McHenry County Blog

Here are the details:

More information can be obtained from847-973-0064.

A press release from State Senator Pam Althoff:

Althoff announces Illinois Historic Preservation Caucus members, Mineola Hotel named an endangered historic place

SPRINGFIELD, IL – State Sen. Pamela Althoff (R-Crystal Lake) announced the creation of the Illinois Historic Preservation Caucus at a press conference May 1, which was held in conjunction with Landmarks Illinois’ annual Ten Most Endangered Historic Places list. .

During the event, Althoff named the Illinois Historic Preservation Caucus members, a caucus aimed at creating and promoting legislation that enhances historic sites and structures around the state. The co-chairs of the caucus include Althoff, Sen. Andy Manar (D-Staunton), and Reps. Rich Brauer (R-Springfield) and Jerry Costello (D-Red Bud).

Among the sites listed on the Ten Most Endangered Historic Places list was The Mineola Hotel in Fox Lake.

Landmarks Illinois is the state’s leading voice for historic preservation, and named seven other endangered historic properties as well as two thematic groupings to its annual list. The list focuses attention on sites that are threatened by deterioration, lack of maintenance, insufficient funds, or inappropriate development. Since its start of the Ten Most list in 1995, more than a third of Landmarks Illinois’ listed properties have been saved, less than a quarter have been demolished, and the rest are in varying stages between being threatened and restored.

The complete Ten Most list, including photos of the sites, can be found at www.landmarks.org through the “Press Room” link.

Althoff is pictured with Mineola Hotel advocates after the press event.

A press release from State Rep. Barb Wheeler:

Rep. Wheeler announces office hours, social media presence

Fox Lake, IL… Just sworn into office last week, State Rep. Barbara Wheeler (R-Crystal Lake) is ready to announce her legislative office opening and how to contact her in the district, in Springfield, and through social media.

Rep. Wheeler’s office in the district is located at 37 E Grave Avenue in Fox Lake.  Her office hours will be Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, Thursday, noon-8:00 pm, and Saturday 9:00 am – noon.  The office can be contacted by calling (847) 973-0064.

“Living in a service-based economy, not everyone has the ability to contact their legislators between the hours of nine to five,” said Wheeler.

“My office hours may not be typical, but the  flexibility will make it easier for my constituents to reach out to me for assistance regardless of their busy schedules.”

In addition to her office in Fox Lake, Wheeler will also be operating a full time office in Springfield.

Her office is located at 214-N Stratton Office Building in Springfield and can be contacted by calling (217) 782-1664 or FAX (217) 557-7016 between the hours of 8:30 a.m.-4:30p.m.

Wheeler is also looking to keep in contact with her constituents through a strong internet presence.  Rep. Wheeler can be reached via email: repwheeler64@gmail.com<mailto:repwheeler64@gmail.com>, website: wheeler.ilhousegop.org, Twitter: @bmwheeler, and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StateRepresentativeBarbaraWheeler.

“In the information age, public servants need to be accessible physically, verbally, and electronically,” said Wheeler.

“I may be new to the social networking world, but I plan on keeping my constituency up to date on what I am doing in Springfield, major legislation being discussed, and local issues that affect us here at home.  It is my goal to always be accessible when I am needed.”

Besides the referendum about establishing the County Executive form of government, McHenry County has one suggested by Wonder Lake’s Bob Anderson asking whether people should be allowed to hold more than one elective office at the same time.

The second referendum is merely advisory.

Two villages that overlap into both Lake and McHenry Counties are also holding referendums.

Fox Lake is asking whether residents want the Village Board to arrange for the purchase of electricity through a bulk contract.

In the Village of Island Lake, voters will be asked in advisory referendum if they want to have a new Village Hall-Police Station.

In a binding referendum a question will be asked whether the Island Lake Village Clerk should be appointed, rather than elected.

Ingleside attorney David A. Zipp is hosting a wine and cheese Meet and Greet Friday, March 2nd from 5-8 atthe historical Roxana Bed & Breakfast.

He writes,

“With the new districts making much of McHenry County and Lake County merge, these outstanding leaders and candidates wanted to hold an opportunity for folks to meet them.

“State Senator Pam Althoff, State Rep Candidate and current McHenry County Board member Barb Wheeler, my mentor, friend and Lake County State’s Attorney candidate Mike Nerhiem, and Lake County Recorder of Deeds candidate and current Treasurer of the Lake County Republican Federation Bob Bedar are all expected to be at this event.”

A pr4ss release from the Crystal Lake Police Department:

On February 16th, 2012, police responded to a report of delayed commercial burglary at the Menards Store located at 4850 Northwest Highway.

Upon arrival police were informed that the suspect had made entry into the business by removing a glass pane from an overhead door adjacent to the store’s garden center.

In an effort to conceal the burglary, it was discovered that the suspect then replaced the glass pane with a piece of plexi-glass.

Officials from Menards further explained that their corporate office had launched their own investigation of high theft merchandise (hand tools, power tools, and copper wiring) missing from the Crystal Lake and Fox Lake stores dating back since December 10th, 2011.

Loss Prevention also informed police that they had identified a Wallace A. Henshall (m/w d.o.b. 05-13-64 of 1108 Idlewild Drive, Round Lake, Illinois) as a possible suspect.

During the course of this investigation, shoe prints were discovered in the snow, believed to have been made by the burglar near a fence line to the rear of the Menards’ property.

It was also discovered that Wallace Henshall rented a storage unit at the Space Management self-storage facility located adjacent to the Menards Store and that the shoe prints led in that direction.

Working in conjunction with Fox Lake Police and Menards Loss Prevention, Police immediately gathered video surveillance from both businesses and reviewed the evidence with their respective State’s Attorney Offices.

Crystal Lake Police were given the approval to secure a search warrant for the storage facility while the Fox Lake Police was able to secure an Arrest warrant for Henshall and his involvement with a Burglary at their Menards Store.

On Friday, February 24th, 2012, Crystal Lake Police contacted Henshall by telephone as a ruse after discovering that he had a number of tools listed on Craigslist for sale.

Henshall agreed to the meet and was subsequently arrested by Crystal Lake Officers on the Fox Lake Arrest Warrant for Burglary ($50,000.00 bond). Upon executing the search warrant, Crystal Lake Police found multiple burglary proceeds belonging to Menards and a 2011 Ford Ranger pick-up truck that had been stripped down to the chassis. It was later determined that this particular vehicle was reported stolen from Buss Ford in McHenry.

After reviewing the above facts with the McHenry County State’s Attorney Office, Henshall was initially charged with 1 count of Burglary Class (2 Felony), 1 count of Theft Class (3 Felony) and 1 count of Possession of Burglary Tools Class (4 Felony). Following his initial appearance before the court, the Henshall subject posted bond and was released with a court date of February 29th, 2012.

On February 27th, 2012, the Crystal Lake Police were able to secure an additional arrest warrant for Unlawful Possession of a Stolen Vehicle (Class 2 Felony), which was related to the recovery of a 2011 Ford Ranger Pickup Truck stolen from Buss Ford that was recovered in Henshall’s rented storage unit with a bond set at $100,000 (10% to apply).

Henshall was served with the additional warrant when he arrived for his court appearance on February 29th, 2012 at the McHenry County Courthouse.

At the time of this press release the Henshall subject remained in custody at the McHenry County Jail.

The electronic call for opponents of Congressman Joe Walsh to gather in front of his Fox Lake office at noon was answered by what appears to be 30-40 people.

I notice from the appearance of the demonstrators that their age approximates that of those attending Tea Party rallies on Route 14 last year.

Demonstrations were also requested for other Republican congressmen’s offices, for example, Congressman Don Manzullo, who represents much of McHenry County now, and Peter Roskam, who will represent Algonquin Township under the Democrat’s redistricting plan.

McHenry County Demcoratic Party activist Terry Kappel, wearing a CNN tee shirt, was kind enough to share the content of his messages.

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.

Another Ponzi schemer sentenced, this time out of nearby Fox Lake:

FAR NORTH SUBURBAN MAN SENTENCED TO 4 ½ YEARS WITH CHEATING TWO DOZEN INVESTORS OF $3.7 MILLION IN ALLEGED PONZI-SCHEME

CHICAGO – A far north suburban man was sentenced yesterday to 54 months in custody for engaging in a ponzi-type fraud scheme, cheating more than two dozen victims of approximately $3.3 million dollars they invested with a trading firm he owned.

The defendant, Joseph A. Dawson, pled guilty last November to three counts of wire fraud after he was charged by information in August, 2010.

The sentence was announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Dawson misappropriated more than $1 million of investors’ funds for his own benefit and used investors’ funds to pay promised returns to other investors.

Dawson, 49, of Fox Lake, was sentenced yesterday by Judge William J. Hibbler in U.S. District Court in Chicago, and ordered to forfeit approximately $3.3 million, representing the loss to investors. Judge Hibbler ordered Dawson to begin serving his sentence June 15, 2011.

Dawson was a commodity futures and securities trader who owned an investment fund called the LEAP Fund since about 2001. He also owned Dawson Trading LLC, which operated in Ingleside, Fox Lake and later Lakemoor, and which took over the business and customers of the LEAP Fund in about 2004.

Between 2004 and September 2009, Dawson offered and sold to 26 investors approximately $3.7 million of guaranteed investments in Dawson Trading.

These investors included former customers of the LEAP Fund. These investments were primarily in the form of promissory notes, which guaranteed the safety of the invested funds and promised to pay a fixed annual return plus as much as 80 percent of any trading profits.

Dawson misrepresented the profitability, safety and use of the funds raised from investors, as well as the status of the investments.

Instead of investing the funds as promised, Dawson used a significant portion for such personal expenses as his residence, the construction of a swimming pool, landscaping and three automobiles.

To conceal the fraud to investors, he lied about the status of their accounts, in part by creating and distributing fraudulently inflated periodic account statements.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Felicia Manno Alesia.

A press release about the opening of Congressman Joe Walsh’s Fox Lake office:

Walsh’s First District Office Opens in Fox Lake, IL

Fox Lake, IL. – U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, welcomed constituents and local officials to the grand opening of his first district office in Fox Lake, IL today.

At the opening, Fox Lake Mayor Ed Bender presented Congressman Walsh with a key to the city, recognizing the Congressman as the first non-resident to receive such an honor.

The event provided an opportunity for community members to speak with the Congressman about important issues and get an in-person update on Walsh’s first month in office.

“It is an incredible honor to serve the people of Illinois’ 8th District,” stated Congressman Walsh. “Today gave me the chance to reconnect with so many of the hard-working Illinois voters who sent me to Washington. They know my number one priority is to restore the House to the standards they demand and deserve.”

The District office will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Rep. Walsh views this office as an excellent place for constituents to turn if they need help.

“The district office is an essential part of my congressional operation, providing constituents with the opportunity to receive face-to-face assistance in navigating the ins and outs of the federal government,” said Representative Walsh. “When 8th District residents have problems, I want them to know that they can count on my team and me to get things done.”

The new office is located at 50 East Grand Ave. in the heart of Fox Lake.