at hyvee or walmart. public dollars should be used for the good of the public.
It is common for a legislative branch to pull a proposal if it is determined that there are not enough votes to pass it. This happens all the time.
In the US Congress - this is the purpose of the "Whip" - he or she gathers votes, if that is impossible, they report to the speaker that the votes cant be had.
No difference in a city council. One on one conversations are had - which don't constitute a meeting - and the votes are tallied. If there aren't enough votes, the measure is pulled to prevent the embarrassment of it being voted down. It also avoids the cost of writing an ordinance only to have it disapproved.
Same old story, business begging never changes. If they can get the suckers to pay for their land and structure why not give it a try?
Maybe they (Carmike) will go to Dalzell. But wait, Dalzell can't stand the extra traffic and maybe a loud, noise making movie might wake up the residents.
Something tells me that IF Carmike follows through on their threat to pull out, some other company will fill the void.
It is rare that a market goes unsatisfied. That is if there is a market. The other side of the coin is that our community can't support a Megaplex theater. If that is the case - government has no right to use tax money to force a product on a market that the market can't support or does not want. Either way - capitalism wins.
I think we should put the new movie theater on the ballot in April and let the voters decide, just like they did with the pool. Do taxpayers want to pay for a theater? They didn't want to pay for a pool. Swimming, movies = Entertainment is entertainment.
1:40 - neither one is a function of government.
1:40, I agree. $1.00 TO GO TO THE POOL, TAKES YOUR OWN SNACKS. $20.00 FOR A MOVE AND SNACKS AT THE THEATER. PLUS, OUR TAXES PAY FOR A THEATER. SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT WITHOUT THIS.
Very entertaining to see Peru's elected officials exposed as the clumsy Buffoons they are. The only ideas they try to sneak through the council benefit big business or some connected developer. St. Bede has learned the hard way to be aware of shady developers with selfish, sef-serving motives using the "Wimpy strategy". Just pay me today for work that I will gladly perform tomorrow!
Anon 1:40 PM First of all I'll admit that I don't consider myself the smartest man in the world nor even on the block. As a result of this I do really make a true effort to keep up with the times, I also make a effort to bridge the many generation gaps that I have lived thru and I hope that I listen to the viewpoints of everyone who cares enough to express them to me and to weigh the value of others opinions.
I believe that there is no comparison between the pool and a theater. The pool as most other city swimming pools are normally of government sponsorship and built for the service of all whereas a theater is almost always a private investment with private financial gains or losses. This the way time has proven things to work best. The government, which also consists of you and me and our investment of tax money, cannot afford to do everything for everyone and should refrain from attempting to do so. Basically the government is to do things that are needed and necessary that we ourselves as individuals or small groups cannot accomplish.
I cannot remember word for word what was said on the radio this morning about a Peru Council vote taken on the 7% amusement tax, which was voted down. When did this meeting take place and where? Was proper legal publication followed? I have yet to talk to anyone who has seen a legal published notification.
Someone mentioned that if Carmike moved to Dalzell the village could not stand the traffic.
As long as this is being mentioned can you picture adding a 10 screen theater backing up the traffic flow coming out of HyVee.
One hour to get in two hours at the movie and than three hours to get out. Oh well, Peru city officials have plenty of experience at parking from the concerts at the airport which could be used at the picture show.
Anon 11:02 AM Where have you come from, Russia. The city has procedures to be followed and public notifications to be made, and ideas that must be exchanged. What method are you going to follow to achieve a quorum?
If this line of thought is city governments answer to transparency it evidently time to take action at a state level.
Last agenda posted for a city council meeting on the Peru Government Homepage is 1-26-15.
Peru we have a problem. The Black List started up again Sunday night after the football game. Redding is the main character and his nickname is "Red". This has been a unusual year in Toronto, Canada and now in Peru, Illinois. City meetings no longer in closed session but on unlit street corners in the middle of the night with special ops tactics of individual votes. Come on "Red" is a TV show character and who knows what happened to the Mayor of Toronto lets not start playing games with the city the people were going to take back.
7:08 PM, that is how it is done at every level of government.
7:08 PM, there is a little musical ditty that used to be on TV back in the 1970's. It's called "I'm just a Bill" and it explains how laws are made.
There is nothing that prevents an idea that is being floated from being abandoned by its sponsor if the sponsor realizes that the proposal doesn't stand a chance of being enacted. From what I gather, the 7% tax got enough citizens alarmed that they contacted their Aldermen and gave them what's for. This evaporated the support rapidly and the issue "died." Nothing nefarious going on here. Or perhaps maybe you prefer to pay the lawyer to put the ordinance together so they can officially vote - thus wasting thousands of dollars and everyone's time.
By the way - if this was Soviet Russia they would just do it.
6:57...if you read the legal in the paper you would see they have arranged for a new road to reach the new Carmike.
11:11 The city should have been planning for that intersection long before the Carmike came along.
That is good news 6:57. They won't be using an amusement tax to pay for it though. And everyone please remember. The $875K proposal was to go directly to the Real Estate Trust / Developer so they could offset their expenses regarding the purchasing the land and building the complex. It had nothing to do with infrastructure. What the City proposed doing was giving them money to offset their costs - thus increasing their profit. This type of "incentive" is actually just a handout. It should not be confused with tax increment financing - which has a totally different set of arguments to be had.
I just hope they find a way to build a nice, new business. (that doesn't require a tax on the people)
This nice new business you are wishing for just tryed to have your money and my money and every other Peru citizen money finance its 1st million dollars. I find no reason to support this business and its greedy motives, nor care if it locates in Peru. This is a very well to do corporation which has enough money to build a lot of movie houses on its own.
I cannot get excited about a business which desires to leave but do get excited about the solvency of the Peru Mall without the business and this is who may need some city assistance in attracting another show outlet.
Do you consider it good business to support a business (movie house) to in return lose a much bigger one (mall)?
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