Jack Franks sends this photo of himself with a message no one can disagree with–real estate taxes in McHenry County are too high.
In an email blasted out by Jack Franks for his County Board Chairmanship campaign, He promises to cut county government’s property tax levy by 10% the first day he is in office.
That would be during the first week of December, if he wins the fall election against Mike Walkup.
How can Jack Franks do this?
By making a proposal the pretty-sure-to-be Republican majority cannot refuse.
This year’s McHenry County real estate tax levy is $76,289,016.04.
Last year the board, at Franks GOP opponent Mike Walkup’s initiative, cut $3 million (almost a 4% reduction) from the proposed levy by eliminating any taxes for the Valley Hi Nursing Home. (Read about how Mike Walkup started the discussion to cut the Valley Hi levy in the Finance Committee in Part 1 and Part 2.)
This year, Walkup proposed cutting the levy by 50% for one year by using the Valley Hi surplus.
He asked the State’s Attorney about that possibility and was told the money could not be transferred under state law.
In my opinion, Walkup asked the wrong question.
He should have asked if the County, in defending against the tax protest suit filed by Timothy Dwyer, could ask permission from the Court for such authority.
The surplus is so outrageous, the Judge might allow the property tax requested.
A 10% cut would be about $7.6 million.
Franks’ proposal will probably be some version of the following:
- taking money from the $10.4 million received from the RTA Sales Tax fund and using it to cut property taxes used for the Sheriff’s Department, instead of widening Randall Road (the County Board just approved spending $5.7 million to buy land to widen Randall Road.) and, maybe,
- draining some of the $42.5 million ($42,520,616.20 today) Valley Hi Fund surplus (the County Board is not on track to keep the Valley Hi levy at zero next year, fearing that they would lose the ability to tax forever without referendum approval)
Of course, Republicans on the McHenry County Board could do the same things before the election.
But I don’t think they will.
Here’s Franks’ email:
Dear Friend,
This is Jack Franks writing – I’m a third generation McHenry County resident and like most of us I am sick and tired of outrageous property taxes. I’m also sick of politicians who keep talking about the issue but NEVER do anything about it.
That is why, on my first day in office as McHenry County’s first elected Board Chairman, I will present a measure to cut McHenry County’s property tax levy by 10%. No gimmicks. No double-speak. A 10% reduction to FINALLY get McHenry County families some relief from property taxes that are higher than those in 99% of the other counties in America.
But I need your help. I can’t do this alone. Many of the same old tax-and-spend good old boys that got us in to this mess will be opposed to my 10% cut. They are worried it will cost their friends expensive government contracts and jobs. They need to hear from you NOW.
He then gives a link to send a message to County Board members.
Franks then asks people to email County Board members. [You can find County Board members’ email addresses here.]
And Franks does not say how he will implement his promise.
The levy will have already been passed, but it could be amended.
It’s doesn’t take a lot of knocking on doors to figure out that property taxes are a big issue in McHenry County.
But, in his 17 1/2 years in Springfield, one might ask,
“What property tax relief has Jack Franks provided to McHenry County?”
I remember fighting non-referendum bonds in the local governmental arena while State Representative.
The board members who did so, e.g., those on the McHenry County Conservation Board and Cary Park Board, undoubtedly remember the every household newsletter than gave their home phone numbers.
Can anyone remember Jack Franks doing anything in his legislative district to keep local real estate taxes from increasing?
Never going to happen.
Just another lie from a politician, be it a Dem. or Rep. just to get votes!
No, but here’s something he did to keep them from coming down:
http://steve463.com/2016/04/24/heres-how-jack-franks-keeps-you-in-the-dark-about-his-legislative-record/
“Of course, Republicans on the McHenry County Board could do the same things before the election.
But I don’t think they will.”
WHY THE HELL NOT?!
someone needs to ask Mr. Franks is this just for where he is at? the last time he only helped certain district!
not All!
My 2015 RE tax bill was $7,485, the County tax portion of that amount was $520.
Is Jack going to roll back $748 of my tax bill or $52.
Not very clear from his press release and probably very misleading to the average taxpayer.
READ the post above by Cal – the board has worked hard To lower taxes.
Jack Franks has been part of the Madigan Mob that
Has created a chaotic financial mess in Springfield for
DECADES.
HIT the ROAD Jack !
Franks WILL CREATE a mess on the
County board.
We the VOTERS need to stand up &
Let him know that we don’t want him
& his bag of dirty tricks style politics
INFECTING Mchenry County.
Vote for the REAL candidate in this race
MIKE WALKUP ! ! !
FRANKS, WILL ONLY CREATE MORE CONFLICT AND THERE WON’T BE VIABLE RESOLUTIONS!
$52 as I read the email.
Of course, he won’t mind if people think it is $748.
The comment from Jim B is very relevant.
It would be simple to reduce the County levy by 10%.
The average portion of any tax bill includes approximately 9% from the County.
Thus a levy reduction of 10% by the County would entail an average savings of less than 1% for any homeowner.
Do not get me wrong: a 1% reduction is better than a 2% increase, but if the residents of McHenry County want any real property tax relief, they need to start going to school board meetings or contacting Governor Rauner about House Bill 5529.
Anything less is just Lip Service.
“Of course, Republicans on the McHenry County Board could do the same things before the election.
But I don’t think they will.”
AGAIN, I ask why would they not do this?!
If Jacko really wants to cut property taxes, he should use his remaining time in the General Assembly to help localities lower their spending.
A few suggestions:
1)Repeal prevailing wage laws.
2)Reform/Eliminate binding arbitration for public safety employees. Currently the system is totally rigged in favor of the employees. That’s why there are so many sheriff’s deputies and local cops making near 100k or even more.
3)Real pension reform that would involve removing the pension protection clause from the Illinois Constitution.
Now theres some proactive measures Billy Bob.
Get schools off our tax bills. Jack, can you help with that?
Otherwise, NO to Jack/Madigan whoever you really are.
He said he would only serve two terms: LITTLE LIAR
He said he would support traditional marriage: LITTLE LIAR
He said he would not run for County Board Chairman: LITTLE LIAR
What time does the movie start?
What percentage the county levy is of the overall tax bill matters not.
Whether it is the lions share of the tax bill or a small portion, those who control it have a duty to be responsible with it.
They are supposed to be duty-bound to control what they can control.
In the case of Valley Hi, I think it’s safe to say this was not the case.
If the county board can’t make cuts proportionate to the size of their levy… if small villages can’t make such cuts… then why should school boards be expected to?
It seems every government body’s goal is only to not be the worst.. “as long as there are government bodies who suck more than us, were okay…..”
God forbid a government body instead sets a benchmark of excellence and others are held to that standard…
We have demons in our closet some wish not to disclose.
As long as we continue to cover up transgressions from prior regimes of the Republican Party we are susceptible to these kinds of charges.
We need to be honest with our nepotism.
We need to be honest with the deals that were cut in the past.
We have to be honest about our “Republican” board members, state representatives, and mayors who talk a good Republican game but vote and enact some of the most liberal policies around that make Cook County jealous.
The sad truth is the people, the taxpayers, of McHenry County are crying for tax relief and we are not leading.
They don’t want Randall Road – the defeated politicians want it… and they got it.
Jack Franks shouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning – but he does.
As board members we should be ripping all of the local taxing bodies that raise their levies every year while the McHenry County Board holds the levy flat or reduces the levy…
As a board we do a very good job… but our good job isn’t good enough.
TaxRate62 is dead on balls accurate calibrated by a rocket economist.
Why can’t the school districts, the park districts, the villages, the fire protection districts, and all the other 110+ taxing bodies in McHenry County Illinois cut their budgets as well?
It is not until we start exposing the Democrats inside our party, who donate to democrats and the democrat party, that things have a chance of getting better.
The taxpayers and voters are not stupid.
They are fiscally conservative.
Think about it:
Incumbent Anna May Miller – Chairman of Transportation – Lost re-election to Tom Wilbeck and Yvonne Barnes.
Incumbent Sue Draffkorn – Chairman of Law and Justice – Lost re-election to Col (Ret) Craig Wilcox and Kay Bates.
Incumbent Carolyn Schofield – Chairman of Planning and Development – Lost re-election to John Reinert and Jeff Thorsen.
Incumbent Tina Hill – Chairman of Management Services – Did not run for county board but lost election to Joe Tirio.
This isn’t personal – this is just the reality of the situation inside our Republican Party in McHenry County.
This isn’t hate speech.
This isn’t evil.
It is simply the truth.
It would be a fair assessment to say that all of these women are much more liberal and fiscally loose than myself.
Why did they lose?
Nepotism?
Philosophy?
Last name?
I simply, and respectfully, disagree with the way they vote as I am quite certain they disagree with me.
It is fine – we can respectfully disagree.
To that end we need to start controlling what we can control.
We need to elect LOCAL people who just do not talk a good game but vote the right way on the big ticket items.
We need to elect LOCAL people who are not afraid to say the politically incorrect things that make other elected officials “uncomfortable”.
We need to elect people with integrity who just don’t make good speeches but show up and vote the right way.
In the space community we have a term: DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION.
A disruptive innovation is an innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market leaders and alliances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_innovation
We need more disruptive innovation in our LOCAL REPUBLICAN PARTY.
We need LOCAL disruptors inside the Republican Party who are simply going to say who are not afraid to say what needs to be said.
So many local politicians have their deals, their networks, their alliances… but its all built on a house of cards.
We cannot continue to keep on keeping on like we are doing in McHenry County.
I will be voting for Michael Walkup and I hope all Republicans do as well.
I can no longer continue to carry the water of some of you – and I won’t.
//SIGNED//
Andrew Gasser
McHenry County Board, District 1
Algonquin Township Precinct Committeeman
Terrific!!!
Let the infighting begin!!
Snatching defeat from the jaws of vistory?
Dave L No one is talking about cutting Valley Hi, it’s all about reallocating the monies from a savings account to current and forthcoming expenses.
Andrew is right, Jack will crush Walkup, and if you look at each candidates credentials, you’ll know why.
Indigent?
Do you mean to tell me we treat illegal aliens but ignore the indigent citizens?
re: “if you look at each candidates credentials, you’ll know why.”
You mean one is a proven liar and the other is not?
Yea… so I’m the real Dave Lowitzki (Cal can confirm, if ya’ll want), and the person pretending to be me doesn’t appear to be smart enough to realize that no one is talking about cutting Valley Hi.
But hey – keep pretending to me.
It just gives Cal more work to keep deleting comments.
And it showcases a very high level of maturity, which is *exactly* what we want from an elected official.
More “Hope & Change” from Phat Jack – and that’s no lie.
If the tax payers want to continue dysfunctional government, the people will elect Jack Franks.
So Jim . . . Is it all about ‘crushing’ & winning ?
Apparently voting for a candidate isn’ t about looking
At the whole person & their integrity, honesty, REAL
Accomplishments, Education & track record as a
TEAM PLAYER .
For people like you, its’s probably about political
Party, patronage, nepotism, power, etc etc etc.
There is only one RESPECTABLE REAL candidate
Running for county board chairman, that is
MIKE WALKUP ! ! ! ! !
Party, patronage, nepotism, power, etc etc etc.
Someone is using emails to post in the name of Dave Lowitzki.
That will not be allowed.
The fake Dave L comment has been removed.
Carolyn Schofield did not run for re-election to the County Board.
She ran for State Rep. and lost to Allen Skillicorn.
Actually, Jack Franks said he would serve only three terms.
See links in this article:
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2016/05/20/jack-franks-switches-sides-on-term-limits/
Certainly too late to put a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot.
The deadline was in May.
I would suggest you talk to your district’s four Republican Board members.
My question to Mr Franks is what has he truly done to lower taxes?
One cannot run as a Democrat in the state of Illinois and claim to want to lower taxes.
How much of the property tax bill does the county control as opposed to the schools and the multitude of taxing bodies townships, fire and library
The bigger question for me is,
How many times did Mike Madigan
Lower our taxes.
Jack Franks is a Madigan puppet who
Has voted for Madigan 9 times out of
Nine.
Also it seems Jack Franks doesn’t DO MATH
But creates the answer he wants as he goes.
But good comment about, how does any Illinois
Democratic politician claim they have or will lower
any taxes
I know of nothing that Mr Walkup has ever been successful at.
He is a wierd dude and, maybe, not even a Republican.
Gasser I would not let you carry my water you are as disingenuous as they get.
You are right a lot of people don’t like you.
You are mean to women and disrespectful although you try to play coy.
A lot of hot air.
Nobody likes a bully time to grow up and move out of momma’s cottage.
Thanks to You idiot republicans like gsser, and walkup the vote will surely go to the Democrat candidates!
And you accomplished what again?
‘HIT the ROAD & DON’T COME BACK’
WITH Jack Franks , Stand4Crap
LOL, Your obviously one uninformed voter watchdog”2″
And I’m not going anywhere until the last storefront in crystal lake is vacant.
I’ve never been affiliated with Jack, however this isn’t and never has been about jack or jacks inadequacies.
This Is However about michael walkup and his short comings!!
LOL, Stand4 Crap this thread is
About Franks & not Gasser, who u
Attack constantly no matter what
The subject is.
I know Andrew G personally, talk to him
Frequently, understand what he is trying
To do & respect him for his courage to
Try & change a number of things that
REALLY NEED change in this county.
Being an independent voter, I choose
To support people on an individual basis,
Do my homework, meet them & watch their
Actions.
You have some weird bug up your behind &
Most of the time just throw out nasty insults
At Andrew G randomly at inappropriate times.
My parents moved to Mchenry County in the
Mid 60s & had 3 businesses here & I know
Who’s who. Have adult children in this area
& plan on staying awhile.
If u want to attack Andrew G all the time,
Be prepared to get some of your own
Medicine back at you.