McHenry County Blog

Five seats are up at the Crystal Lake park Board in April’s election.

Terms are expiring for

• Deborah Gallagher
• Jerry Sullivan
• Angel Collins
• Caroline Bachour-Chemaly
• Thomas Aquilina

But there are only three people running for the Park Board:

• Angel Collins
• Caroline Bachour-Chemaly
• Thomas Aquilina

That means two people can gain office through write-in campaigns.

Park District Executive Director Jayson Herbster informs me that it took 103 signatures to get on the ballot.  That means it would take 103 write-in good votes to gain a seat on the Park Board.  103 people would have to put an “X” in the box and write one’s name on the line.

Thursday, February 7th, is the last day a person may file a notarized Declaration of Intent to be a write-in candidate with the proper election authority.

Thursday night there was a workshop at the Crystal Lake Park Board to discuss the tax levying process.

The presentation assumed that the Board wanted to extract as much money as possible from the taxpayers:

• Take the entire amount allowed under the Property Tax Cap law, that is, 3%
• Take the amount estimated by the County that is new growth

For a home worth $300,000, that’s estimated to cost an extra $40.

Everything was non-controversial until Commissioner Paul Myers said,

“This is probably going to be unpopular. I was going to propose we do one year at the same [amount as last year]. I would be in favor of freezing the levy.

“People’s incomes are going down.

“We want good community rapport,” Myers pointed out, mentioning a community center.”

Jumping to the defense of taking as many tax dollars as possible was Commissioner Jerry Sullivan.

“Everything comes down to your personal situation..not [what's good] for the whole community…I feel you’re missing our mission.

“Are we saying our major job is to save taxes…Our number one [purpose] is to be able to build our community.”

“The quality of life will go down,” added Park Board President Debbie Gallagher. “Without a vibrant and live park district and school districts, our community [won't] be a place people will want to live.”

Commissioner Carolyn Bachour-Chemaly asked, “If we lose that money what we lose?”

Gallagher pointed out that by not allowing for the collection of the maximum amount allowed by law, “We would lose that money every year [in the future].”

Staff estimated that freezing the amount taxed for one year would cost a total of almost $1 million over six years.

Sullivan urged fellow Board members to “be visionaries and stand up. You’re not looking to improve the community if [you're] looking at not capturing [the maximum amount of taxes possible].

“The only [things] people who talk to me about are the facilities and the parks.

“We don’t get surveys saying, ‘We want you to cut taxes.’”

“I don’t think it would be doom and gloom if we froze taxes one year,” Myers replied.

Sullivan insisted the question should be, “Are we doing the best for the parks?”

Myers brought up the reserves the Park District has.

Executive Director Jason Herbster pointed out that the three months in reserve was according to Board Policy.

He suggested that most savings would result in the cutting or delaying of capital projects, but that most of the money for the Park Police could be saved just by turning over the duties to the Crystal Lake Police Department. Out of $400,000, $250,000 might be saved.

He suggested $100,000 could be saved by eliminating the Lake Management money.

“Once it’s goes away, it doesn’t get [put] back,” Gallagher inserted.

Larry Wheeler spoke in favor of approving the staff recommendation.

Commissioner Michael Walkup pointed out that the average family in the country has $3,400 less in income this year as compared to last year. His source was the Presidential campaign.

“It’s a combination of people losing their jobs [and cuts in salary].”

“What is our purpose here?” Sullivan interjected. “We could always cut budgets.”

Herbster announced that the vote would be taken next Thursday night and the ordinance would be up for a vote on December 13th.

Discussing reserves, the Executive Director said he had heard that District 155 had “a full year’s money. We certainly don’t stockpile money like some governments do.”

Commissioner Mike Walkup added that the County has five months of spending in the bank.

Ending the meeting, Gallagher said, “Well, we certainly have food for thought.”

Caroline Bachour-Chemaly for in the last words: “Everybody’s hurting for money.”

Angel Collins was not at the meeting.

Other park districts are expected to do the same.

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If you would like to contact the Park District Commissioners, their emails are below:

Commissioner		email
Debbie GallagherPresident		dgallagher@crystallakeparks.org
Paul MyersVice-President		pmyers@crystallakeparks.org
Larry WheelerTreasurer		lwheeler@crystallakeparks.org
Angel CollinsCommissioner		acollins@crystallakeparks.org
Jerry Sullivan,Commissioner		jsullivan@crystallakeparks.org
Michael WalkupCommissioner		mwalkup@crystallakeparks.org
Caroline Bachour-ChemalyCommissioner		cbachourchemaly@crystallakeparks.org

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There is one tax, the Special Recreation Tax, which is not capped by the Tax Cap. The Board is not levying the maximum amount it can. That information was contained on the slide you see below:

A press release from the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department:

Sheriff’s Office Makes Arrests in Barn Fires Investigation

Sheriff Keith Nygren announced today the arrest of two 17 year old males responsible for multiple fires in the rural McHenry County area.

Since May 29, 2012, the Sheriff’s Office has experienced six fires in rural Woodstock, Marengo and Harvard involving hay barns. In addition to the fires in McHenry County, Kane and Boone Counties and Lakewood have also experienced barn fires in their respective jurisdictions.

An anonymous tip from the public resulted in the identification of two suspects.

The two males were interviewed on Friday, August 10, 2012 and admitted to their involvement with the fires along with multiple criminal acts within the City of Crystal Lake.

The fires covered a span of over sixty days and over an estimated one million dollars in property damage.

The two suspects have been charged as adults for

• arson
• criminal damage to propert
• criminal trespass to property

for five fires.

The investigation is continuing and additional charges may be forthcoming.

Along with the Sheriff’s Office,

• Crystal Lake PD
• McHenry County Conservation Police
• Huntley PD
• Algonquin PD
• Cary PD
• Crystal Lake Fire
• Woodstock Fire
• Algonquin Fire
• Marengo Fire
• Huntley Fire
• SEECOM
• ATF,and
• the Illinois State Fire Marshall

assisted in the investigation.

Following is a list of the fires the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office has linked to the 17 year olds:

• 13900 Block of Harmony Rd., Marengo (sic) Date of Fire: 06/29/2012 10:36 P.M.
• 13900 Block of Pleasant Valley Rd., Woodstock Date of Fire: 07/10/2012 10:06 P.M.
• 11800 Block of Pleasant Valley, Rd., Lakewood Date of Fire: 07/03/2012 9:59 P.M.
• 2500 Block of River Rd., Marengo Date of Fire: 07/23/2012 11:25 A.M.
• 9800 Block of Lucas Rd., Crystal Lake Date of Fire: 07/24/2012 9:20 P.M.

Arrested: Charges:
Joseph Gerdes, 17 years old Arson (Class 2)
868 Coventry Criminal Damage to Property (Class 3)
Crystal Lake, IL Criminal Trespass to Property (Class A)

Andrew Wiegand, 17 years old Arson (Class 2)
1472 Bridgedale Rd Criminal Damage to Property (Class 3)
Crystal Lake, IL Criminal Trespass to Property (Class A)

The charges against the above named defendants are merely allegations against him. The above named defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

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The Crystal Lake Police Department adds this information:
“On August 11, 2012, Crystal Lake Police were notified by McHenry County Sheriff’s of two juvenile subjects that were in custody for a series of barn fires surrounding the McHenry County area, including a barn fire on Lucas Road that was within the Crystal Lake City limits.

“Working in conjunction with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, Crystal Lake Police were able to establish that the same two subjects were also responsible for setting fire to

• a couch that was left out for trash removal on the parkway in the 1300 block of Loch Lomond Drive and
• a mattress set on fire that was also left out on the parkway in the 1400 block of Candlewood Drive.

“Both fires occurred during the evening hours of June 12, 2012.

“Additionally, Crystal Lake Police also were able to link the two subjects to five separate acts of Tampering with a Fire Hydrant (Class B Misdemeanors) on Bedford Drive and Sutherland Drive where five fire hydrants were opened, all within residential neighborhoods. These incidents occurred on June 26, 2012, during the evening hours.

“Crystal Lake Police will review these additional findings with the McHenry County State’s Attorney Office regarding criminal charges.

“Both male juveniles are residents of Crystal Lake.”

Remember last summer’s car surfing in the Crystal Lake Walmart parking lot?

Police discovered that twenty year old Austin Watts of 1969 Governor’s Lane, Hoffman Estates, IL had fallen from the roof area of a moving vehicle and struck his head on the pavement in the parking lot.

Watts had been riding on the rooftops of two vehicles before he fell from a vehicle driven by Stephen D. Gallagher (19), of 1806 Hemlock Place, Schaumburg, IL.

The Daily Herald reports that Gallagher plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving and got six  months in the McHenry County Jail.

An informal discussion was held Tuesday night by the Crystal Lake City Council about whether to allow slot machines (“video poker,” if you favor the idea) in town

After presentations by two gambling machine purveyors, City Council members expressed a 6-1 margin against turning Crystal Lake into “Potterville,” to put it in Mayor Aaron Shepley’s words.

“I’ll bet if we wanted to make Crystal Lake the mecca of adult entertainment, we could do that,” Shepley said.

“Just because we could do it doesn’t mean we should do it,” he said just before referring to “one of my favorite movies, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’”

Comparing the scenes of Bedford Falls and Pottersville, he said, “If you don’t look at the extreme examples, you’re not looking at the whole picture.”

Presentations were made by representatives of two slot machine companies.

One, Stepanie Drougas, from Triple 7 Illinois, based in Lake in the Hills, told of the split of profits from the money gambled:

• 30% to the state
• 35% to the liquor licensee
• 35% to the machine owners (the ones at the meeting)

As I understand it, 5 percentage points of the state’s share goes to the local city or county (if unincorporated).

The Triple 7 Illinois woman estimated that each machine would generate $1,000 for the city each year.

“Your bars and restaurants are struggling.  This will give them a little shot in the arm,” she said.

Councilwoman Ellen Brady Mueller confirmed that the machines to be installed would not be the ones “sitting in bars now.”

“[Is it] basically equivalent to Vegas as to the speed it would spin?” Councilman Ralph Dawson inquired.

Jeff Thorsen calculated that $17 million could be gambled in Crystal Lake machines with $3.4 million going to the state.

“That’s a lot of money you’re pulling out of pockets,” he said.

Yours truly spoke in opposition on behalf of  the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake

I pointed out that each machine could be expected to pull $20,000 out of money now spent in local businesses on goods and services.

I explained that Methodists were holding a once-every-four-year General Conference in Tampa about which stories would surface later this week.

However, I explained the fights between liberals and orthodox Methodists that would end up in the stories would not be about gambling.

I told the Council that both liberal and conservative Methodists opposed gambling.

After the two gambling machine company representatives and I spoke, Shepley said,

“Let’s call it what it is. It’s gambling, period.  This is not Crystal Point Mall and pinball.”

Then he asked his colleagues how whether or not they favored allowing the machines in Crystal Lake:

• “Not,” said Brett Hopkins forcefully.  “I’m not going to open the door now.
• “I don’t really see the need,” Carolyn Schofield said.
• “I have a problem of introducing a sin so we can tax it.  Are those the revenues I really want to chase down and create,  I’m in the ‘No’ [column].”
• “Absolutely in the ‘No’ column,” said Cathy Ferguson.  She told of working with youth at the Arlington Park Race Track.  “I can tell you horror stories about people [there].  I do not want to have any part of that.”  Ferguson later told of visiting South Dakota.  “You cannot go anywhere for breakfast without gambling.  Those towns are dead.  It’s not doing what they wanted it to.”
• Ralph Dawson also spoke in opposition.  He pointed out that the gambling machines might “very well drive customers out of establishments.”
• “It’s not my job to decide what is or isn’t a sin,” Ellen Brady Mueller said.  “Got to bars and [you]see the same people sitting on the same stools [day after day].”  She indicated that a number are probably alcoholics, but suggested, “If that’s your addiction, you’ll find a machine.

“I think I’m probably in the same boat as the majority of the Council.

“I think it’s a fair thing to compare it to the pawn shop.  Those types of organizations tend to prey on the weak or people who are down on their luck.

“Do I find it somewhat disappointing bordering on disgusting that Illinois turns to gambling?” he asked rhetorically.

He characterized selling gambling as the answer to public financing problems as “snake oil.”

In the Illinois General Assembly, State Senator Pam Althoff voted for the authorization bill, while State Senate Dan Duffy voted, “No.”  That Roll Call is here.

In the House of Representatives Mike Tryon and Mark Beaubien voted in favor of the slot machine bill.  Jack Franks opposed it.  Here’s the House Roll Call.

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Tim Kane wrote a story on the council consideration of gambling for Crystal Lake Patch. He pointed out that I began my presentation with my “telling City Council members that the Devil will come as an attractive salesman with a tempting offer. That offer, Skinner added, would be ‘hard-core slot machines.’”

In the Northwest Herald, Brett Rowland also referenced what I said:

“‘I’m sure it would help downtown,’ he said. ‘But I’m not sure downtown needs help. You built a nice downtown district without gambling.’

“He also said that if the City Council doesn’t want pawn shops, he couldn’t understand why it would allow gambling. The council decided last month not to create an ordinance that would have allowed pawnbrokers to operate in the city.”

A press release from State Senator Pam Althoff:

Althoff, Tryon to host town hall meeting

McHENRY, Ill. – State Sen. Pamela Althoff (R-McHenry) and State Rep. Michael Tryon (R-Crystal Lake) will be hosting a town hall meeting for constituents this Thursday, October 20 at 7 pm at the Crystal Lake City Hall at 100 W. Municipal Center.

Area residents are encouraged to attend and voice their opinions on the issues facing local families and communities.

In addition, a representative from State Treasurer Dan Rutherford’s office will also be on hand at the meeting for Cash Dash, a program aimed at reuniting Illinoisans with their unclaimed property. According to the Treasurer’s Office, on average, the Cash Dash program returns about $80 million dollars annually to owners.

Following the forum, the lawmakers will be available for media interviews and questions.

Wednesday, 10 Aug 2011, 12:00 PM Where Are the Jobs – [Number of] miles away

Congressman Manzullos’s Crystal Lake Office

35 registered participant(s) (50 maximum)

101 N. Virginia Street
Crystal Lake, IL 60014

Hosted by Nancy Peterson

Description We want to tell Rep. Manzullo that we want him to focus on creating jobs. Please join us and bring the tools of your trade i.e. hammer if you are a carpenter, chalk or ruler if you’re a teacher, a stethoscope or scrubs if you are a nurse,et. If you can wear clothing appropriate to your work, so much the better.

A press release from the McHenry County State’s Attorney:

JURY FINDS MAN GUILTY OF ARMED ROBBERY AND AGGRAVATED BATTERY

Louis A. Bianchi, McHenry County State’s Attorney, announces that twenty-four year old Daniel Charneski, of Freeport, Illinois, was found guilty yesterday of the felony offenses of armed robbery and aggravated battery.

The trial testimony revealed that in the early morning hours of January 9, 2007, two masked men entered a twenty-four hour convenient store located on Berkshire Drive in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

One of the men was armed with a metal pipe.

After taking money and cigarettes, the assailant armed with a metal pipe repeatedly hit the cashier over the head and then fled into the night.

The victim was transported to a nearby hospital where twenty-six medical staples were used to close three separate lacerations to her scalp.

On March 27, 2007, the defendant confessed to participating in the robbery and striking the victim.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 9, 2011.

The defendant faces a sentence of between 6-30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the class X felony offense of armed robbery and a consecutive sentence of between 2-5 years for the class 3 felony offense of aggravated battery. The other participant in the armed robbery,

Stephen Waters was previously sentenced to 20 years in the penitentiary.

This case was investigated by Detective Will of the Crystal Lake Police Department and Detective Sergeant Synek of the Cary Police Department.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorneys Ryan Blackney and Philip Hiscock.

Former McHenry County Board member Bill Dwyer died June 8th.

He was the one who founded and guided the Crystal Lake Gala for many years and was the spark plug behind the conversion of the Downtown Crystal Lake movie theater into the Raue Center.

His obituary appears below:

Visitation: 4-8pm, Monday, June 13, 2011 at Davenport Family Funeral Home, 419 E Terra Cotta Ave (IL Rt 176), Crystal Lake IL

Mass of Christian Burial: 9:45am Prayers at the funeral home processing to the church for a 10:30am Mass, Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 451 W Terra Cotta Ave (Rt 176), Crystal Lake IL

WILLIAM “BILL” F. DWYER, JR.William “Bill” Dwyer, Jr., 83, of Crystal Lake, passed away Wednesday, June 8, 2011 in Elgin.

Bill was born in Chicago to William, Sr. and Mabel Dwyer.

He graduated from De LaSalle Institute and attended DePaul University.

He is a veteran of the Korean War, stationed at Fort Meade, MD.

After his military service, he went on to work for Celotex and Masonite corporations before starting his own business, the Bilmar Company, in 1970.

Bill and his family moved to Crystal Lake in 1973. Always a man with a positive attitude, he became very active in the community. He was a member of the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce and later became a Chamber Ambassador.

He was elected to the McHenry County Board in 1990 and served ten years as Transportation Chairman, responsible for the building of Rakow Road. He was a leader in the formation of the McHenry County Road Coalition.

But his true love was Crystal Lake. One of his finest achievements was as co-founder of the Crystal Lake Gala, a place where family and friends could gather to celebrate the Fourth of July. He was chairman for five years.

He was past president of the Crystal Lake Country Club and loved his golf (sometimes). He received the Crystal Lake Jaycees Lifetime Award for community service and the Carl Wehde Community Service Award. He was also a member of the McHenry County Enterprise Club.

He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, where he served as an usher.

But his proudest achievement was the creation of the Raue Center for the Arts, for which he worked tirelessly and served as president for ten years and later as chairman emeritus.

 

In May 2009 he was honored by the City of Crystal Lake by having a street named “Bill Dwyer Way.”

But above all was his love of family and friends.

He is survived by his loving wife of 30 years, Joyce (nee Grismer); children, Daniel Dwyer, Robert (Renee) Dwyer, Mary Krikorian, Maureen (Stephen) Regele, Thomas O’ Connor and Daniel O’ Connor; grandchildren, Chris (Melissa) Dwyer, Blake (Meagan Fenwick, fiancée) Dwyer, Dylan Dwyer, Cameron Dwyer, Joseph Krikorian, Elyse Krikorian, Kelley Regele, Megan Regele, and Katherine Regele; and great-granddaughter, Delanee Dwyer.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Marjorie (nee Reedy) Dwyer; daughter-in-law, Christine Owen; parents; and twin brother, Robert Dwyer.

Visitation will be from 4-8pm, Monday, June 13 at Davenport Family Funeral Home, 419 E. Terra Cotta Ave. (IL Rt 176), Crystal Lake. Transfer prayers will be said at the funeral home at 9:45am, Tuesday, June 14, proceeding to St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 451 W. Terra Cotta Ave., Crystal Lake for the 10:30am celebration of the Mass of Christian Burial.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Raue Center for the Arts, 26 North Williams St., Crystal Lake IL 60014-4404.

Because Lakewood Village Board members decided to require residents to pay off the last year of the golf course purchased the year before the Property Tax Cap went into effect, Lakewood has the highest percentage tax rate increase of any municipality located in whole or part in McHenry County.

Right behind Lakewood was Port Barrington, another small town that used to be called Fox River Valley Gardens.  Its tax rate is a mere 25 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, while LaLakewood’s is $1.15.

Other double digit increases were seen by

• Harvard – 14.8%
• Huntley – 14.6%
• Barrington Hills – 14.3%
• Lake in the Hills – 13.4%
• Marengo – 11.4%
• Lakemoor – 10%

Only one municipality, Richmond managed a 1.3% cut in its tax rate.

Now, the big question.

Why did the rates increase?

You may remember the salad days when assessed valuation, a proxy for property values, increased more than the Consumer Price Index, which governs the amount of extra money that a tax district can get.

When real estate inflation exceeded the CPA, tax rates were forced down.

The result is that most, if not all, tax districts with statutory tax rates are well below those levels.

That means if the real estate assessment base increases less than the rate of general inflation or–as it the case now–it actually decreases, tax districts can still get what they got last year, plus whatever the CPI went up.

They do that just by asking for the money from the McHenry County Clerk’s Office where the tax rates are determined.

As long as that maximum amount can be obtained by multiplying a tax rate less than the statutory maximum times the assessed valuation equalized by the Illinois Department of Revenue, the tax district gets that amount.

The tax districts do not have to act like families and businesses yet.

They don’t have to cut back.

As has been noted on McHenry County Blog, public officials in at least Grafton Township, Huntley School District 158 and McHenry Grade School District 15 tried to get fellow board members not to ask for an increase.

One further observation.

You may be tempted to compare tax rates for different cities or villages.

For example, you could compare Crystal Lake to Woodstock.

The problem with that is that Crystal Lake’s rate includes fire protection and the city library, while Woodstock has additional tax rates for its fire protection and library districts. Conversely, Woodstock pays for its park system with city taxes, while Crystal Lake residents have a separate park district.

There are problems like this all over the place.

In each of the three instances, the prospective tax cutters lost to the tax hikers.

In one case a school board member was told he just didn’t know enough about school finance, that the district would “lose” millions of dollars if the maximum were not taken this year.

In the case of Grafton Township, the Trustees pointed out that it was just pennies per household, that no one would notice.

No elections until next year and the real taxing districts–the schools have no elections until 2013, but now is as good a time as any to suggest that those who are willing to wave a sign on Route 14, Randall Road or Route 62, need to think about doing some heavy lifting by running for office.

With the low turnouts at elections held on the odd-numbered years, anyone can win…if they start writing down the names, phone numbers and emails of acquaintances who agree with them on spending and tax issues.

If those so inclined do not do that, rest assured the candidates backed by the teacher unions will win every school board, as they probably did this year everywhere but McHenry.

The only way to know for sure, of course, would be for people in the various IEA and IFT locals to share endorsements–formal or informal–for school board.

Lacking that, just assume the vast majority of the winners for school board were backed by the employees of each school district.

You can find school district tax rates here.