Economy: September 2008 Archives

Congress lived up to its 18 percent approval rating Monday when the House failed to pass the $700 billion financial rescue package, or bailout. The stock market responded in kind, dropping some 770 points in the biggest one-day point fall in history.

Naperville's local representative, Judy Biggert, voted against the bailout. Do you agree with her vote? Do you agree that the U.S. government should rescue the financial sector, and the alternative could be worse? Hmmmm....higher taxes, or another Great Depression...which do you prefer?

There is so much to the mess, and no easy way out of it. Are you concerned about your personal savings -- your 401(k), pensions or other retirement investments? What about the value of your home? How much equity is in your home? Have you borrowed on the equity in your home? Did you think home values would always increase? Do you now owe more than your home is worth?

In what ways is the financial crisis affecting you?

Naperville is grappling with a $5.1 million budget shortfall this year, thanks to less-than-expected revenues from sales and real estate transfer taxes. The city has adopted a hiring freeze, will not replace 21 vehicles in the current budget and will look at other steps to close this year's budget gap.

Next year, unless something is done, the deficit will be in the $10 million to $11 million range, city Finance Director Doug Kreiger told the City Council Tuesday. Moves under consideration include eliminating positions, reductions in overtime spending, wage freezes and other steps dealing with reducing personnel costs.

This is just the beginning of the budget process, a time when the City Council ought to be most receptive to hearing what constituents think ought to be done to balance the budget. This forum is your opportunity to share ideas and debate issues. So pretend you're talking to the mayor and city council, and say what you'd like to see done to get Naperville back in the black.

The Naperville Sun has received several complaints about Nicor Gas bills. It's summer but readers' bills don't reflect that -- usually bills come every two months in the warm months. The Citizens Utility Board also has received complaints -- almost 500 about their bills. The consumer watchdog group says some customers are being billed inaccuratly because Nicor is not reading meters every two months as required by law. When meters are estimated instead of read, customers can end up paying less than what they're consuming, a CUB official says. Problems come when the meters are read after months of being estimated. Cub says when the meter is finally read, customers get hit with extermely high bills because of the accumulation, and because Nicor charges all upaid bills at the last month's rate. Nicor attributes the higher than usual customer complaints to billing changes. The company is offering some relief. Through Sept. 19, certain customers will be eligible to pay half their balance and pay the rest in installments over nine months.

Tell us your stories about high energy costs and what you plan to do to deal with them as cooler weather heads our way. With natural gas prices hitting $1.45 per therm in July, what will that mean for you?