The Silence of the Franks

Jack Franks as State Representative and McHenry County Board Chairman has posed as a strong supporter of consolidation of governments. Let’s take a look at his record on the subject. Franks lives in the Marengo area where, probably the only … Continue reading

Real Estate Tax Bills Coming Monday

McHenry County Treasurer Glenda Miller mailed property tax bills on Friday. Since they didn’t come Saturday, I’m guessing they will arrive in most mailboxes Monday. McHenry County Blog will present some analysis, the first portion of which compares what categories … Continue reading

Looking for the Beef in Jack Franks’ Latest Consolidation Bill

Andy Shaw of the Better Government Association bragged that Jack Franks’ bill that would allow the McHenry County Board to do what the DuPage County Board had done with regard to governmental consolidation deserved “a shout out.” I remember Franks’ … Continue reading

Which Types of Tax Districts Taking More, Which Less

Ups and downs. That describes what McHenry County taxpayers will see in this year’s real estate tax bills. As reported Saturday, county government provided significant savings by zeroing out last year’s $3 million Valley Hi Nursing Home tax levy.  (If … Continue reading

Cemetery District Study

An article has been published by the Metropolitan Planning Council about cemetery districts: Behind the Numbers: Saving money on cemetery districts Written by Sean Wiley, M.P.P. candidate, University of Chicago Harris School, it somehow missed the at least the Nunda … Continue reading

Five-Year Tax Hike for Schools 12.75%

Reader “Connecting Dots” inserted this property tax information in a comment under the article, “McSweeney Introduces Eleven Bills.” There are comments on more than one of the bills, but with regard to McSweeney’s House Bill 178 to freeze township extensions … Continue reading

Bob Anderson Asks Richmond Township Cemetery District about Plans to Merge with Richmond Township

State Rep.Jack Franks passed a quite minor consolidation of governments bill this past session. (See Jack Franks’ Push for Local Governments to Consolidate Allows Two Cemetery Districts to Die.) Its only potential impact on McHenry County was to allow the … Continue reading

Jack Franks’ Push for Local Governments to Consolidate Allows Two Cemetery Districts to Die

With much fanfare Democratic Party State Rep. Jack Franks announced a commission to cut the number of local governments. The reporting date came and went. This spring it was two years overdue. The Northwest Herald ran an article by Kevin … Continue reading

Most Tax Rates for McHenry County’s Upcoming Tax Bills – Up 15% in Algonquin Township Part of Lakewood

Here’s what it looks like for my Algonquin Township part of Lakewood: MCHENRY COUNTY – $1.00 per $100 of assessed valuation (up from 79 cents per $100 – this must include the 708 Board Mental Health tax) MCHENRY CO CONSV … Continue reading