Batavia rec center opposition committee fined

Batavians Against Debt, a political committee that opposed building a recreation center downtown, was fined by the State Board of Elections, according to a quarterly finance report filed Tuesday.

On its Form D-2, the committee listed receipts of $5,862 from Jan. 1 to March 31 this year. The money came from Black Heron LLC of Peoria.

It listed expenditures of $5,962, including a $1,739 fine it paid Feb. 18 for two reporting violations. The committee did not report Oct. 7 and 13 contributions of $9,233.13 and $8,156.44 within two days, as required for contributions of $500 or more made in the 30 days preceding an election. The contributions from Black Heron were reported Oct. 22.

The board could have fined the committee up to 100 percent of the contributions, but since they were first and second violations, assessed only a 10 percent penalty.

The rest of the expenditures were for polls, graphic design work and advertising.

The D-2 was marked “final report,” indicating the committee is no longer active.

Batavians Against Debt spent $56,535.47 on the referendum. In November, park district voters rejected a plan to finance construction of a recreation center and parking garage a private developer had proposed to build on Island Avenue between Wilson and Houston streets.