Northwest Herald Makes No Recommendation on Countywide Tax Hike Referendum

When there were so, so many tax hike referendums, Libertyville's Jack Martin had these generic signs printed.

When there were so, so many tax hike referendums, Libertyville’s Jack Martin had these generic signs printed.

I guess progress is being made.

The Northwest Herald did not endorse the creation of a 337 tax district to funnel $9 million more dollars into carrying for the developmentally disabled in McHenry County. (The 337 designation is from the number of the section in the Illinois statutes that authorizes the referendum to approve the tax.)

There was a time when every tax increase proposal seemed to automatically receive the NWH stamp of approval.

But the paper’s editorial board could not bring itself to recommend a “No” vote.

I can.  You can read why in these articles:

I guess taxpayers should be grateful passage of a referendum is required before this ten cents per $100 of assessed valuation tax is imposed.

The majority on the current McHenry County College Board seem bent on borrowing over $40 million to build a health & fitness club, plus almost double the size devoted to classrooms and labs without allowing a public vote.


Comments

Northwest Herald Makes No Recommendation on Countywide Tax Hike Referendum — 3 Comments

  1. Thank GOD the Editorial Board did not say NO to this crucial referendum. What are we supposed to do?

    Just let the mentally ill be funnelled into our criminal justice system?

    It’s a 10 CENT tax. Not dollars, not hundreds of dollars. Ten CENTS.

    Cal, you should write another piece on this because with the 2.7 billion dollar cut to medicaid, children, teenagers, young people and adults suffering from mental disorders will NOT get the care they need.

    This is the most important issue on the ballot RIGHT NOW!

    Want to know how much it costs to pay for an inmate to be jailed in our criminal justice system? Aprox. $40,000 PER YEAR.

    If you call yourself conservative, what is a more fiscally responsible move?

    Pay a 10 cent tax OR have to pay down the road money for someone to go to prison because they did not get the adequate care early on to prevent jail time.

    Think i’m joking?

    Look at the stats, there are more mentally ill people in prison than you may realize.

    VOTE YES for this referendum!

  2. As I pointed out in my first article, the 708 Board was created to fund both mental health and developmentally disabled services. The tax rate passed, if my research is correct was 15 cents per hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

    That the 708 Board does not provide 50% of its money to DD services, as my memory tells me the original checks I delivered to Pioneer Center and Family Services is a function of the County Board not having made sure that split continued.

    As I understand the proposal, the extra $9 million will not go to serve the mentally ill, as the commenter implies.

    And, no homeowner will get taxed only 10 cents.

    There is another aspect that passage of this referendum will cause, as did the 708 Board tax’s passage.

    Families in need of such services will move to McHenry County.

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