McHenry County Blog

Thanks to a friend of McHenry County Blog, I can offer the following take on what happened at Nunda Township’s Annual Town Meeting:

I thought I’d fill you in on the outcome of the Nunda Township Annual Meeting.

Aside from the formalities of the standard Annual Meeting Agenda (there were some interesting comments from Supervisor John Heisler at the beginning of the meeting relative to general assistance funds… mainly they will likely be depleted by October), the big question on the agenda was with regard to the Nunda Open Space Plan and a question put forth as to whether or not to put an advisory question on the November Ballot which would allow the voters to express whether or not they favored repealing the Nunda Open Space Plan.

I wish I had brought my digital recorder or had taken better notes, however below is a quick summation of a couple of key points made during the meeting:

The "Vote Yes" people mustered more of their people to the Nunda Township Annual Town Meeting than the opponents.

Douglas Mann put the motion forward to discuss the question and admitted that while the question was advisory he called the plan a plan to tax the residents of Nunda Township.

In his remarks he referred to page 13 of the Standards and Procedures which indicates that “Cost, availability and willingness of the seller will be the standards that guide the Township Board in acquisition” and that references to Hydric Soils or other water related issues would not be guiding factors when purchasing properties.

Former Nunda Trustee, Kevin Sarnwick, asked a series of questions of Supervisor John Heisler relative to the Open Space Plan.  Among the answers, it was revealed out that the township could not accept land donations without an Open Space Plan.

Several homeowners indicated that their wells had run dry and they had been forced to dig a deeper well as the aquifers had been reduced as a result of development.

Democrat Candidate for County Board Lori McConville, who also serves on the Nunda Township Planning Commission and is President and Chairman of Nunda Neighbors for Open Space spoke against having the question on the ballot.

Gerry Walsh, one of the advisory question proponents, questioned Ms. McConville’s credibility, noting that he was scheduled to appear in front of the Illinois Election Commission with regard to an infraction related to campaign finance filing against Nunda Neighbors tomorrow.  McConville’s argument was that her involvement was based out of concern for the quantity and quality of water available to township residents.

Also speaking in support of the Open Space Plan among others were County Board Member Kathy Bergen Schmidt and Nunda Township Planning Commission Chairman Ders Anderson.

Among the supporters many discussed the failed tax referendums and how they would, eventually, when the timing is right, win approval.

During one of her Remarks, Kathy Bergen Schmidt identified as the same Gerry Walsh who served as a Trustee in Roselle back in the 90′s.

Debate lasted for nearly an hour and the final vote was 31 in favor of letting the voters voice their opinion and 47 against.  I did note that there were many people that chose to abstain from the vote.

I voted in favor of putting the question on the ballot; while the referendum was advisory, it would have given the voters another chance to express their opinion on the document that they approved of, but not enough to fund, and it would have given the proponents that would want to see taxes raised on Nunda residents the opportunity to promote the value of the plan and build their case for their next attempt at the tax increase.

No winners or losers here, I guess.

Brent Smith recruiting Neko Olsen for the Young Republicans at a Nunda Township Republican Family Picnic.

Nunda Township resident Gerry Walsh gained a powerful ally when Nunda Township Republican Central Committee Chairman supported putting the tax fighter’s advisory referendum on the fall ballot.

“At this meeting there will be a vote by a show of hands for all attending registered voters of Nunda  regarding:

‘Shall the Nunda Township Open Space Plan which was adopted in April of 2007 be repealed?‘

“The outcome of this vote will decide if the question will  APPEAR or NOT APPEAR on the November ballot.

“As far as the information that I have received on this topic, I feel it should be up to the residents to vote on the November’s ballot,”

newly-elected GOP Chairman Brent Smith wrote members of his central committee.

This is an interesting move, considering the list of supporters for the last tax increase referendum.

The meeting will be held Tuesday at 7 PM in the Nunda Township Hall on Bay Road

Smith recommended people “show up at 6:30 to get a seat.”

“I strongly urge all of you to attend this Town Hall meeting and bring a friend,” he wrote.

The last referendum was a close one.  It barely failed.

Walsh and his allies filed a petition last November asking for a referendum.

They have a web site up explaining their position.

Arguments advanced are

1.  Why Should we repeal the Nunda Open Space Plan?

The plan allows for an estimated $61,000,000 tax increase to acquire land in Nunda Township.  Funding for the plan was on the ballot in 2004 and 2007 for $20,000,000 and in 2009 for 15,000,000.  Each of these three times it was on the ballot, Nunda Township voters rejected the spending proposal.

Open space is good.  Tax increases are bad.  Those who are interested in expanding open space in Nunda Township should consider buying more property – but let’s not force our neighbors to pay for property they don’t want by increasing their taxes.

2. What does a $61,000,000 tax increase mean for me?

If the 2009 $15,000,000 bond proposal had passed, the tax rate for Nunda Township would have increased by 78%.  If the full $61,000,000 bonding is approved by voters in the future, the tax rate increase for Nunda Township will be 316%.  This does not include the seperate tax you already pay for roads and bridges.

3.  Why do township leaders want a tax increase for Open Space?

In the October 2006 Nunda Open Space Report, the committee’s concern was about hydric soil (“wetland” is the generic term) which must be conserved for ground water quality.  However, the report does not say that ground water quality is currently a problem, nor is a problem anticipated. Water quality reports have been reviewed from Crystal Lake, Island Lake, McHenry (county and city) and Woodstock.  No EPA violations have been reported.

In addition, the ground water aquifer in Nunda Township flows from west to east.

This being the case, the best way to protect water quality in Nunda is to acquire cheaper land to the west of Nunda Township.  This is exactly what the McHenry County Conservation District is presently undertaking with our current tax dollars.  Even if the ground water aquifer was a problem in the township, acquiring open space in Nunda Township directly helps the citizens to our east in Lake County, not those of us residing in Nunda.

4.  Will Open Space reduce traffic congestion?

Traffic congestion was not addressed in the Nunda Township Open Space report.  Even if the Open Space plan were fully implemented for $61,000,000 in new tax dollars, the Open Space plan would only reduce the projected poplulation of Nunda Township in 2040 by 2%.

The tax increase, however, would be immediate.

5.  Don’t we already have Open Space in Nunda Township?

The answer is a resounding “YES”.  The Nunda Open Space report does not acknowledge the current open space owned by various government entities.  The Illinois Department of Natural Resources owns Moraine Hills (1,800 acres), and Black Crow Marsh (250 acres).  The McHenry County Conservation District owns 900 acres in Nunda Acres, adjacent to Nunda parcels 29 and 8.  Also, the Crystal Lake Parks District owns Sterne’s Woods (200 acres) and Veteran’s Acres (150 acres).  Nunda Township’s only open space land is the usually vacant Sherwood Park.

Questions?

If you have questions or would like to get involved in helping keep your taxes from increasing, then join our cause as a member, or contact either:

Gerry Walsh
t. 224.678.6579

email: gerrywalsh@msn.com

or
Douglas Mann
t. 815.455.1887

email: NoOpenSpaceTax@gmail.com

Earlier I figured out the percentage turnout of Republican voters for Algonquin Township and Grafton Township. All parts of the three townships had contested primaries for Republican county board seats.

Nunda Township precinct map. Click to enlarge.

Nunda Township also had a hotly contested Republican county board primary. Five candidates ran with the results you see below:

In the analysis below you see the Nunda Township precinct number, the percentage of GOP turnout and the name of the elected precinct committeeman, if anyone ran for the office.

• Nunda 1 – 13.5%
• Nunda 2 – 12.2%
• Nunda 3 – 9.7%
• Nunda 4 – 10.2%
• Nunda 5 – 15.4% (Howard Parth)
• Nunda 6 – 13.0%
• Nunda 7 – 9.7% (Kevin Lee Jennings)
• Nunda 8 – 11.6% (Kathy Corwin)
• Nunda 9 – 11.8% (Bernard Narusis)
• Nunda 10 – 17.0%
• Nunda 11 – 22.5% (Mark Daniel)
• Nunda 12 – 13.9%
• Nunda 13 – 14.4% (James Becker)
• Nunda 14 – 11.4% (Patrick Collins)
• Nunda 15 – 16.4% (Mike Shorten)
• Nunda 16 – 19.5% (James Schlader)
• Nunda 17 – 16.7% (Nick Provensano)
• Nunda 18 – 22.6% (Dave Gervais)
• Nunda 19 – 13.7% (In the only contest, Jon Heideman beat Doug Mann.)
• Nunda 20 – 18.2%
• Nunda 21 – 16.7% (Brent Smith)
• Nunda 22 – 16.3%
• Nunda 23 – 9.3%
• Nunda 24 – 13.1%
• Nunda 25 – 10.9%
• Nunda 26 – 7.1%
• Nunda 27 – 7.0%
• Nunda 28 – 9.3%
• Nunda 29 – 22.7% (Barbara Wheeler)

So, who did the best job of getting GOP voters to the polls?

The only three precincts with turnouts over 20% are those of county board member and candidate Barb Wheeler, Dave Gervais and Mark Daniel.

If you live in one of the precincts without an elected precinct committeeman and would like to serve in that position, shoot me an email.

July 4th Crystal Lake TEA Party demonstration.

It’s time for those people who attended TEA Party demonstrations to increase the intensity of their activity.  Serving as a precinct committeeman is one way to do that.

Open Space repeal logo.

There could be some local action on open space at the Nunda Township Annual Meeting.

Township tax fighters Gerry Walsh, Republican Committeeman Bob Borchert, Doug Mann, and former Republican County Board candidate Craig Steagall have filed the following petition seeking to have the township electors ask the Nunda Township Board put a question on the ballot about whether voters want to repeal the 2007 passed Open Space Plan or not:

We, the undersigned, qualified electors and registered voters of Nunda Township in the County of McHenry, State of Illinois, do hereby petition the Nunda Township Clerk to include an advisory question of public policy to be placed on the agenda item at the 2010 Township Meeting per Section 30-205 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes 60 ILCS 1/ Township Code.  The advisory question pertains to repeal of the Nunda Township Open Space Plan that was adopted by the township voters in April of 2007.  This question shall request that the Nunda Township Board shall certify the question of repeal of this Plan to the proper election authorities, who shall submit the question in accordance with the general election law.

Whether the township board will put the advisory referendum on the ballot remains to be seen.

In other news, Walsh has individually filed complaints against the political action committees of Nunda Neighbors for Open Space, whose treasurer is Democratic Party District 3 County Board candidate Lori McConville, and Nunda Township Republicans, whose treasurer is Nunda Township Trustee Jim Schlader.

In foreground, you see Nunda Township Picnic attendees Joe Wheeler and now-GOP gubernatorial candidate State Senator Bill Brady.

He alleges the Open Space PAC filed late for the second time in six months and the Republicans have listed the township office address, 3510 Bay Road, Crystal Lake, 60012, as the source of a $735.68 donation for the Nunda Township GOP picnic and did not name the donor of the contribution, as required by state campaign finance laws.  The name of the donor was listed as “Picnic Contributions”.  Oddly, other Republican party donors were properly listed by name and address.

In reaction to that complaint, the Nunda Township GOP PAC filed an amendment with the State Board to move that donation from “Itemized” to “Non-Itemized.”

Hearings on both complaints before the Illinois State Board of Elections are scheduled for March 10th in Chicago.

In August and September, McHenry County Blog reported on Jerry Walsh’s and William Douglas Mann’s petition attempt to call a special Nunda Township meeting called to obtain a referendum to repeal the Nunda Township Open Space Plan.

A press release has been received from Walsh that tells of their attempt being rebuffed. It appears below:

Nunda Supervisor John Heisler denies citizens’ request for special town meeting

According to township attorney, James Militello, the nine pages of petitions filed by “approximately 67 alleged voters” is “not in compliance with township code….”

The reasons given for denial were stated as

1) “The Petition does not state ‘a special meeting is necessary for the interests of the Township’ and

2) The object of the meeting is not relevant to powers granted to electors under the Township Code.”

It is obvious that Supervisor Heisler is doing all that he can to stop this citizen action aimed at repealing Nunda’s mechanism to increase residents’ future taxes.

Watch their web site for updated postings, and email NoOpenSpaceTax@gmail.com if you would like to join with us in fighting future Nunda Township tax increases through the defeat of the Nunda Open Space Plan.

The following was received from Gerry Walsh, one of the people who is trying to get a referendum on the ballot to repeal the Nunda Township Open Space Plan:

On Friday September 18, petitions containing 67 signatures were filed with the Nunda Township Supervisor. The petitions were requesting that a special township meeting be held for the purpose of having repealment of the Nunda Open Space Plan placed on the next election ballot.

Valid signatures from 15 electors are required to hold a special township meeting.

Per state law, the meeting must be held not less than 14 nor more than 45 days from the date of filing.

For further information, contact Doug Mann at 815-519-8933 or Gerry Walsh at 224-678-6579.

Reasons for repeal of the Nunda Open Space Plan can be viewed at www.NoOpenSpaceTax.com.

Tax fighters Gerry Walsh and Doug Mann have launched a campaign to gather enough signatures to call a township meeting to consider calling a referendum to repeal the Nunda Township Open Space Plan.

Walsh’s opposition to tax hikes goes back to at least 1991, when he and I and a roomful of others attended a Crystal Lake Park Board meeting in the Nature Center to oppose the park district’s maxing out on non-referendum bonds in the window of opportunity between when the Property Tax Cap was passed and January 1, 1992, when it took effect. He headed National Taxpayers United of McHenry County, then.

(Boy do we need something like that now. Tax districts like Huntley School District 158 is shifting expenditures from Tax Capped line items to non-Tax Capped line items, just to point out one example of where taxpayers will see surprise tax hikes without a referendum’s having been passed. No one has yet raised a fuss, as far as I can determine.

(A recent letter from a Cary woman was searching for the group CANT, which stands for Citizens Against Needless Taxation, whom she thought was associated with me. Back in the early 1990′s, there was a group called TARGET, which stood for Taxpayers Against Ridiculous Growth and Excessive Taxation. That group printed and passed out leaflets about the park board meeting I mentioned above. Dave Bryan headed it up.)

Reasons for Nunda Open Space Plan repeal are contained in a letter to Nunda Township voters which is published on the web site

I’ll post it here, too, so more than the 11 people who had accessed the web site when I copied it will see it.

Dear Nunda Township Voter:

In April of 2007, the voters of Nunda Township approved the Open Space plan.

Those of us who are against higher taxes think the voters should have the option to repeal the Open Space Plan, and are asking your support in doing so.

1. Why should we repeal the Nunda Open Space plan?

The plan allows for an estimated $61,000,000 tax increase to acquire land. Funding for the plan was on the ballot in 2004 and 2007 for $20,000,000 and in 2009 for $15,000,000. Each of the three times, Nunda Township voters rejected the spending proposal.

Open Space is good. Tax increases are bad. People who want open space can buy a house on a larger lot. That way, they can invest in their own personal open space.

2. What does a $61,000,000 tax increase mean for me?

If the $15,000,000 bond proposal had passed, the tax rate for Nunda would have increased by 78%. If the full $61,000,000 bonding is approved by the voters, the tax rate increase for Nunda Township would be 316%. This does not include roads and bridges, which is a separate tax.

3. Why do they want a tax increase for Open Space?

In the October 2006 Nunda Open Space Report, the committee’s concern was about hydric soil (“wetland” is the generic term) which must be conserved for ground water quality. However, the report does not say that ground water quality is currently a problem, nor is it expected to be a problem. We reviewed the water quality reports from Crystal Lake , Island Lake , McHenry (county and city), and Woodstock . No EPA violations were reported.

Since the ground water aquifer in this area flows from west to east, the way to protect water quality in Nunda is to acquire the cheaper land in the west for open space. This is exactly what the McHenry County Conservation District is presently undertaking with our tax dollars. Even if the ground water aquifer was a problem, acquiring open space in Nunda helps the citizens to the east in Lake County, not those of us residing in Nunda Township.

4. Will Open Space reduce traffic congestion?

Traffic congestion was not addressed in the Nunda Township Open Space report. Many of us living in the unincorporated area have lot sizes of one-half an acre or more. We bought our own open space.

If fully implemented for $61,000,000, the Open Space plan would only reduce the projected population in Nunda Township in 2040 by 2%.

The tax increase, however, will be immediate.

5. Do we have Open Space in Nunda Township ?

The report also doesn’t acknowledge the current open space owned by various government entities. Illinois Department of Natural Resources owns Moraine Hills (1800 acres), and Black Crow Marsh (250 acres). The McHenry County Conservation District owns 900 acres in Nunda Acres adjacent to Nunda Parcels 29 and 8. The Crystal Lake Parks District owns Sterne’s Woods (200 acres) and Veteran’s Acres (150 acres). Nunda Township’s only open space land is Sherwood Park , which is usually vacant during the summer, always vacant in the winter.

If you have questions or want to get involved in helping keep your taxes from increasing, contact either:

Gerry Walsh
224.678.6579
gerrywalsh@msn.com

or

Doug Mann
815.519.8933
doug@douglasmann.com

I asked Walsh how many signatures were required and he told me the number was 15.

Looks as if there will be a referendum on the ballot in Nunda Township next year, if those attending the township meeting vote for it. The meeting should be a good show with both proponents of the tax hike and opponents trying to marshal attendance.

It’ll probably be the best township meeting since Grafton Township’s annual meeting.