McHenry County Blog

With all the talk about how Jack Franks’ County Executive form of government would concentrate power in the hands of one person, what the DuPage County Board did might be of interest.

The Daily Herald is reporting that the DuPage County Board has voted to reverse rule changes passed about two years ago to limit the power of the Board Chairman, which in DuPage County is elected at-large.

Robert Sanchez’ article points out the new rules “restore the chairman’s ability to make committee assignments and pick committee leadership,” plus serve as an ex-officio committee member and assign staff to each committee.

Under the rules rolled back, the committees elected their own chairmen.

Actually, when I did the math from the Chicago Tribune article, DuPage County’s budget cut is 1.85%–$8 million cut from a $432 million budget.

The McHenry County Board at an August, 2012, meeting.

So, how much is the McHenry County Board cutting its budget?

DuPage County Board candidate Rafael Rivadeneira makes a pitch to cut the $50,000 a year salaries in half and eliminate health benefits and pensions for the part-time job.

In a post, the candidate reveals,

“There are now EIGHT Republican candidates in THREE separate districts throughout DuPage County that publicaly support this initiative led by Rafael Rivadeneira for DuPage County Board.

“The YouTube pitch from DuPage count Board candidate Rafael Rivadeneira came to my attention and the issues it brings up might just show up in a future McHenry County Board election.”

A press release from Chris Lauzen, Republican candidate for Kane County Board Chairman:

DuPage County Board Chairman
Dan Cronin Endorses Chris Lauzen
for Kane County Board Chairman

Aurora, IL (March 2, 2012): State Senator Chris Lauzen announced today the endorsement of DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin (R, Elmhurst) for his run for Republican nominee for Kane County Board Chairman.

Former State Senator Cronin and Chris Lauzen served together in Springfield for nearly 18 years prior to Cronin’s 2010 election to DuPage County Board Chairman.

“I worked with Senator Lauzen in Springfield and I know he is smart and tough.

State Senator Chris Lauzen announces his candidacy for Kane County Board Chairman while his family looks on.

‘He has worked tirelessly for families, small businesses and taxpayers. Please vote for Chris Lauzen in the March primary election,” said Cronin.

Lauzen cited the DuPage County Board Chairman’s similar professional and political preparation for county board chairman responsibilities.

“Dan and I literally sat next to each other in the Senate working for years on similar initiatives like tax relief, ethics reform and improvements to the employment environment . . . He has taken his substantial knowledge and political connections across the entire spectrum of local, state and national politics to benefit his constituents in his home county . . . I intend to do the same if I’m elected,” stated Lauzen.

In the Illinois General Assembly, Dan Cronin built a record as a reformer and challenged the status quo and entrenched special interests. He sponsored property tax relief and eminent domain reforms to protect taxpayers from government confiscation of private property.

“I am especially delighted to receive former Senator Dan Cronin’s support because, in just his first two years as Board Chairman of the second largest county in Illinois, he has already implemented a $10.4 M decrease in spending and strengthened the county’s ethics ordinance through votes on the county board . . . these are two of my top priorities,” said Lauzen.

Any questions, please call 630-264-2419 or email campaign@lauzen.com.

Here’s an issue that has not popped up in McHenry County.

DuPage County Board members are members of the Illinois Municipal Retirement System.

So are McHenry County Board members.

The Daily Herald reports that the IMRF pension which members can qualify for is an issue in DuPage County, where Board members get about $50,000 in salary for the part-time job.

In McHenry County, the salary is about $20,000.

The resulting pension is not huge…unless a County Board members manages to score a much high salary in, say, an elective office. Then the years at the lower salary county a lot.

And, who do I have to thank for pointing me to this article?

Dave Diersen, who prepares at least a daily list of articles he thinks might be of interest to Republicans.

You can sign up to receive it here.

Yesterday I wrote about how Winnebago County’s board had decided they, as part-time employees didn’t deserve to have pensions.

Front page of the Chicago Tribune April 10, 2010.

Today, the Sunday Chicago Tribune has a front page article by Christy Gutowski, Joe Mahr and Joseph Ryan entitled,

Quite a deal

Former DuPage County official Bill Maio was able to

secure a $100,000 a-year pension

after working mostly part-time

I wrote yesterday of how it used to be and to some extent still is the number of years one have of government pension credits, plus the final salary that counted, that a McHenry County Board member could take the credits from the relatively lowly paid County Board post, get elected to a countywide office which now, astoundingly, pay $100,000 a year and, then, retire after 40 years total annual pension participation at 75% of final pay under the well-funded Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF).

(I also pointed out my generous legislative pension in yesterday’s article.)

The Tribune article reminds me of a gambit that elected county officials convinced legislators to pass when I was in office to turn county officials into state legislators, as far as pension benefits went.

It’s called the “Elected County Officials” option.

Notice that to be eligible one has to be a politician.

Among retired DuPage County Officials who benefited from the special pension plan was former State's Attorney Joe Birkett. After resigning his post, he was apppointed to the 2nd Appellate Court. Click to enlarge

The request of legislators was to allow elected county officials to retire after 20 years at 80% of final salary.

That’s pretty close to the benefits legislators themselves had.

But, legislators are nervous folk.

If you can keep your county officials happy, maybe they won’t run against you.

Congressmen figured this out when they allowed state legislators to keep any expense money paid for being at state capitols tax free…whether or not it was spent on room and board.

Since some lobbying group or another is holding a reception with decent food virtually every session night, it’s not hard to spend the entire per diem payment. Former State Senator Jack Schaffer used to suggest that such money should not be paid unless it was spent.

But, back to the “Elected County Officials” pension plan.

The Tribune’s research says the bill passed overwhelmingly.

The Senate voted for it 55-2 n May 16, 1997.  Senator Dick Klemm of McHenry County supported the measure.  One of two senators who did not was Chris Lauzen from just south of the McHenry County border.

The Senate's May 16, 1997, vote on the county officials pension improvement bill.

The House, 105-10. (I voted against the bill, as you can see from the roll call below.  Ann Hughes, the other representative from McHenry County favored the bill.)

The May 23, 1997, House roll call on the county officials pension sweetener bill.

Governor Jim Edgar signed the bill.

As the arrangement went down, county officials would have ther pension payment increased from 4.5% of salary to 7.5%.

Local property taxpayers would pick up the rest.

The Tribune reports that more than half of Illinois county boards signed up for the benefit.

McHenry, Kane and Lake were not among them, but DuPage and Will Counties were.

So, think back to who was serving you on the McHenry County Board in the mid-1990′s and thank them for their good judgment, even though some countywide officials wanted the board to approve the plan so their pensions would increase a lot.

The McHenry County Board has the opportunity to plow new ground by enacting the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water’s conflict of interest revelation ordinance for elected officials, employees, appointees and consultants.

Someone in Kane County has come up with the idea of enacting an ordinance to prevent revolving door money making by retiring Kane County Board members.

Such folks “would be forbidden from being employed by the county for one year after leaving office or serving on paid commissions while in office, under a proposed ethics ordinance,” according to the article by Nick Swedberg.

The measure would also limit annual contractors contributions and affiliated Political Action Committees to board members to $1,000.

The article says the idea started in DuPage County.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the DuPage County Board has voted without dissent to ban video poker (read “slot machines”) in unincorporated liquor license holders’ establishments.

The annual estimated loss of income is $300,000.

DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom, who is running for governor, made the ban a central part of his campaign, as you can see from the front page of his web site that I have captured.

The DuPage County Board Chairman sent me and my wife a letter complaining that Illinois Republican party Chairman Andy McKenna had broken Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment:

As McHenry County Blog explained in this article,

,
McKenna criticized Schillerstrom for successfully fighting for higher taxes on the entire Chicago metropolitan area.

I figure Schillerstrom’s actions will cost us McHenry County taxpayers $18 million a year…assuming there is never any inflation.

Schillerstrom seems to have forgotten that old adage:

Schillerstrom claims to “have spent my entire career adhering to the GOP principles of smaller government, disciplined spending and fiscal conservatism.”

He made not mention of his and DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett’s and three of his county’s five state senators’ roles in TRIPLING the RTA sales tax for the five collar counties.

If that is what a conservative does, please save me from DuPage County conservatives.

It reminds me so much of what DuPage County politicians did in the 1980′s. About 90% of all the bonds issued in DuPage County were not approved by its voters.

Think airport authority, water commission and park districts for starters.

All controlled by Republicans.

The situation got so bad that gubernatorial candidate Jim Edgar proposed the property tax cap. I’ve been told by sources I trust that the anger of DuPage County homeowners inspired the proposal.

So, spare me the “I’ve been such a great county board chairman” pitch.

If you were such a great county board chairman, you would not have twisted three of your state senators’ arms enough to sell us in McHenry and Kane and Lake and Will Counties down the river in order to avoid cutting DuPage County spending in the sheriff’s and/or state’s attorney’s office.

Or you would have raised only the taxes in DuPage County, which you could have done by referendum (it was on the ballot, remember?), if you really thought your constituents would think that was the right and conservative thing to do.

And, your delegation would not have acted like children and walked out of the Republican Party Convention in Decatur.

The DuPage County Board Chairman sent me and my wife a letter complaining that Illinois Republican party Chairman Andy McKenna had broken Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment:

As McHenry County Blog explained in this article,

,
McKenna criticized Schillerstrom for successfully fighting for higher taxes on the entire Chicago metropolitan area.

I figure Schillerstrom’s actions will cost us McHenry County taxpayers $18 million a year…assuming there is never any inflation.

Schillerstrom seems to have forgotten that old adage:

Schillerstrom claims to “have spent my entire career adhering to the GOP principles of smaller government, disciplined spending and fiscal conservatism.”

He made not mention of his and DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett’s and three of his county’s five state senators’ roles in TRIPLING the RTA sales tax for the five collar counties.

If that is what a conservative does, please save me from DuPage County conservatives.

It reminds me so much of what DuPage County politicians did in the 1980′s. About 90% of all the bonds issued in DuPage County were not approved by its voters.

Think airport authority, water commission and park districts for starters.

All controlled by Republicans.

The situation got so bad that gubernatorial candidate Jim Edgar proposed the property tax cap. I’ve been told by sources I trust that the anger of DuPage County homeowners inspired the proposal.

So, spare me the “I’ve been such a great county board chairman” pitch.

If you were such a great county board chairman, you would not have twisted three of your state senators’ arms enough to sell us in McHenry and Kane and Lake and Will Counties down the river in order to avoid cutting DuPage County spending in the sheriff’s and/or state’s attorney’s office.

Or you would have raised only the taxes in DuPage County, which you could have done by referendum (it was on the ballot, remember?), if you really thought your constituents would think that was the right and conservative thing to do.

And, your delegation would not have acted like children and walked out of the Republican Party Convention in Decatur.