TIF in Marengo?

Two public hearings on new Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts in Marengo, apparently originally announced for 7:00PM on Monday, February 28, have been moved up to 6:00PM.

The following email message, forwarded to me by a Marengo resident, was purportedly sent by the Marengo D-154 Superintendent. Schools have closed for the day and it is too late to verify its authenticity.

"The meeting time for the City of Marengo's Public Hearing regarding the proposed TIF districts has been changed from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  All parents are encouraged to attend the Public Hearing at City Hall on February 28, 2011 at 6:00 p.m.  The school district strongly opposes these TIFs.  Please click on the following link for more information. http://marengotif.wikispaces.com/
Thank you for your support.
Dr. Dan Bertrand
Superintendent
Marengo Community High School District 154
110 Franks Road
Marengo, IL  60152
815-568-6511 x1501"

Note the sentence, "The school district strongly opposes these TIFs."

Are school districts allowed to lobby voters and influence decisions like this? It seems to me that the Woodstock City Council had its neck in a noose a couple of years ago over support for a school initiative here.

In any event, to move up the time of a public hearing, as evidenced by the above un-dated e-mail, is a huge error. If the Public Hearings were originally announced for 7:00PM, then there will be people who saw the announcement of the 7:00PM time and who will show up then - and miss out.

The agenda on the website of the City of Marengo (http://www.cityofmarengo.com/) shows 6:00PM for the starting date of each Public Hearing. I wonder how they will manage that. The Public Hearings and the City Council meeting will be at City Hall.

Any approval of the TIFs should not occur on February 28, because neither is on the agenda of the City Council meeting at 7:00PM. But they might not let a small matter like that keep them from voting on it at the City Council meeting. Watch carefully, Marengo residents!