This is the time of year that local governments determine how much your tax bill will increase next year.

Most of McHenry County taxes go to education, but the only educational institution that anyone has cared about lately has been McHenry County College.

This is how the taxes were spread in McHenry County last year. Source: McHenry County Conservation District.

MCC amounts to about 4% of the tax bills living in the district.

This Thursday night the college board–with newcomer Mike Smith having replaced Tom Wilbeck–will vote on whether to hold the taxing amount constant or hike it..

Smith will presumably be the swing vote if newcomers Molly Walsh and Chris Jenner again join with Board President Ron Parrish again stick together.

If you want to weigh in in person, the meeting starts at 6:30 Thursday night.

Or you can send an email to the Trustees at mcctrustees@mchenry.edu.

On Tuesday night, the McHenry County Board will vote on its levy.

You may remember that the county has squirreled away over $35 million in its nursing home account.

Valley Hi’s cash on hand since 2006

I’ve written about it here.

The County Board is being asked to approve $3 million in taxes for Valley Hi next year, even though over $35 million remains unspent.

County officials will argue that they are doing taxpayers a favor by only asking for an additional $3 million.

What they are really saying is that they think some time in the future, they may need the money and they don’t want to have to ask voters for permission to levy it at the ballot box again.

You can contact the Board members on this page.

If you want to express your opinion in person, the meeting starts at 7.