Councilman Horn's responses to the Herald & Review questionnaire
The Herald & Review asked Decatur City Council candidates questions about their candidacy and a wide range of city topics. Below are Councilman David Horn's responses.
Why are you running for the Decatur City Council?
It has been an honor and privilege to serve as a member of the Decatur City Council since 2017. I am running for re-election because I care deeply about the well-being of the 69,000 residents that live here. I am proud of the assistance that I have provided the last eight years and pleased to work collaboratively with my colleagues on the council to make Decatur better.
What are the three most pressing issues facing the city of Decatur that the city council must address during the next four years? Please explain.
The most pressing issue facing the City of Decatur is population decline. To address population decline, my top 3 priorities are public safety, job creation, and neighborhood revitalization.
Neighborhood revitalization goes hand-in-hand with increased public safety. For example, the city received a $1.25 million grant in 2020 from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to fund demolitions, cleanups, and lot acquisitions in the Johns Hill Neighborhood. The neighborhood has seen a reduction in crime since the neighborhood was improved (36% reduction in the count of offenses in July-June 2022-2023 vs. July-June 2018-2019), and the neighborhood has seen an increase in civic engagement that is critical to building the community. Better neighborhoods establish a greater sense of place and attract more people to live in Decatur, many of whom will join the city’s workforce.
Neighborhood revitalization is the number one stated priority of the city council. In 2024, the city demolished a modern record 150 buildings, up from 108 in 2023, 64 in 2022 and 36 in 2021. Much of that ramp up was fuled by one-time federal COVID-19 stimulus funds and grants from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Those funds are no longer available, requiring the city this year to dedicate general funds towards revitalization initiatives. Given the continued need to combat blight in the urban core, how should the city fund these initiatives in the years ahead? Would you support a dedicated revenue stream? If so, what?
I have previously proposed, and will continue to support, using the proceeds of the push tax the city council passed be used to fund neighborhood revitalization initiatives. The push tax is a one cent fee that is collected every time a player spins a slot machine in Decatur. It is estimated that citizens spin the reels of slot machines over 400 million times per year, 1.1 million spins a day, and thus, the city will collect over $4 million annually in push tax proceeds. While the tax was passed several years ago, it is currently being litigated. All indications are that the city will prevail.
Clearly, Decatur has a gambling problem. Over a one-year period, citizens lost >$45 million at 80+ establishments hosting 500+ slot machines. The per capita gambling loss of ~$700 per resident is among the highest in the state, and residents have spoken loudly and clearly to the Decatur City Council – it is time to reduce the number of gambling establishments. While it is unlikely that the number of gambling establishments will noticeably decrease in the near future, using proceeds from the push tax is an excellent way to fund the city’s top priority.
As of the end of January, the Decatur Police Department had only 136 of its 148 budgeted positions filled. Even with actions like relaxing the residency requirement for officers and offering signing bonuses, recruitment remains a challenge. What additional actions can the council take to address the shortage of manpower in the police department?
As an elected member of the Decatur City Council, I have and will continue to support funding requests by the Decatur Police Chief to recruit and retain police officers. Given the number of individuals currently enrolled in the police academy, I predict that the shortage will be resolved in the coming months. From a broader perspective, the city council plays a significant role in making Decatur a more attractive place to live. A more vibrant city will increase the city’s overall population and workforce.
Last year, the city council approved an overhaul of its ordinance pertaining to garbage and recycling services, including authorizing an increase in the base rate to more than $30 per month by 2027. What are your thoughts on the quality of waste hauling service in Decatur and should the council revisit its ordinance? Please explain.
At the March 3, 2025 city council meeting, I requested that the city council hold a study session reviewing the current ordinance so that the public could formally express their concerns. While the necessary 4 of 7 council members did not consent to such a discussion, city staff will be reviewing complaints the city has received over the past year and use that information to propose changes to the ordinance in the near future.
Since the city council approved its ordinance last year, I have received numerous complaints regarding the quality of service provided by some haulers and concerns regarding some changes that were made. These concerns have included the loss of the bag program, a program in which individuals with low amounts of trash pay $1 per bag instead of the larger monthly rate; haulers not collecting at the assigned day of the week; and poor customer service including challenges reaching someone to talk to and haulers not returning phone calls. For these reasons, the council should revisit the ordinance for improvements.
The first cannabis dispensary in Macon County opened in Harristown in 2023. Its second is slated to open in Forsyth this spring. Both are just outside Decatur city limits, making them easily accessible to city residents. This also means that the city does not benefit from tax revenue that these businesses generate. Should the city council reconsider its ban on dispensaries and other cannabis-related businesses within city limits? Please explain.
The Decatur City Council should reverse its ban and allow a cannabis dispensary and other cannabis-related businesses within the city limits. It is unclear what the arguments are for requiring our citizens to drive to Harristown or Forsyth to purchase a legal product. The city is simply losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue each year to nearby municipalities, prohibiting a retail destination that could be a catalyst for people to visit the city’s other fantastic small businesses, and inconveniencing its citizens. Furthermore, whatever the negative consequences to these legal sales may be, they will be in Decatur where the cannabis is used as opposed to the location where the cannabis is sold.
Since adult-use cannabis was legalized approximately 5 years ago, the Decatur City Council has taken only one formal vote on whether to allow dispensaries, and I am the only individual that has ever formally voted yes for a dispensary in the city. Meanwhile, residents of our city have long supported having a dispensary. On March 17, 2020, residents of Decatur Township (which comprises ~70% of Decatur residents) voted in an advisory referendum on whether the city should allow the sale of cannabis and cannabis-infused products to individuals over 21. There were 5,382 ballots cast with 62% voting yes and 38% voting no. The ban on a cannabis dispensary and other related businesses is poor public policy that should have been reversed years ago.
Annual police and fire pension contributions continue to grow. Over the years, city staff and elected officials have said that help is needed from Springfield to address the problem. But, that help has yet to arrive, at least in a fundamental way. If it doesn’t in the next four years, what actions should the council take to address this structural challenge in a way that is fair to first responders and reasonable for taxpayers?
I am a strong advocate of funding 100% of the City of Decatur’s pension obligation each year and support pension reforms that establish benefits that are at least as large as Social Security payments as is required by federal law. With that said, if public safety pensions were a department solely funded by the city’s general fund, it would be the third largest department behind Police and Fire and in front of Public Works and Economic and Community Development. It is difficult to see how increasing the city’s pension obligations are feasible, particularly with a declining population.
Currently, options for meeting growing public safety pension fund obligations are limited which may create some difficult choices in the medium- and long-term unless novel solutions are agreed upon. The best way for the city council to address this structural challenge is to make decisions that will grow the population and enlarge the subsequent tax base of the city. This can be accomplished through enhanced public safety, job creation, and neighborhood revitalization.
Will you vote to increase property taxes to pay for the growing cost of providing city services? If not, what revenue streams would you consider? Where would you cut?
I was the strongest advocate for a 0% property tax increase in 2025 and voted against the 6% property tax increase that the city council ultimately approved. The large property tax increase was poor public policy, was unnecessary, and the city council should focus more on reducing unnecessary spending.
Property taxes are already too high. Macon County, IL had the 10th highest effective property tax rate in the U.S. in 2023 at 2.13% according to a property tax analysis by ATTOM (the national average is 0.87%). Furthermore, over 40% of Macon County residents do not make enough income to make ends meet let alone pay higher taxes. A 6% property tax increase seemingly ignores the challenges Decatur residents face on a day-to-day basis.
Unequivocally, the city did not need to raise property taxes. Prior to the tax increase, the city council unnecessarily approved spending $1.1 million for a pipeline to transport water when a pre-existing pipe for water transport already exists. The city has yet to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars taxpayers spent demolishing the former YWCA building, and we have foregone substantial revenue to adjacent municipalities by prohibiting a cannabis dispensary in Decatur.
In 2024, the city granted a 99-year easement to Archer Daniels Midland that permits the company to inject and sequester carbon below city-owned land. It can only be terminated if a permitting agency or a state or federal court finds that there has been a violation that adversely affects safe, long-term storage of carbon. Last September, the U.S. EPA in a proposed administrative order alleged that the company violated the Safe Drinking Water Act and the terms of its injection permit when carbon seeped into “unathorized zones” about 5,000 feet below the surface. Should the city explore terminating its easement? And, more generally, do you believe the city should permit carbon storage underneath city-owned land, including Lake Decatur?
Carbon sequestration should be prohibited under Lake Decatur, the drinking water source for the city’s 69,000 residents. ADM Co. should rescind its agreement with the city, and if not, the city should explore all options to terminate the easement. Simply put, ADM has failed to build a sequestration facility that is safe from leaks and has been irresponsible in its lack of communication about multiple leaks taking place.
Since November 2021, ADM has reported 5 leaks at 2 wells. Based on the multiple leaks that have taken place at the surface, subsurface, and 1000’s of feet deep, it can be concluded that there is a systemic problem with carbon sequestration operations. Decatur residents, and employees and elected officials of Decatur, were not notified of the first four leaks, and only became aware of one of them through an investigative journalist in the national media. ADM failed its basic ethical responsibility to notify interested parties in a timely manner. Just as concerning, ADM was negotiating a carbon sequestration easement agreement with the City of Decatur around the time of the leak in March 2024. It is fair to say that had the city council known about the leaks prior to the easement agreement being finalized, the easement agreement may never have been signed in the first place.
The EPA should reject ADM’s proposed permit to sequester CO2 under Lake Decatur. There is simply no compelling reason to risk the city’s drinking water source, public safety, and a crown jewel of our city to store CO2 from what appears to be imminent and substantial threat as defined by the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Decatur’s population is now below 70,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. What steps should the city take to halt and reverse decades of population loss?
The most pressing issue facing the City of Decatur is population decline. Since 2010, the population has declined 10%. To address population decline, the city should focus on public safety, job creation, and neighborhood revitalization. Neighborhood revitalization goes hand-in-hand with increased public safety, and better neighborhoods attract more people to live in Decatur.
Growing entrepreneurial opportunities can also grow the population. The city must recognize and remove barriers that hinder business and work collaboratively with our partners. Opportunities for our city include incentives to attract new employers and to encourage growth of pre-existing businesses, growing jobs through neighborhood revitalization, and expanding resources for start-ups. A thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in Decatur is critical to our long-term success creating high paying jobs and diversifying the economy.
The disparities between Black and white Decatur residents in median income, home ownership rates, health outcomes and other quality of life topics remains significant. What policy actions would you like to see the city take to help address the economic and social divides that persist in the community?
Decatur should strive to remove disparities among our citizens. It starts with engaging residents and having difficult conversations that allow for all voices and perspectives to be heard. More engagement of the community should lead to policy action that empowers change across our community.
Each citizen has a distinct identity – gender, age, ethnicity, race, culture, socio-economic class, educational background, and political view. All of these identities are important to our community. Decatur can become a city that finds fair solutions to our long-standing differences, and the city council should be a catalyst for ensuring that groups are collaborating to reduce disparities. We can become a city where there is opportunity for all, and removing disparities allows our citizens to thrive now and in the future.
What do you enjoy most about living in Decatur?
My favorite part of Decatur is the people who live here. As a city council member, I have had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of our residents, and I very much enjoy hearing their thoughts and perspectives on the city and how we can work together to make our city even more vibrant. As a biology professor with expertise in ecology and conservation biology, I love spending time in the city’s parks and around Lake Decatur. In addition, I enjoy dining at downtown restaurants, particularly during special events such as the gallery walks on the first Friday of the month.
What else would you like to share about yourself with voters?
It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve the residents of Decatur since 2017 as a member of the city council, and it would be a privilege to serve the city I love for four more years. Since being elected, I have attended every city council meeting, participated in hundreds of community events and meetings, and made myself easily accessible via phone (217-358-5003), e-mail (hornfordecatur@gmail.com), and social media (hornfordecatur.org or facebook.com/hornfordecatur). Through social media, I have provided timely information on topics to be discussed at council meetings and provide my views on city issues.
I am extremely committed to involving citizens in decision making. Greater participation by residents creates a more open and transparent government, allows for better and more effective decisions, and improves our city and the services it provides. Add your expanded detail here.