Article announcing Govenor Pat Quinn plans to propose taking away 30% of the amount of income tax revenue sharing now provided cities and villages.

When city leaders read this Tribune article saying that Pat Quinn expects them to “share the pain,” there will be gnashing of teeth.

Apparently Quinn has decided to cut the $1 billion a year income tax revenue sharing by 30%. That will save $300 million, of course.

The cities got a cut of the income tax when the deal was put together by Republican Governor Richard Ogilvie way back in 1969.

It never made sense to me.

Why should local officials get a pot of money without taking any heat for hiking taxes?

10% of the total amount collected?

Better to take any heat little that comes with raising taxes, e.g., the 75% Crystal Lake city sales tax hike that Mayor Aaron Shepley and six of his city council members (all but Jeff Throsen) supported.

Poster from one of the many supporters of the Raue Center grant.

I’m sitting in Crystal Lake City Council Chambers waiting for the passage of the resolution asking McHenry County government to recognize the importance of the city watershed protection ordinance and what should occupy the minds of most in the audience, but distribution of proceeds from the Hotel/Motel Tax.

Mayor Aaron Shepley had a staffer put up a spreadsheet on the overhead projector. It contained last year’s allocations and a row for this year.

$302,000 in the till, it appeared.

Final Crystal Lake Hotel/Motel Tax Distribution (click to enlarge)

Then he started filling in numbers.

• $15,000 for the Independence Day fireworks which the Crystal Lake Gala used to finance after the Crystal Lake Jaycees stopped sponsoring them when a youth found an unexploded one and severely injured his hand. (The Jaycees collected donations at Veterans Acres in bags.)
• $2,000 to the Crystal Lake Babe Ruth League
• $10,000 to the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce for the 4th of July Parade.
• $6,000 for the Chamber’s Shopping and Dining Guide.
• $35,000 for Historic Downtown Crystal Lake
• $3,600 for the Music Center
• $50,000 for Youth Sports (the baseball tournament)
• $150,000 for the Raue Center for the Performing Arts
• Volleyball – zero
• McHenry County Convention Bureau – zero at Shepley’s guidance, suggesting the money could be found elsewhere in the city budget
• $25,000 for Lakeside Center with Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller pointing out whatever was allocated was in addition to $8,000 in donated police services
• $2,500 for the Crystal Lake Rowing Club

The total awarded was $299,100.

Audience files out of the council chambers after the cutting up of the Hotel/Motel Tax pie. Most were supporters of the Raue Center's application.

Having received $150,000 the Raue Center supports left satisfied, even though they didn’t get the $44,000 they sought for repairs to the old movie theater.

The money collected from the Hotel/Motel Tax could be spent for any purpose.

The most startling information that I discovered listening to the discussion on the matter was Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller’s revelation that county staffers did not realize that the watershed of Crystal Lake extends beyond the city boundaries.

Mayor Aaron Shepley verbalized that opponents of the watershed ordinance’s requirements “may disagree with the parameters of the boundaries of the watershed” being based on the drilling of “four wells.”

City Director of Public Works commented Eric Lecuyer said, ”I think the boundaries are clear with regard to the watershed.”

I received nothing from District 2 candidates yesterday…or from any statewide candidate, but others got some mail. (Here is the first round of District 1 mail. It’s from the week early voting started.)

But I did get a piece from Ellen Brady Mueller late last week.

Notice the stamp and the address. Someone had to affix the first class stamp. That's more personal than having a mail house use a permit, as is the return address label. And, when was the last time you received mail from a candidate that someone had hand addressed? All three elements show Brady Mueller has volunteers willing to do stuff that most candidates now relegate to a mail house.

On the address side in pretty small print is Brady Mueller’s biography, including her being “well prepared for any issue that comes before her” and that she is “a proven team player.”

She does not mention that she voted for Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% city sales tax increase. (I would not either, were I writing the copy.)

She lays out her goals:

• Make rational roadway improvements her #1 priority
• Maintain core services without additional cost to the taxpayers
• Bring new techniques and programs to attract business to the county
• Work collaboratively with all interest parties to implement a ground water protection and conservation program
• Persuade the county to recognize and adopt the Crystal Lake Watershed ordinance. (See critique of county board 2030 Plan for not recognizing the Crystal Lake Watershed Oridinance.)
• Broaden the communications between communities and the entire county board.
• Maintain a good solid working relationship with all the municipalities of the county.

"Ellen is the right person, at the right time, for the right reasons," is the message. The description is catchy and the photo of the candidate in Downtown Crystal Lake really catches her identity with the town. She loves to tell people her family has lived here over 100 years. That seems more than appropriate because she is a long-time city councilwoman.

Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano and Joseph Gottemoller, attorney for Metra, appear before the Crystal Lake City Council seeking permission to proceed with annexation of the land for a Ridgefield commuter station.

Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano returned to his home town city council for a second time seeking permission to proceed with plans seeking approval for a new commuter train station in Ridgefield next to the old 84 and new Alexandra Lumber location.

The proposal debated by city council members basically said that if Metra met all the requirements set by the city council that it could gain annexation to the city.

Mayor Aaron Shepley framed the debate like this:

“The question is solely whether council wishes to assume control of development of this project.”

At the end of the debate, the council voted 5-2 to assume control. Jeff Thorsen and Ralph Dawson voted “No.”

Jeff Thorsen registered his complaint about what he saw as the one-sided nature of the agreement.

Thorsen thought the agreement too one-sided.

“The agreement does not even require they ever annex,” he said. “At the end of the day, we can’t say ‘No.’ You can say ‘No.’”

He worried that if money is needed to enforce Crystal Lake’s Watershed Ordinance that Metra would not have to pay its fair share.

Shepley wondered if Thorsen wanted county government to be the approving governmental entity, as it was for 84 Lumber, which property covers more of the watershed than would be allowed had it been annexed to Crystal Lake.

“If the county wants to be irresponsible about developing it, then it’s not on my shoulders,” Thorsen replied.

Later Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller pointed out that the proposed 2030 Plan for county land development does not recognize Crystal Lake’s Watershed Ordinance.

Ralph Dawson views a Ridgefield Metra Station in Crystal Lake as a way to stretch city police forces too thin.

Ralph Dawson worried about extending city police protection still farther, pointing out that the Pingree Road Station had had vandalism problems, which Crystal Lake Police had to handle.

“It’s a far stretch from the city limits,” Dawson said. “I cannot support the City of Crystal Lake annexing the station. I don’t think the city should be obligated to go that far out to give it service.”

Trying to pour water on the fire, Pagano affirmed, “Metra intends to work with the city on the watershed…and traffic.”

Still Dawson concluded,

“I don’t see my taxpayers to benefit on this project.”

Brady Mueller asked,

“Are we out there already?”

Police Chief David Lindner pointed out that his force already served nearby McHenry County College and

“If there is a request from the Sheriff and we’re closer, we go out there.”

Ellen Brady Mueller argued for city control of the Crystal Lake watershed on which the proposed Metra station would be located.

Brady Mueller wanted to know,

“Why in the world would we want to give up a piece of property in the watershed?”

“We want to have the control.”

Cathy Ferguson agreed:

“I want control. I have enormous traffic concerns.”

Both relative newcomers Brett Hopkins and Carolyn Schofield concurred.

“I’d absolutely like to see it under control of the city, rather than the county,” Schofield said.

Summing up, Shepley said,

"If we say, 'No', we're counting on somebody else to do our job," Mayor Aaron Shepley said.

“We have fought like wolverines to control what goes on in the watershed. It’s not just our right; it’s our obligation.

“There is no done deal. Mr. Hopkins said it. The only question is who should we be dealing with.

“The downside for them is if they don’t meet our standards, they still have to go to the county.

“As far as police enforcement goes, Mr. Dawson, I think that is a fair concern. If it should go to the county we’ll still be the first responders.

“The difference is that the benefits will not fall to the Crystal Lake side of the ledger.

“If we say ,’No,’ we’re counting on somebody else to do our job.”

Dawson suggested the county was “in a new era. They’re talking about water, at least they’re making waves in an election year.”

“If the county is good, we’re better,” Shepley stated. “We owe it to the people to protect their interest.”

The Frankie Valli actor sang,

“Working My Way Back to You, Babe.”

As I read Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna’s press release announcing he had signed the American for Tax Reform’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” I realized this might be a step toward the Illinois GOP’s returning to the taxpayer’s side in Illinois.

The song was written after Valli had played around on the road and his wife had left him. Goodness knows local govenment Republicans have played around with raising taxes—think of

• Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% city sales tax hike and
  the Republican state senators in DuPage County (including Kirk Dillard, now running against McKenna for the nomination) and
• DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom’s inducing those GOP senators to vote for the bill that tripled the RTA sales tax in the collar counties.

McKenna even lashed out at Schillerstrom and former Governor James R. Thompson for supporting the huge RTA sales tax hike at the Republican State Convention in 2008, leading to a walk out of most of the DuPage County delegation, but cheers from other suburbanites like me.

But, Republican legislative leaders Tom Cross and Christine Rodogno have not become “responsible Republicans” and led the charge to bail out the spend and borrow and tax Democrats who have controlled Springfield since Rod Blagojevich beat Jim Ryan (and me) in 2002.

Maybe they have figured out what I have.

When Blagojevich took office in 2003, he proclaimed there was a $5 billion deficit. I always thought that was a two-year figure that could have been worked off, the way Jim Edgar got out of the hole that Jim Thompson left him.

Every year, including 2003, the Springfield (read “Chicago”) Democrats added a billion dollars to the budget.

Hey, there was no problem.

Come last year and Pat Quinn takes over. He proclaims an $11-12 billion debt.

Let’s do some simple math.

2009 minus 2003 is 6.

Six times $1 billion is $6 billion.

Five billion dollars, plus $6 billion is $11 billion.
Presto Chango!

We know where the Democrats deficit came from.

As Pogo, undoubtedly a Democrat, would say,

“We have met the enemy and it is us.”

Below is McKenna’s press release:

McKenna Signs Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge; Challenges Opponents to do the Same

Andy McKenna announced today that he signed the Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge, vowing as Governor to “oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes.”“I am pleased to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge because it is wrong to ask the taxpayers of Illinois to do more when their government has done so little,” said McKenna. “I challenge my opponents to sign this pledge and make a commitment to the hardworking men and women of this state that they will not raise taxes.”

While some of his opponents continue to flip-flop on whether they will raise taxes, McKenna’s opposition to tax hikes has been clear for years including his collaboration with Republican Leaders Tom Cross and Christine Radogno to defeat Governor Quinn’s jobs-killing income tax hike.

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle.  It was founded in 1985 by Grover Norquist at the request of President Ronald Reagan.  Since ATR first sponsored the Pledge in 1986, hundreds of U.S. Representatives, more than fifty U.S. Senators and every successful Republican Presidential candidate have all signed the Pledge.

Because of severe computer problems with my new Hewlett-Packard computer, I missed the 525th day anniversary of Mayor Aaron Shepley’s and his city council’s (sans Jeff Thorsen) 75% hike of the Crystal Lake city sales tax’s having taken effect.

It was July 1st a year and a half ago, that the cost of shopping in Crystal Lake went up.

But, you know how government is.

If there’s not enough money, don’t act like a family or a business.

Just raise taxes.

And that’s what the Crystal Lake City Council did.

The Cook County sales tax hike went into effect the same day and the Chicago Tribune has been kind enough to keep reminding its readers of that fact.

The same time that paper has been running a campaign to eliminate the Cook County sales tax hike.

And, the Tribune has a half-off stamp on its editorial page reminder. It has had some success in rolling back the tax.

Not so, the paper of record in McHenry County. Apparently a 75% sales tax hike in Crystal Lake, where the Northwest Herald is located, is A-OK.

It’s so OK, in fact, that the NW Herald never ran a story about the tax’s going up that July 1st.

Oh, well. That’s why it’s good to have more than one source of news.

Rep. Manzullo:

Transportation Improvements Great News for Motorists, Commuters in CL

Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley talks with 16th District U.S. Representative Don Manzullo at the Pingree train station.

[CRYSTAL LAKE] Congressman Don Manzullo (R-Egan) joined several local officials in Crystal Lake this morning to celebrate the opening of two transportation improvements that will benefit area motorists and Metra commuters.

At an early morning news conference at the Pingree Road Metra station, the officials dedicated the opening of the station’s expanded parking lot as well as the nearby improvement to the busy intersection of Crystal Lake Avenue and Pingree Road.

Manzullo secured $1 million in federal funds to help fund the widening, realignment and new traffic signals erected at the busy intersection that was previously regulated by a 4-way stop sign. The project — shared by the City of Crystal Lake, Metra, Algonquin Township, and Nunda Township – was completed last month.

Congressman Don Manzullo talks with Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano and McHenry County Metra Board Member Jack Schaffer in the Pingree Road Station.

“The two improvements we celebrated today will help improve traffic flow through Crystal Lake while making the Pingree Road Metra station more accessible,” Manzullo said. “Traffic congestion continues to be McHenry County’s number one challenge, and I will continue to seek McHenry County’s fair share of federal transportation dollars to help alleviate the back-ups.”

In addition to the intersection project, Manzullo has secured significant federal funding for the Western Bypass of Algonquin ($19 million), the Rakow Road widening project through Crystal Lake and Lake in the Hills ($7 million), and the Route 47 widening project through Huntley ($6.7 million). Construction on all three of those projects is scheduled to begin within the next year or two.

The rumor mill says that Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley now favors the Viking Dodge site for a pool and community center, so perhaps this graphic by “Heck of a Guy” Crystal Lake blogger Allan Showalter of its fiery demise was in error.

I would say, favors it “again,” but Shepley was not specific as to the location when he spoke  to Crystal Lake seniors January almost a year ago.

Then, Shepley told the seniors that one of the sites was nearby. He was standing in the Senior Services building next to City Hall on Woodstock Street.

“The park district is looking at one near where you are sitting,” Shepley said.

He talked specifically about the old Oak Manufacturing building, where I had my last legislative office.

“The site (the park district is looking most closely at) is a building that is already in place,” the Mayor continued.

“If a pre-existing building, it takes less work (than new construction),” he continued.

I didn’t speculate about Viking Dodge being the location, but in February, the rumor mill was throwing off information pointing in that direction.

That turned out, of course, to be Viking Dodge.

And the Crystal Lake Park District voted to pay $6.3 million for it.

Although, through a Freedom of Information Act request, I discovered Oak Manufacturing’s old facility was in play.

Shepley predicted it would be open within two years after passage of the referendum necessary to finance it–2012.

The city council turned against Viking Dodge in September, primarily for traffic congestion reasons.

Even with an eventual new entrance on Ridgefield Road.  That’s the black line above.

Now the grapevine is saying that the YMCA had decided not to proceed with a new swimming pool, which would have been privately financed, because of the litigation resulting from the deaths of Chicago high schoolers in the. paddle boat accident.

So, I tried to check out the rumor.

I emailed Shepley at his city council address.

It’s been a while since I asked. Certainly time for Shepley to have replied.

Without confirmation the rumor remains a rumor.

Let me know if you can confirm it.

It went into effect the same day as the Todd Stroeger’s Cook County Board’s sales tax hike.

What’s the difference?

One is about to be repealed in whole or part.

And it took legislative action.

The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board has made repeal its number one reform issue since mid-summer 2008.

The Chicago Sun-Times follows along, but thinks only half of the sales tax hike should be repealed.

In Crystal Lake, on the other hand, the Northwest Herald did not even run a mid-summer article informing readers that the tax had or was about to increase.

Shows the difference editorial policy can make.