Yesterday, Martha Thompon of Crystal Lake complained that McHenry County Board member had not spoken during the debates on next year’s taxes.

Actually, he did.

In member comments, Gasser pointed out the following:

• 57 homeowners in Fox River Grove were delinquent in paying their property taxes.
• 113 homeowners in Cary were in a similar situation.
• Lakewood passed a referendum with a 92% majority asking tax districts to get referendum approval before raising taxes.
• Cary and Fox River Grove voters scored 91% on similar referendums.
• 55% of Crystal Lake citizens voted against issuing bonds to build a new library.

“People out there are really hurting,” Gasser concluded.

Andrew Gasser also made one of his videos with his members comments. You can listen to it below:

His reply to Marth Thompson’s comment follows:

Good Evening Ms. Martha,

Thank you for your comments, but more importantly, thank you for signing your name.

It is always nice to hear constructive feedback so that we may improve ourselves.

Ms. Martha, I am sorry and I promise you I am at least as disappointed as you that I was denied the chance to speak.

I actually had “my light lit” to let Chairman Gottemoller know I was wanting to speak.

My “strategery” on this was not to be the first one out of the gate to speak on this but follow up and answer some of the challenges I knew where coming.

Also, I actually wanted to hear what my colleagues had to say on this.

Sadly, by denying me the chance to speak they denied your voice to be heard too.

It really is a sad commentary when we can debate a zoning issue for 40 minutes (when we all knew it was going to die) but we “call the question” while board members want to represent their constituents on the board floor over something as big as the budget.

I could have called the question 10 minutes into Member Schofield’s zoning argument.

However, unless it is so out of line it is always better to error on the side of speech.

Since the meeting I have had several board members tell me they wanted to speak as well.

A few of us are upset.

I walked out of the room after voting because I was upset and I wasn’t going to go Congressman Mike Bost.

Everyone on that board, all 23 of them, know that property taxes is my issue and a majority of them decided not to let me speak.

I admit to everyone on reading this I was upset – I was angry.

It wasn’t unprofessional I promise.

I didn’t interrupt anyone (unlike some who oppose me).

I didn’t make a scene (like some in the past have done). I just voted and walked out briefly.

I felt it would be ok to go “use the facilities” and get a drink of water.

I did not miss a vote.

Now for the good news.

The McHenry County Board is reforming itself.

I think you will see a lot of positive changes going forward and I am actually optimistic that there will be a much better free flow of ideas and feedback amongst us.

I am not throwing anyone under the bus here or saying anything people don’t already know – but this board was very divided on how to govern.

Through the primary process and the general election we will have four new board members and a returning board member.

We can learn to work with each other or we can continue on the path that we are on.

It is my personal hope that we all reflect on the last two years and see it for what it really is.

It was tough.

It is evident to anyone who follows the board to know who was isolated and who was promoted.

Good people like you have stood up and made your voice be known and that is a great step.

Moreover, to your point of not speaking, fortunately I was able to make a brief statement during member’s comments.

I will download it, chop it up, and upload it tonight.

Maybe Cal will post those comments so everyone can have a chance to listen.

Finally, many of us on the board, and those who will be on the board, hear you.

We hear you.

You live in Crystal Lake.

Despite the developer paying for mailings telling people to support the library, despite government officials running around telling people to support the library, despite the pressure applied on social media, the people overwhelmingly said NO.

This gives me hope and optimism.

You would think board members would get the message but sometimes we do not.

We are all over taxed.

McHenry County is the 29th most property taxed county in the United States.

This isn’t Andrew Gasser pulling out some magic number – this is documented.

It seems as though all government bodies just tax, tax, tax.

When we run for office we have to make some tough choices on things like the budget and services.

That is why we run.

That is why we serve YOU and not the other way around.

We are in a property tax state of emergency here in McHenry County and Illinois.

It doesn’t take a rocket economist to tell you that we are losing people left and right to Tennessee, Florida, Texas, and South Carolina because people simply cannot afford property taxes in McHenry County Illinois.

It doesn’t take a NASA analyst to tell you we have more taxing bodies in Illinois than Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana… combined… but what do I know?

The political class here would say I do not know much.

Bluntly speaking, the political class here either doesn’t know the pain that this taxation is causing or they just don’t care.

You need to ask them yourself Ms. Martha.

Again, thank you for attending the meeting and thank you for your feedback.

If you would like to discuss this further with me, or possibly become more involved, you can always call me at (850)866-0155 or email me at andrew@andrewgasser.com.

And this invitation goes out to anyone reading this… I am your county board member too.

Be Blessed,
Andrew Gasser

PS Sorry for all the “I”s – it was me speaking from the heart.