UPDATE 2: Comparing Property Tax Extractions over Recent Years — Townships, Including Road Districts, Discussion of Grafton Township’s Large Increase

The first update added comments from Grafton Supervisor Eric Ruth. I’ll move them from below up here:

We completely abated the town fund levy the previous year so the town fund did not collect any taxes last year (we still collected a small amount for General Assistance as we felt this was a fund we should not neglect). 

This is not an increase, it’s just getting back to where we were before the abatement. 

We do not have the authority to abate any taxes but it is my interpretation and understanding that we have the authority to abate the levy, which is what we did.  

Now come Grafton Township Trustee Matthew Cooper, the reason for UPDATE 2:

I’m on the Grafton board. 

Your article seems reasonably misleading, and your comment in reply to Stormy D is equally misleading. 

The Levy has been reduced from the previous year every year of the last four, including 2019 when the Levy was completely abated, save the GA fund.   

Comparing 2020 to 2018, which is a much fairer comparison, the levy was reduced by 10%.   

I’m scrolling through comments and it sure doesn’t seem as if anyone reading your post managed to glean this from the article. 

I’m also curious why you think this happened because of an “illegal accumulation” of funds? 

That’s an interesting perspective coming from someone who didn’t even feel a complete abatement of a year’s worth of tax levy was worth mentioning last year. 

The article that Trustee Cooper did not remember can be views below:

http://159.89.184.83/2020/06/26/townships-as-a-whole-cut-taxes-9-5/

In last year’s article Supervisor Ruth explained,

Grafton Township’s tax levy plunged so much because a new state law limits the amount of money a township fund can have in the bank to 2 1/2 times what it spends in a given year.

Supervisor Eric Ruth confirmed the new statute was the reason for the deep cut in taxes.

Below is a spreadsheet showing what McHenry County’s Townships asked to be collected in real estate taxes for this year and the last two years.

Because of the large cuts made in McHenry Township, the total tax take for townships is down 1,47% this year.

Townships are comprised of two different tax districts.

The Road District is pretty explanatory.

The Town Fund is everything else, including all elected officials compensation.

Thanks to a Friend of McHenry County Blog for compiling the information.

McHenry County map showing townships and municipalities.

Cutting taxes were

  • Algonquin Township Road District
  • Greenwood Township’s Town Fund
  • Hartland Township’s Town Fund
  • McHenry Township’s Town Fund and Road District
  • Nunda Township’s Town Fund

Increasing taxes were

  • Alden Township’s Town Fund and Road District
  • Burton Township’s Town Fund and Road District
  • Chemung Township’s Town Fund and Road District
  • Dorr Township’s Town Fund
  • Dunham Township’s Road District
  • Grafton Township’s Town Fund
  • Hartland Township’s Road District
  • Hebron Township’s Town Fund and Road District
  • Marengo Township’s Road District
  • Richmond Township’s Town Fund and Road District
  • Riley Township’s Town Fund and Road District
  • Seneca Township’s Road District

Pulling about the same amount out of taxpayers’ pockets as last year are

  • Algonquin Township’s Town Fund
  • Coral Township’s Town Fund and Road District’
  • Dorr Township’s Road District
  • Grafton Township’s Road District
  • Greenwood Township Road District
  • Marengo Town Fund
  • Nunda Road District
  • Seneca Town Fund

Below is a summary of what different types of tax districts are requesting this year:


Comments

UPDATE 2: Comparing Property Tax Extractions over Recent Years — Townships, Including Road Districts, Discussion of Grafton Township’s Large Increase — 28 Comments

  1. Cal, for the ppl who don’t understand this chart fully, could your person please explain why Graton Town was down so much as compared to all the others?

  2. It was down because the Board decided to use illegally accumulated funds.

    I believe it is up so much in order to have the money estimated to be needed this coming year.

  3. I saw where April CPI data was released today indicating that the inflation rate is currently at 4.2%.

    Its not inconceivable that the CPI rate pushes past the PTELL cap of 5% by the end of the year.

    One of the numbers in the post above indicates that the total levy county-wide was $862.2 million.

    Some of that is debt service and not subject to PTELL limitations.

    Lets say that only $800 million is subject to a 5% increase next year or $40 million and contrast that to this year’s increase of $11 million.

    With inflation running hot, property taxpayers could be in for a very painful surprise next year.

    Assuming inflation stays high, it might be worth the effort to begin having discussions with the various boards throughout the county about not taking the maximum increase allowed for next year’s levy collection when they take their votes in November/December.

  4. Good job Bob Anderson and Co in McHenry Township. They did what they were elected to do!

    Sad sack Wojewski, GO TO HELL! You are a fake!

    Tranny Alyward: GO TO A NUTHOUSE WITH YOUR HIGH HEELS!

  5. I salute Steve Verr and Bob Anderson for cutting the fat and waste from their township.

    Unfortunately the tax pigs in Nunda and Grafton didn’t heed their example, and I’m stuck with big increases of 9% and 12.6% on my properties there respectively.

  6. Wow!

    McHenry Township.

    That’s what’s needed.

    Political leaders who cut.

  7. Did you not notice we did an abatement in 2109 @overtaxed Senior!

  8. Did you not notice we did an abatement in 2019@overtaxed Senior!

  9. Those guys in McHenry Township meant business.

    Why are other township boards not considering the taxpayer in overtaxed McHenry County?

    Why are they co-opted?

    Why is there so much nepotism with Townships (Algonquin Townships)

    Why so much perversity in townships? (Ms. Transgender Clerk Dan-Danielle Alyward)

  10. Gadzooks!

    The people were put first in McHenry Township.

    What the hell happened there?

    That’s not supposed to happen.

  11. How did Grafton Township get around the Ptell law and the cap whereby they could only increase the levy by 105% from the past year?

    I don’t get it!

    We never had truth in taxation hearings unless they were secret.

    No referendum either.

    What gives.

    This is a cool blog.

    We never get this info from anywhere else.

    Lopez is great.

    I hardly post but I read daily.

  12. I thought Gasser was going to cut the Alg Rd Dist by a lot, but he never did.

    Why not?

  13. The Road Commissioner of Dunham Township, a crook called Dave Nowlan told me personally last summer (August) he was going to cut his budget by 3-5%.

    I would have accepted a flat budget, but the crook raised it.

    Funny how personal projects seem to be done by his peons.

    Are they hired out to snowplow driveways and cut down trees or what?

    He tried to glad hand me last summer.

    Now he avoids me in town.

    It’s all so sketchy.

    Seems like all the townships are.

    Except McHenry.

  14. Goldie HawHaw,

    Grafton Township did nothing illegal or improper.

    Last year the Board DID an “abatement” where they basically pulled from township reserve monies to cover most of the Grafton tax levy.

    They could only do that for one year, and everyone’s tax bill dropped for that one year.

    For example, my tax for Grafton dropped from $59 in 2019 to just $3.45 in 2020.

    And now it rose back up to $51 this year, because they could no longer pull from reserves.

    So it’s misleading to say the tax extension rose 1400%, because again…THEY PRETTY MUCH TAXED NEXT TO NOTHING LAST YEAR.

    And the tax bill from them still lower than what I paid in 2019 because they’ve continued to lower the tax levy or keep it flat.

    This article explained it too.

    https://www.shawlocal.com/2019/10/18/grafton-township-proposing-10-property-tax-levy-reduction/auj0ev3/

    Cal…Grafton never “illegally accumulated” funds.

    Quit being an ignorant slut.

  15. Cal, the reserve was never 2.5 times the levy, but it was growing because the township had cut spending.

    Instead of waiting for it to exceed the 2.5x metric they did the abatement.

    How is any of that illegal?

    You could have actually, uh, emailed the township to clarify after you cashed the latest check from your $90K a year IL pension.

  16. Ah, so it was to avoid having an illegal surplus.

    Sorry for my misunderstanding and I did email Supervisor Ruth both last and this yea, publishing his replies.

  17. With all these small road township districts what can they really do with roads getting less than $1 million?

    A bridge cost probably at least $1 million if not more.

    What can these township road districts offer that the county can’t provide for?

  18. Illinois Township Government Illinois Township Road Districts…Cronyism, Nepotism, Patronage and Waste.

    Cutting township levies is not enough. Get rid of them!

    All of them!

    They will not be missed.

    Thirty states do not have townships on their tax bills.

    Illinoi has seventeen counties where homeowners do not pay one dollar of tax to township government!

    Townships?

    Get rid of them!

    Saves money!

  19. “Sanitary?”

    As in the Lake in the Hills Sanitary District?

    Wow!!

    How come that’s flying under the radar?

  20. Wow!

    Has anyone questioned the +10% increase under “Sanitary”

  21. Jen, the LITHSD graduated from being great press to being even greater patronage….

  22. So we hear from Bob Anderson, failed candidate and failed “reformer.”

    Tell me, Bob, how is it that you want to dissolve these “duplicative,” “thieving,” “redundant” Townships…and yet NOT return all those Township tax dollars to the the taxpayers?

    Have you perhaps, possibly, just maybe got a…”connection”… or something that would be getting all those former Township tax dollars instead?

  23. (The answer of course is The County. Every township dissolution bill that Bob Anderson supports gives the township’s tax dollars directly to the County, in perpetuity. But that by no means makes Bob “corrupt” in any sense of the word. A disingenuous liar, a poseur, and a political failure? That’s another story. But I’m convinced that Bob Anderson sincerely believes that taxpayers should be satisfied with the sheer act of dissolving their township, then seeing zero savings on their tax bills as they continue to rise and rise AND rise. Because, by God, BOB ANDERSON would have it so…)

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