This was sent by Dorr Township Precinct 7 Republican Committeeman Cyndi Hemauer:
Dear Friends & Neighbors,
We had a problem at one time and time ticks away because we don’t want to see the truth and now, Woodstock “We Have A Crisis”! Did you know, we pay 4.60% in Property Taxes, just to live here.
Let that sink in for a moment. The national average is 1.4% and we pay 4.6%! How did we get to this?
We gambled on growth and when the real estate bubble burst in 2008, Woodstock stopped the expansion but D200 just kept spending and they keep on spending even till today.
We have two High Schools at half capacity (the new High School, Woodstock North is smaller in size than Woodstock High School and Woodstock North was built on top of an aqueduct).
We need to talk about this because it affects the biggest investment we make in our lives and that is our house.
Every time D200 increases their budget and spends more the EAV (equal assess value) to our homes decline, making our homes worth less and lose value when we go to sell it.
I have been attending D200 School Board Meetings for the past two years.
We plead with them, show figures and have asked them to have the courage to find ethical and constructive solutions to these challenges D200 is facing but they refuse to listen and even answer any questions during public comments.
2017 ballot for the Woodstock School District.
When a School Board Member takes their oath, one of the promises they make is,
“I shall respect taxpayer interests by serving as a faithful protector of the school district’s assets…”
(http://www.iasb.com/elections/oath.cfm).
We have an opportunity come this April 4, 2017, when we will get to vote.
We can change the path we are on, which is not good for us the taxpayers as well as for the students.
Barb Gessert and Susan Handelsman have been attending School Board Meetings with me for the last two years.
They understand and know this dangerous path we face and are willing to pull up their sleeves and make the hard decisions.
Even Superintendent Mike Moen says we can SAVE $2.5 MILLION ANNUALLY and continue to PROVIDE QUALITY EDUCATION to our students and with that, can make a difference in our property taxes.
I’m inviting you to meet and attend a Public Forum this Thursday, March 16th at 7:00 pm upstairs at the Woodstock Public Library (see invite below).
No one wants to talk about this crisis including the two incumbents, Carl Warren Gilmore & L. William Natress.
I need your help.
Please send this invitation to other D200 friends and neighbors and encourage them to attend and make a difference. I thank you and appreciate your help.
In Liberty,
Cyndi Hemauer
Precinct Committeemen
Dorr Township 7
The invite was not also posted?
Free Forum about Woodstock School District and Property taxes.
Thursday, March 16 at 7PM upstairs at the Woodstock Public Library.
What is the seating capacity of the meeting room?
Lots of people complain about high property taxes in Woodstock.
Count me in.
We know where this is heading to. Cut, cut, cut…2018 do not delay. Listen Peter, tic tock, tic tock…
Another glorious morning in beautiful McHenry county. Sitting with my cup of coffee awaiting my dose of republican nonsense that make my weekend special. My compassionate conservative friends only “complain” about property taxes. That makes them patriots. The other side are “whiners”. See the difference? Tic tock, tic tock…
Mark,
Could you give us the rundown of those running for D200 please?
Who is a former teacher/principal/admin? Who is married/related to one, etc?
Thanks in advance!
OMG So glad to see Susan HANDELSMAN running to do something about what constitutes 70% of our tax bills!
GESSERT is running with her!
Now this is A strategy based on Smarts and Fortitude!
(Because Hope and Change is not a strategy!)
Susan & Bob will beat them union boys/girls.
There are 10 candidates on the April 4, 2017 ballot for Woodstock School District 200 school board.
They are competing for 4 open positions.
Only 3 of those 4 positions can be from Dorr Township (7 of the 10 candidates have residency in Dorr Township).
There is a rule for the Woodstock school district that “not more than” x candidates can be elected from y Township.
Presumably that’s to prevent over representation from any particular township on the school board.
The Dorr Township Candidates are: Nattress, Gilmore, Parisi, Gessert, Kockler, Farris, & Ferrarini.
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Two of the 4 incumbents (Camille Goodwin & Paul Meyer) are not running for re-election.
The incumbents running for re-election are Bill Nattress and Carl Gilmore.
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Here is an overview of the candidates as they appear on the ballot.
The first 7 candidates are from Dorr Township.
Keep in mind only 3 of the 4 elected candidates can be from Dorr Township.
Bill Nattress: Incumbent. Resides in Dorr Twp. Director of Channel Strategy at Biamp. Has 2 children that graduated from Woodstock High School.
Carl Gilmore: Incumbent (current Board President). Resides in Dorr Twp. Attorney at Woodstock Legal Consultants. Has 2 children in elementary school in the district.
John Parisi: Running as a slate of 2 with Jacob Homuth. Believes the school district should accommodate the gender identity wishes of student and parent. Attorney at KML Associates in Crystal Lake. Has children attending Woodstock CUSD 200 schools. Endorsed by former school Board President Camille Goodwin. Former PTO President of Verda Dierzen Early Learning Center in Woodstock CUSD 200.
Barbara Gessert: Running as a slate with Susan Handelsman. Both are fiscal conservatives. Has children in Woodstock District 200 schools and one that graduated from Woodstock HS. Has met with school board members on issues of spending.
Karen Kockler: Speech Language Pathologist in Huntley School District 158. Daughter is a Music Teacher in District 200. “But reducing taxes is not a school board responsibility; managing the funds that come from federal and state resources IS a major responsibility.”
Bruce Farris: Dentist. Member of the City of Woodstock Parks & Recreation Commission. Former volunteer cross country coach at Woodstock North High School.
Jill Ferrarini: Owns a commercial cleaning service. Has children in Woodstock CUSD 200 schools. Does not want Woodstock North to close. Not a fan of vouchers or charter schools. Opposed to allowing transgender students to use facilities that align with their gender identity.
Susan Handelsman: Running as a slate with Barbara Gessert. Susan has spent a lot of time researching the school district, especially financial aspects, has attended many school board meetings, has dialogued with the current board, has commented frequently on the blog, and has submitted articles to the blog. She is currently involved in a lawsuit against the district regarding fund transfers. As a background on that topic, school districts, the government, and non profits use what is called fund accounting, which is different than business accounting. In fund accounting, each fund has an identified purpose. Susan believes the district had inappropriate fund transfers (transfers from one fund to another). A free resource on school district accounting in Illinois is, “Mechanics of a School District Budget, a Guide to Understanding the Illinois School District Budget Process” by the Illinois State Board of Education.
Suzann Schroeder: Worked 20 years in the financial industry (unknown in what capacity or if still working in that industry). Has two children that attend Woodstock District 200 schools. Husband Jeff is an attendance facilitator / Dean and the head football coach at Woodstock North.
Speaking of Woodstock North Football.
Current Woodstock District 200 board member Jerry Miceli – whom is not up for re-election this election – is a volunteer football coach at Woodstock North. Jerry Miceli earned $153,797 as a PE teacher and wrestling coach (maybe some additional stipend duties – would only know by submitting a FOIA request to the school district) at Vernon Hills High School in Libertyville / Vernon Hills High School District 128 in 2015 (26th year teaching), plus $7,195 from Woodstock District 200 (as a volunteer football coach? – again we don’t know for what unless we submit a FOIA request to the school district), for a total of $160,992, all of which is pensionable income. If he in fact did receive a pensionable stipend for coaching football at Woodstock North that’s a pretty interesting definition of volunteer.
Jacob Homuth – Running as a slate with John Parisi. Adult probation officer in Probation & Court Services Dept of McHenry County.
Brother Jeremiah Homuth is an Assistant Football Coach at Woodstock North whom was wounded as a solider while on patrol in Afghanistan and another brother Joshua was in the Navy and is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor at the US Dept of Veterans Affairs.
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Woodstock School District has serious financial difficulties.
They did not reign in costs quickly enough when the financial crisis hit.
Now difficult choices will have to be made, be it cuts or hiking taxes.
The spike in bond payments that must be dealt with in 2022 – 2026 are an issue and depending on the prevailing interest rate at the time of refunding and the financial condition of the district could result in hiked interest costs.