McHenry County Blog

The number of children under the age of 10 in McHenry County is down 1.9$.

For its $1 billion (including interest) 40-year master plan, McHenry County College assumed a 3% annual increase in students.

The figure was apparently just picked out of the air.

No document has been disclosed that justifies use of the number.

Today the Chicago Tribune has an article talking about decrease in numbers of children under ten in Illinois and the Chicago metropolitan area.

Census figures show that segment of the population is down. 1.9% in McHenry County.

The internet title of the article is

Where are all the children?

The Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water has done some good research on how county board members voted. I am not aware that anyone else has used this approach to evaluate candidates who are on the ballot this fall.

McHenry County Blog will try to publish one ALAW’s set of votes a day, starting with land use votes.

"NS" means not seated. Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

The men working to install new LED traffic lights on Route 14 in Crystal were paid out of Federal stimulus money with assistance from Crystal Lake taxpayers.

Illinois Dems are great at playing a gross exaggeration card to the media and the media repeating it while giving it little real scrutiny.

Top Illinois Dem, now President Obama, listened to his Illinois advisors and gave us a hyped up “Recovery Summer” to try to conceal the failure of the trillion dollar stimulus spending spree that created few private sector jobs.

Now it comes out how on Friday that economic growth is only 1.6%.

That’s no recovery.

In fact economic growth that’s under 2% can’t create enough new jobs for the normal expansion of the job-seeking population resulting from the normal population growth of the country.

The report was from Obama’s Commerce Department for April through June.

You can bet Illinois Dems will flail away at any issue other than jobs, the economy and how they drove Illinois broke.

Their typical approach when issues don’t go their way is to attack their opponents experience, records or personal background.

Dem politics, once in office, is spending other people’s money not mentioning that other people in the future will have to suffer the consequences of paying the money back.

The best economic hope for Illinois and the country is the Dems getting widely swept out of office.

This will signal business that the coast is clear to invest.

It will show the Dem overspending, which has the country and Illinois circling the recession drain, has met a popular uprising.

If you see liberal, union-following Dems Melissa Bean, Bill Foster and Jack Franks get taken out in November, you will likely have a large enough wave across the country to jump start business investment across the nation.

This is a bid sheet for Republican Keith Nygren's Golf Outing. It is for a "Page for a Day" with Democratic Party State Representative Jack Franks. Unsuccessful 2008 Republican State's Attorney candidate Dan Regna has bid $25. The seven-pointed star on the letterhead may or may not be significant. It's the same one on the wall as one enters the jail complex.

Working class Dems can help save their own jobs by throwing out their own Dems who have created this mess. That would definitely include Bean, Foster and Franks.

Hopefully all of the political money they have extracted from lobbyists, unions and trial lawyers won’t be able to save their political hides.

There will be few new jobs created in a Bean-Obama-Foster economy that’s slowing down from 1.6% growth.

I would have included Franks in the above sentence but the only job Jack Franks sincerely cares about is his own.

Franks is one of the most what’s-in-it-for-me Dems in Illinois.  He’s not even endorsing Pat Quinn for Governor or, as far as I know, the Democratic Party’s candidate for Sheriff, Mike Mahon.  Guess he thinks Quinn will lose by so much to Bill Brady in McHenry County that he should look out for himself.  And, of course, Republican Keith Nygren is one of Franks’ supporters.  And there’s evidence Franks helps Nygren’s fund raisers.

Turning around the economy will take a lot of volunteer labor to unseat the Dems.

Volunteering a dozen hours sure beats even more job loss and a nose-diving economy if the Dems hang on. You can bet the union leaders will be out pushing their members to keep their free spending Dems in office.

Some tax hike watcher I am.

I missed Lake in the Hills’ raising its sales tax on July 1st by another quarter of one percent.

Now northern Randall Road is a seamless 7.75%.

Besides Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% city sales tax hike, following the example of Algonquin, now Lake in the Hills joins the parade.

So, the quality of the stores is the only differentiation.

It’s sort of like when the cost of airline tickets was regulated by the FAA. The only thing airlines could compete on was the quality of its food.

Of course, in this Randall Road competition, Algonquin wins hands down, even with businesses closing right and left (going toward Elgin). The latest was the Ethan Allen Furniture Store at County Line Road (on the left).

Monday, I wrote of McHenry’s raising its city sales tax 50% for a total shopping burden of 7.5%. While there was no reason for people to attend the meeting because no public comment was allowed, the city fathers and mothers must have been really nervous because not only the police chief, but two officers were present. The two officers were treating folks the same way we were when we went into the Statue of Liberty last month: everything out of your pockets, bags searched, body wanded.

So what do the sales tax hikes show.

Just a bad economy?

Poor management on the part of city councils and village boards?

I don’t think that explains the big picture.

Lake in the Hills from Randall Road where it intersects with Polaris Drive.

I think it is as much a function of unbridled population growth as anything else.

More people were wanted in order to bring more stores, which would bring sales taxes.

That has obviously happened, but sales tax receipts have not kept up with the demand for services from the people living beneath the new rooftops, plus the new businesses, both of which require governmental services.

You might think Algonquin could afford a lower sales tax rate with all of the sales tax revenue from all of the retail businesses along Randall Road. Same goes for Crystal Lake and Rte. 14.

Just the opposite.

Algonquin and Crystal Lake gave their shoppers the highest sales tax rates around these parts.

On July 1st, Lake in the Hills joined the Randall Road crowd by increasing its sales tax rate to 7.75%. They joined Algonquin and Crystal Lake at this lofty rate.

The part of Algonquin Commons that contains Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Algonquin led the way, assuming, I guess, that its new stores would draw shoppers even if its tax rate was the highest on Randall Road.

Six of seven ward representatives watched a power point presentation in a darkened council chamber. Every other member pictured voted for the 50% sales tax hike starting with the Alderwoman on the left.

McHenry took a giant step in the same direction Monday, hiking its sales tax to 7.5%.

It’s rather obvious that “growth” does not pay for itself, not when you have elected officials and public employee unions involved.

Today’s Northwest Herald editorial “Stop Asking Taxpayers” in the Northwest Herald got their facts a bit off. It stated:

“Only Algonquin and Crystal Lake are higher, at 7.75 cents on the dollar.”

Interesting that the paper did not run a story that July 1st when Crystal Lake’s city sales tax rate went up 75%.

The current 7.75% rate in Lake in the Hills didn’t make the editorial.

Sales tax comparison shown McHenry council members Monday night before they voted to hike the city sales tax 50%. It is still lower than Algonquin's, Crystal Lake's and Lake in the Hills', which all have hiked their city sales tax rate 75%. Click to enlarge.

But, it didn’t make the Monday night presentation in McHenry either.

Guess McHenry’s finance guy did his research before July 1st.  Maybe the Northwest Herald did, too.

If anyone on its editorial staff shopped in Lake in the Hills he or she might have noticed the sales tax increase.

The rate in Lake in the Hills quietly increased July 1st without the Northwest Herald raising an apparent objection. But then Ed Plaza, village president, is a Woodstock lawyer and a former Democrat.

It went into effect on July 1st, 2010.

My objection to Crystal Lake’s raising its sales tax to 7.75% was in part because I thought other let’s-grab-more-money elected officials would follow suit.

Perhaps related to the LITH hike in sales tax to 7.75% on June 1st, was the June approval of the construction of a cricket court at Sunset Park.

Apparently a cricket court was an absolute necessity for Lake in the Hills.

Meanwhile, the LITH web site shows a part time Office Assistant job available at

“This position assists the Administration and Executive Departments with a wide variety of clerical tasks, answering and responding to phone calls, typing, filing, assisting the Village Clerk, and special projects as assigned.”

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog showed the questions being asked 8,000 households about desires and improvements wanted locally.

The survey is entitled,

“McHenry County Healthy Communities 2010.”

Today, we’ll move on the a rating of park/recreation services, something called “local community or village services,” and land use.

Five choices are offered below for two questions. Next is an opportunity to explain why one has rated the services “poor” or “fair,” rather than “excellent” or “good.”

Quality of . . .
28. Your local park district and recreational services
29. Your local community or village services
30. If you rated any of these characteristics above as fair or poor, please tell what is needed or should be improved to make these excellent or good in your community.

Next comes “Lane Use.” Please note that the word “growth” appears only once.

When I was state representative in the late 1970′s, I twice sent out questionnaires to every household with a registered voter asking the question,

“Are you in favor of state and local governmental actions that will encourage population growth in your area?”

In about 1976, the results from my district (all of McHenry County, northern Kane and DeKalb Counties, southern Boone County, including Belvidere, and the far eastern part of Winnebago County, largely unpopulated at the time) was 58% “No.”

About two years later, the negative feedback had increased to 80-some percent–86%–I think.

2030 Land Use Plan (Click to enlarge)

A similar question would have been useful here, especially considering the recent 2030 Land Use Plan fight.

Incidentally, when sorted by zip code, my survey showed areas which had seen growth didn’t want more, while those who had not grown much wanted to grow.

But onto the questions in this year’s survey:

LAND USE

31-36. Please indicate whether you Agree, Disagree or are Not Sure about each statement.

31. I am pleased with the way that land has been developed in McHenry County.

32. Landowners should be allowed to use their land however they want.

Wetlands in McHenry County (Click to enlarge)

33. I am willing to pay higher taxes to preserve wetlands and other environmentally sensitive areas.34. Maintaining our present natural areas such as forests, prairies or wetlands is more important than acquiring new ones.

35. Preserving open space is as important as residential or commercial growth.

36.Government should require residents to use water conservation practices.

I note with pleasure that question 33 mentions higher taxes will be needed “to preserve wetlands and other environmentally sensitive areas.”

Both costs and benefits should be addressed in a questionnaire like this.

Fleming Road near Route 120

The daffodils are up in Bull Valley and the Fleming Road preservationists have posted new signs.

A strategically placed sign among blooming daffodils.

The best sign has been planted among the daffodils that the village gardeners have planted over the years and which makes a scenic drive through the village highly recommended this time of year.

It says,

Daffodils
NOT
Asphalt

This sign is south of the intersection of Fleming and Bull Valley Roads.

I also like the

Scenic Route
NOT
Truck Route

Area residents are concerned that pro-hyper growth forces on the county board might be plotting to turn Fleming Road into an eastern truck bypass for Woodstock.

The Fleming Road Alliance is trying to develop an email list.

Be Included
E-MAIL Us
FlemingRoadAlliance
@gmail.com

Reasons the Fleming Road Alliance doesn't want the road improved too much include that the speed limit might be raised making it harder to get out of driveways and encouraging additional traffic.

appears on yard signs printed in both blue and red ink.

Cut Speed
NOT
Trees

is another catchy sign in the campaign.

Other stories that might be of interest:

Signs Fan the Flames on Fleming Road Repair

Fleming Road Improvement Gathering Lively

Fleming Road Alliance Calling for Comments by April 9th

McHenry County Board candidate Karen Tynis' 4X4 foot sign appeared, along with one for Sheriff Keith Nygren, at the Northwest corner of Bull Valley and Walkup Roads late last week.

First there was a four by four foot sign for 8th congressional candidate Joe Walsh on the small billboard skeleton in the field at the Northwest corner of Bull Valley Road and what Crystal Lakers call the McHenry Blacktop.

Then it disappeared.

Last week, when I took my son to swim practice at McHenry West High School, there was a sign for county board candidate Karen Tynis where the Walsh sign had been

I must admit to have not heard of Tynis prior to her filing for the McHenry County Board in the Republican primary in District 3.

I did pick up her campaign piece at the Republican precinct committeeman’s literature distribution last Friday night.

It shows a smiling family on the address side with the message:

HELP ME, TO HELP YOU!
Let’s Bring Business Back
to McHenry County!

Karen Tynis, is an experienced businesswoman, wife, mother, grandmother and community volunteer. Whe will work for what the residents of McHenry County need and want.

On the back side is a

Vote

Vote
Karen J.
Tynis
County Board

Personal Background:

• Married with 3 children
• Resident of County for 19 years
• BS Degree Eastern Illinois University

Business Experience:

• Manages the family business, Tynis Concrete, with an avg. of 20 employees, for the last 12 years.
• Owner of KT Leasing, Inc.
• 10 exp. with Real Estate Closings and New Construction
• Treasurer of 2 Property Owners Associations

Community Service:

• Prairie Ridge Volleyball Volunteered
• Club Fusion Volleyball Volunteer
• Salvation Army Volunteered
• Shepherd of the Hills Church Volunteered
• Prairie Grove Parks Dept. Volunteer

Objectives:

• Establish New Business Relationships for the County that encourages growth without hurting taxpayers
• Help Keep Existing Business in McHenry County
• Lowering Taxes
• Reduce Government Spending
• Establish Open Door Policy for Residents
• Community Safety

At the bottom is a notice that reminds people that early voting stats today.

Tynis answered the questionnaire for the Northwest Herald.

While not mention on the mailing, of possible interest is that she supports video poker and the two District 3 board members whose terms are up voted to ban it. One, Ed Dvorak, is retiring. The other, Barbara Wheeler was a leader in the fight to ban this gambling in the unincorporated areas of McHenry County.

The cop board vote on the ban was 13-10-1,  so the District 3 elections could tilt the balance in favor of video slot machines. If two pro-gambling members were elected—and no other changes occurred—the vote would be 12-11-1 in favor of video gambling.

One other observation:

I can’t remember the last time anyone campaigned in favor of growth. Past pro-growth candidates have usually said they were for “controlled growth.”

You read what the Woodstock Independent, the Northwest Herald and the Daily Herald want to know about and from candidates. Here’s what the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water are interested in learning about those running for the McHenry County Board:

ALAW County Board Candidates Survey: 2010 Primary Election

Please, indicate yes or no in the box to the right of the question.

A. Land Use

1. Have you personally attended any of the Regional Planning Commission meetings or subcommittee meetings on the 2030 Comprehensive Land Use Plan?

2. Have you read the proposed 2030 Land Use Plan?

3. Do you think the makeup of the 2030 Regional Planning Commission was a balanced representation of the residents of the county?

4. Do you agree that new development should be located where infrastructure exists, to minimize the extension of new roads, utilities and services, and protect farmland and water recharge areas?

5. If elected, will you support funding permanent protection of agricultural land and the agricultural industry in the County?

6. Do you understand that new rural development costs more for the extension of infrastructure (roads, water, sewer and services) than it brings to the County in taxes and that those extra costs are passed on to the existing taxpayers?

7. Do you support creation of the Hac-Ma-Tac National Wildlife Refuge in the county?

B. Water Resources

1. Would you oppose any land use change that would exceed a locally recharged aquifer’s capacity?

2. If elected will you enforce use of the SARA – Sensitive Aquifer Recharge Areas map developed by the County Water Resources Department, as a determining factor in every land use change decision?

3. Do you support redistributing groundwater from water-rich areas to areas that have over drawn their groundwater?

4. Do you think that McHenry County will be able to get water from Lake Michigan?

C. Transparency in Government

1. Would you support a requirement that all elected or appointed county officials make up-front disclosures of any financial or other interest in any real property in the County?

2. Do you support a requirement that all elected or appointed county officials make up-front disclosures of their interest in any business entity doing business with the county?

3. Do you believe that public officials should disclose whether they provide professional services to any unit of government to which they are elected or appointed?

4. Do you agree that all scheduled meetings agendas and minutes, including committee and sub-committee, should be posted on the County web site?

5. Do you agree that all McHenry County Board meetings should be video recorded and posted on the County web site?

D. Short Answer. Only the number of words indicated will be published in the response report. (please add a page if you need more room, but remember that we can only print the number of words indicated. Thank you.)

1. What role do you think the County should play in planning for growth? (50 words)

2. By protecting agricultural lands and soil resources, groundwater and its natural recharge can also be protected. What will you do to provide that protection? (50 words)

3. What does the County get from its annual contract with the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation and is it a good investment of taxpayer money? (50 words)

4. Who do you consider to be your constituents and how do you intend to communicate with them to ensure your positions honestly represent them? (50 words)

5. Please provide a personal statement about what you intend to accomplish, if elected to the County Board, and/or provide additional information regarding any of the “ / no” yes answers given above. (100 words)

Answers are due January 11th.

There’s nothing wrong with Northwest Herald reporter Kevin Craver’s front page article about Metra’s board voting to purchase McHenry County Board Chairman’s property in Ridgefield.

It contains much of the same information in these McHenry County Blog articles (listed in reverse order of publication):

Friday, 8-14-9 Metra Votes to Purchase Ridgefield Station Site

Friday, 8-14-9 Craig Steagall Unleashes Broadside Against McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler over Metra State Land Purchase

Friday, 8-14-9 Metra Scheduled to Approve Former Flowerwood Land for Station in Ridgefield This Morning

Thursday, 8-13-9 $1.5 Million Being Paid for Ridgefield Metra Site Half-Owned by McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler

Thursday, 8-13-9 Metra Transparency Worse than McHenry County College’s

Wednesday, 8-12-9 Ridgefield Businessman Takes on McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler over Proposed Metra Station

Friday, 8-7-9 Musings on the Proposed Ridgefield Metra Station

Wednesday, 8-5-9 Alexander Lumber’s Move to Ridgefield, Proposed Metra Station Implications

But the headline writer might make people think that Metra is “tentative” about the deal.

That appointed board is not.

If the City of Crystal Lake annexes the land and agrees to manage the parking lot, it’s a done deal.

There may be a real fight on the Crystal Lake Zoning and Planning Board and the Crystal Lake City Council, but that will probably be over whether the site makes sense from a regional planning perspective.

That is a very real question, in my opinion.

Is this the first step into turning Country Club Road north toward McConnell Road into a commercial and industrial strip?

Will Crystal Lake annex all of Downtown Ridgefield?

Will the city council decide that there is more sales tax revenue in a Walgreens or CVS than the antique shops on the triangular shaped land on the north side of the narrow part of Country Club Road that runs through Ridgefield?

Hey, the road has to be widened anyway,

That means the antique shops have to be demolished anyway, right?

Will the city use condemnation powers to take the land, as Cicero, Chicago and other cities have done in the name of economic development, or will a retail establishment agree to pay enough for the land that the present owners will willingly sell and, in return for appropriate zoning, “donate” sufficient right-of-way for a widened road?

Think massive development of that area isn’t being contemplated?

Then, consider this viewpoint, found in Marna Pyke’s Daily Herald article, by former Lake County Board Chairman, now a Metra board member, at Friday’s meeting:

“Metra Director Jim LaBelle, who represents Lake County, said he regretted there were no plans for housing next to the train station.

“‘It looks like a parking lot in the middle of the country,’ he said.”

As with the McHenry County College stadium fight, residents near the proposed Metra stop won’t carry much weight in City of Crystal Lake deliberations because they live outside the city limits. And considering the city’s unwillingness to annex the Crystal Lake Manor, which it complete surrounds, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for city officials to become interested in making current Ridgefield residents taxpaying citizens. (And, there wouldn’t be any advantage to the Ridgefield residents anyway, because there is no water and/or sewer required by the commuter parking lot.)

One argument those living outside of Crystal Lake might be able to develop is the same one used by stadium opponents–the covering of Crystal Lake’s watershed with a big asphalt parking lot.

757 parking spaces covered with an impermeable surface might move those interested in the health of the lake to action again.

And, since the biggest potential beneficiary is McHenry County College, a coalition might be built that contains both supporters and opponents of the college’s minor league baseball stadium.

Surely a station on the college’s (west) side of the railroad tracks would be more convenient and safer for students who might use the train to get to classes.

No one really knows how much use college students might make of such service. But planning for future growth at the college campus, which now is right across Ridgefield Road from the train tracks should receive serious consideration.

College officials I talked to knew of no contact about the suitability of the location from Metra since the parking lot site was selected January 5, 2009.

One told me she first learned of Metra’s selection “from reading the paper.”

The NW Herald article is posted as going up on its web site Tuesday, August 4th. I think it was printed on Wednesday, however.

So, a major question exists about why Metra kept it a secret from the public for seven months.

Why were there no public hearings on such a growth generator?

Why was this deal rushed through?

Why does the contract have a clause saying,

How complete absurd, unless there is more than meets the eye.

Why is Metra paying so much more than the $67,000 an acre McHenry County College paid just last year for 57 acres down the road?

MCC negotiated its contract on the Gilger property at the top of the real estate boom.

Now McHenry County is in the canyon of the market.

Metra will not win the transparency award for 2009.

The paperwork given Metra board members indicates that Crystal Lake officials were in the know earlier than the public.

No change of policy there.

Remember the college stadium time line?

No knowledge of it appeared in the NW Herald until the day after McHenry County Blog broke the story. Then, Mayor Aaron Shepley filled the paper’s front page with its praise.

There will also have to be vote of the McHenry County Board, but it’s about money spent for roads when 84 Lumber was built after approval by the county board.

Without a favorable vote, the deal, as approved by Metra’s board, will not go through.
= = = = =
You see Devil’s Mound above on the left.

The canyon is in Idaho near Balanced Rock.

At the bottom is Balanced Rock. You can see a boy who has climbed up to it. This story reminds me of the apprehension that some might have that the rock might fall on them…or on us taxpayers.

Have you notices that municipalities do so, so well when growth is rampant?

But when it slows down, taxes and fees get hiked.

If you need a recent example, think of Crystal Lake’s hiking water and sewer rates for the second time

IlliniPundit posted a story about developer impact fees. It certainly doesn’t say growth pays its own way.

The City of Champaign released their draft Cost of Land Uses Fiscal Impact Analysis, and held a public meeting on it…:

The study found that among six types of residential development, only high-priced single-family detached homes in the $400,000 to $600,000 range, such as Trails at Brittany and Chestnut Grove subdivisions, and downtown apartments, like at One Main, generated income surpluses for the city, primarily due to their higher taxable values.

High-priced single-family homes generated a surplus of $813 per house for the city and downtown apartments generated a surplus of $325 per unit.

Other types of housing were net money losers, including medium-priced single family homes, like in Sawgrass and Boulder Ridge subdivisions (a loss of $888 per unit); low-priced single family homes, like in Ashland Park (an average $641 per unit loss); apartments on the city fringe (an average loss of $764 per unit) and attached housing units, such as townhomes, duplexes and triplexes (an average loss of $334 per unit), the study said.

And this:

Among nonresidential developments, big box retail generates a $6,245 surplus for the city per 1,000 square feet of space, and neighborhood retail generates $4,639 per 1,000 square feet. Sales taxes generated by retail sales accounts for the surpluses.
But the city loses an average of $314 per 1,000 square feet of office space, loses $63 per 1,000 square feet of industrial use and loses $51 per 1,000 square feet for health care clinics.

So, growth in Barrington Hills, Lakewood and Bull Valley pays its own way, but affordable homes don’t.

The rest of us have to subsidize the developers, who “help” us subsidize them by contributing campaign cash to school tax hike committees.