Lake in the Hills Spending at Municipal League Conference Down

Reprinted from the Illinois News Network: Bills to limit taxpayer-funded trips, conferences die in committee as spending continues By Cole Lauterbach and Brett Rowland In 2017, local officials spent hundreds of thousands of tax dollars on trips to a convention … Continue reading

Skillicorn Asks LITH Municipal League Attendees to Reimburse Village

A press release from State Rep. Allen Skillicorn: SKILLICORN ASKS LITH OFFICIALS TO REIMBURSE VILLAGE FOR OUTRAGEOUS RETREAT EXPENSES Lake In The Hills, IL—Representative Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) is calling for Lake In The Hills officials who stayed overnight in … Continue reading

Skillicorn Goes After Municipal League Conference Costs

A press release from State Rep. Allen Skillicorn: SKILLICORN CALLS ON ILLINOIS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE TO END ANNUAL CONFERENCE CRYSTAL LAKE, IL—It is time for the Illinois Municipal League to end its taxpayer funded annual conference. The Daily Herald reported that … Continue reading

Municipal League Seeks Automatic Home Rule for 5,000 Person Villages

Found on Capitol Fax is the following legislative goal of the Illinois Municipal League: Expansion of Home Rule Eligibility Municipal leaders across the state support expanding home rule eligibility to include communities of 5,000 residents and above. The current Illinois … Continue reading

Income Tax Revenue Sharing Loss Would Cost McHenry County Governments $16.9 Million

The McHenry County Council of Governments (McCOG) has calculated how much money each village and city in the county would lose in state subsides should Governor Bruce Rauner’s budget recommendations be enacted. The Govenror suggests cutting the subsidy in half. … Continue reading

David Stieper Sends Second Mailing

Republican McHenry County Board District 1 hopeful has sent out his second mailing. The first featured a “gravy train” in which he promised not to sign up for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund pension (which his running mate Andrew Gasser … Continue reading

Could a Statewide Building Code Be Aimed at Putting Windmills Anywhere without Local Interference?

A new political committee was founded in July. It’s called Clean Energy Illinois; its chairman and treasurer are both the same individual, a Chicago man named Barry Matchett. Since August 22, it has taken in at least $67,500 mostly in … Continue reading

“Chainsaw Jack” Franks Can’t Power Tree Massacre Bill Out of Public Utilities Committee…Yet

Apparently “Chainsaw Jack” Franks didn’t have enough lubricating oil to get his bill (House Bill 3884, email addresses of Public Utility Committee members included in linked story) to allow Commonwealth Edison and Ameren to cut any tree it wanted to … Continue reading

Senate Sponsor of Jack Franks’ Property Tax Cap Bill Says It’s “Dead on Arrival”

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog noted that State Rep. Jack Franks’ bill was “headline” bill, that is one, that was put up to garner local press, but never intended to be enacted. In fact, I quoted a state legislator close to … Continue reading

Illinois Municipal League Opposes Government Tax Take Freeze

Not only the Township Officials of Illinois, but the more powerful Illinois Municipal League has lined up against State Rep. Jack Franks’ bill to keep property taxes constant in years when real estate assessments are declining. Under the way that … Continue reading

Champaign Blogger Takes on Legislators Trying to Limit Freedom of Information Requests

Part-Time Pundit John Bambenek is taking on State Senators who are planning to make it much more difficult for anyone not considered “media” to do in-depth research about what local governments do by passing Senate Bill 1655. The Northwest Herald’s … Continue reading

Mike Tryon and Pam Althoff Meeting Voters at Crystal Lake City Hall – Part 1

The line most in keeping with McHenry County Blog’s philosophy was uttered by State Senator Pam Althoff Tuesday night to crowd of about thirty people in the Crystal Lake City Hall: “Government is a participatory sport…There is a responsibility on … Continue reading