Liebmann Calls Out McCann & Smith on Vote against Cutting $40 Million+ Valley Hi Surplus

A press release from District 6 McHenry County Board candidate Kelly Liebmann:

Kelly Liebmann addresses funding concerns to County Board

District 6 County Board Candidate Pushes to Eliminate
Valley Hi Tax Levy and Reduce $40 Million Excessive Reserve Fund

Kelly Liebman

Kelly Liebman

Woodstock, Illinois – Republican Candidate for McHenry County Board, Kelly Liebmann, addressed the County Board October 20th at their regular meeting to discuss funding concerns with Valley Hi Nursing Home.

“A $40 million dollar surplus in the bank is grossly excessive for an entity that only uses a fraction of their yearly $3 million tax levy.

“The current surplus will sustain Valley Hi for more than 40 years as indicated in previous budgets,” Liebmann stated.

“Poor government and complacent elected officials have created a glut in Valley Hi’s reserves larger than fifty percent of McHenry County’s total property tax levy of $79 million.”

Liebmann was prompted to address the Board Tuesday when two board members from District 6,

  • Mary McCann and
  • Larry Smith

voted against lowering the Valley Hi tax levy in committee last week.

The fiscally responsible conservative Republican has been walking her district collecting signatures to get on the ballot for the Republican primary election March 15, 2016.

This past weekend she informed voters of the surplus and committee vote.

“People in my district have been burdened with low property values and little to no property tax relief.

“If we eliminate the Valley Hi tax levy, county tax would go down more than 3.5%.

“Whittling away excessive taxes resonates with many of our neighbors; some who will not receive any increase in Social Security benefits in 2016,” Liebmann stated.

Liebmann is a 13-year resident of District 6, having lived in both Harvard and unincorporated Wonder Lake.

A former member and current volunteer for 4-H, Kelly has been employed in administration and management for over 20 years and currently works as an Operations & Logistics Manager for a mobile marketing and concert touring transportation company.

The McHenry County Board 6th District consists of all of Alden, Chemung, Coral, Dunham, Greenwood, Hartland, Hebron, Marengo, Riley, and Seneca Townships and a portion of Grafton Township. Persons wishing to volunteer or donate should go to: www.voteforkelly.com for more information.

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Previous articles on the Valley Hi Nursing Home levy:

If you would like to call or email your county board members to express your views on whether they should levy the $3 millions or not, you can find their phone numbers and email addresses here.


Comments

Liebmann Calls Out McCann & Smith on Vote against Cutting $40 Million+ Valley Hi Surplus — 12 Comments

  1. Liebmann is a radical.

    We ought not elect folks who would be quick to cripple an institution that helps the elderly for a short term tax benefit.

    Possibly we could reallocate the funds to a project more beneficial to citizens at large?

    Liebmann is an ideologue and we have enough of those in office already.

  2. “cripple an institution that helps the elderly for a short term tax benefit” is a factually inaccurate description of the issue.

    Suggestion to reallocate enterprise funds amassed as a result of referendum would circumvent the meager protection taxpayers have against politicians arbitrarily taxing and spending according to personal whim.

  3. I think that Kelly presents a legitimate question.

    When we pass these tax levies they do not have any type of sunset provisions.

    These are dedicated levies which are not supposed to be used for anything else.

    Today we are still paying annually for levies of the Conservation District and for the Mental Health Board that were passed around 1970.

    The Valley Hi levy was passed mostly to enable the county to tear down and rebuild a decrepit nursing home and provide proper staffing at a time when it was poorly managed and losing money every year.

    Since that time, the new building has been completed, is fully staffed, and has excellent management, which has reduced the need for the levy.

    I was on the Valley Hi Operating Board and the Public Health and Human Services Committee which oversees it for two years.

    The only reason we have pause to further reduce the VH levy is due to the unintended consequence of the tax cap legislation which prevents local governments from reinstating a levy amount that has been approved by the voters once the government entity has reduced it.

    It actually causes the public to be taxed more, not less, as the VH situation illustrates.

    The legislature should allow for a narrow exception to the PTELL law where special voter approved tax levies are concerned so the original amounts collected can be varied up or down within the original parameters approved by the referendum.

    They should also look at allowing sunset provisions to be placed on future tax referenda.

    In the meantime, we are sitting on a huge pile of cash and not getting much interest income from it.

    We could use it to build a new facility to anticipate future needs as the Baby Boomer generation is coming to a nursing home near you pretty soon.

    This would be consistent with the literal wording of the original levy referendum to “build and staff” a facility for the care of the infirm and elderly of the county.

    However, I don’t think that this type of use, however well intentioned and desirable it may be now, was what the voters necessarily had in mind when they passed the original referendum.

    I have had conversations with elected officials where they have expressed the sentiment that the public cannot be expected to educate themselves on these types of issues and needs to just elect people to make those decisions for them.

    I hope that is not the case.

    Especially with all of the new forms of communication we have today, such as this blog, I would think that the public could be entrusted with more direct say in what happens in government.

    The township consolidation referenda would have been one way to have done that.

    Valley Hi is another.

    If there is a desire to expand the VH operations, lets have a referendum on it rather than use money that was extracted from the taxpayers for another purpose.

    In the meantime, lets reduce the levy to something approaching the actual annual deficit, and, if something unforseen happens, we still have a lot of cushion to work with.

  4. I think she makes great sense.

    If they don’t need the money and have a large surplus why make taxpayers suffer more.

  5. Mike, while this blog and other media has helped educate the general public, when I’ve asked people about consolidation and now Valley Hi, most still seem not informed.

    If referendums are to be held more effort will be needed to get informed voting, maybe good old fashion expensive mailings with both sides of the issue is needed.

    You would think with the high taxes in this county, all the negative effects of the economy, and negative stuff happening in Springfield and DC with budgeting people would try and pay more attention, but they really aren’t.

    Citizens voting on Levy’s would help give them some idea they can control taxes, and voter turn out would increase.

  6. Go Liebmann!

    Stand up for the tax payers.

    She is a breath of fresh air!

    A beacon of hope!

    I would vote for her in an instant!

  7. OMG, LOL

    Feel the need to call go ahead, if I had your $$$$$ I could afford the call and could burn mine. 🙂

  8. So have many others.

    The earlier article about changing the census count of medicaid beds goes against this was developed for.

    A home designed to assist those with no resources should not be making a profit, never mind holding a excess.

    Is it possible this property is being positioned for sale?

    Has anyone ever thought of the long term strategy of Valley Hi. management?

    Lake County sold their government owned facility.

  9. The other article did not suggest changing the Medicaid bed census.

    The suggestion was to keep ALL Medicaid beds, but eliminate Medicare and private pay beds.

    VH bed distribution now stands at 80 Medicaid, 48 non- Medicaid.

  10. According to Boone County Watchdog editor and former County Board member Bill Pysson,

    We sold the nursing home (business) over 15 years ago–all Boone County is a landlord with a 20 year old lease.

    Hopefully any reserves (less than $100,000) will pay for a new roof when needed.

    Two years ago the outside auditors had the reserves moved to the general funds area of the balance sheet so it really is not true reserve for the nursing home.

    Our township may have the issue.

    Bonus township has $1,000,000 reserve for medical (general assistance).

    It has a blanket insurance policy for anything over $10,000 and basically has never paid a dime in general assistance–only administrative fees to Belvidere Township which administers general assistance.

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