McHenry County Blog

The Beatles’ song seems appropriate for today, the first day when McHenry County Property Tax Bills can be seen on County Treasurer Bill LeFew’s web site.

A taxpayer as seen by the Tax Foundation.[/caption]Look here.
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Links to all articles on the McHenry County Real Estate Bills that will arrive in the mailboxes of most people this weekend are

A taxpayer as seen by the Tax Foundation.

below:

• Most Tax Rates for McHenry County’s Upcoming Tax Bills – Up 15% in Algonquin Township Part of Lakewood
• McHenry County Multiplier Increases Assessments 1.0243 for This Year’s Tax Bills, $1 Billion Assessment Loss Sends Tax Rates Soaring
• Property Tax Rates – Comparing This Coming Year’s to Last Year’s
• McHenry County Tax District Honor Role
• The McHenry County Taxman Cometh – Tax Bills on the Internet

From the Way Back Machine comes a 1968 envelope and real estate tax bill that I mailed in 1968 when I was McHenry County Treasurer.

Next to the six cent metered postage is the following message:

Vote and the choice is yours! Don’t vote and the choice is theirs! Register…or you have no choice!” reads the envelop message on this McHenry County Treasurer’s 1968 real estate tax bill envelopment.

Here’s what the envelop looked like:

On the back of this 1968 envelop from the McHenry County Treasurer’s Office, it says, “Serving the public from8-5 week days.”

And, just in case you are more interested in the tax bill than the envelop, here it is:

This McHenry County real estate tax bill showed up in an old book. It is for a home on Woodland Drive in Crystal Lake. The bill was $107.22.

Part of the Barrington Hills Observer masthead.

I see the mention of the Village of Barrington Hill’s failure to answer Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ request for debt information in Tuesday’s Chicago Tribune editorial.

That failure was noticed and memorialized by The Barrington Hills Observer.

On that site is the press release that Pappas sent out which, I assume, led to the editorial.

In the FOI request, Pappas says, ““We are taking this extraordinary step of using the FOIA provision because government may not flout the law any more than an individual. If anything, government should set the example in obeying the law.”

Here is what she requests:

“This Office hereby requests a full, complete, unabridged and unedited copy of (your) most recent audited financial statement.”

And the reason for the headline?

I called the Treasurer’s Office seeking the press person. Before I was connected to Bob Benjamin I was able to file a Freedom of Information request via email for the Pappas Freedom of Information request.

So, I’d make two suggestions.

Get more people to answer the phone.

There is such a long introductory message pointing callers everywhere but the Treasurer’s Office that most people probably just hang up.

After pushing the button “8″ to talk to a real person, the phone rang, many, many, many, many, many, many…times. Not that the woman who answered wasn’t pleasant. She was.

There just aren’t enough of her, so to speak.

The McHenry County Treasurer’s Office.

The McHenry County Treasurer’s Office has posted the property tax bills that people will pay this year.

If you go here, you will see three ways to find what our tax bill is.

You can type in

• the Property Index Number (we all have that memorized, right?)
• the address (probably the easiest) or
• the name (here you have to remember the name on the deed)

I had no problem using our address.

Treasurer Bill LeFew will be sending out the bills this week.

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See analysis here.

If you are looking for a tax bill to be paid in 2013, look here.

A press release from McHenry County:

McHenry County Treasurer’s Office Building Energy Star Dedication

The Energy Star logo.

WOODSTOCK, IL – McHenry County will be holding a dedication for the Treasurer’s Office building in recognition of obtaining an Energy Star label designation.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 18 – 1:00 pm

WHERE: McHenry County Treasurer’s Office, 2100 N. Seminary Avenue, Woodstock

Energy Star is a voluntary government and industry partnership that makes it easy for businesses and consumers to save money and protect the environment.

The Treasurer’s Office building is the first McHenry County building to achieve an Energy star rating, achieving a rating of 84 out of 100.

To achieve an Energy Star rating, a building must attain a score of 75, ranking it among the top quartile of all same like buildings in energy use.

McHenry County has been an Energy Star partner since 2003.

The current program began in 1991 as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Lights program, followed shortly by the introduction of the Energy Star label. In 1996, the EPA partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy to increase the range of Energy Star product offerings.

In January 2010, the Treasurer moved into a vacant building that was formally a commercial bank across the street from the McHenry County Government Center.

The existing building was constructed in 1978 and is a single story structure with a full basement. The facility was consistent with the building type and occupancy as originally designed. For this reason, it was ideally suited to relocate the McHenry County Treasurer’s Office from the Administration Building to this new location. The building’s square footage is 5710 square feet.

The McHenry County Board and the Facilities Management Department recognized the potential to improve the building’s energy efficiency and renovate using Energy Star and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines with their architect.

McHenry County Treasurer's Office

For more information on Energy Star, please visit www.energystar.gov.

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McHenry County Treasurer’s Office Energy Star Fact Sheet

Under the guidance of the County Board, McHenry County Director of Facilities Management John Hadley and Architect Chris Hansen of Kluber Architect & Engineers worked closely to identify several green design elements that were incorporated into the project.

Architectural Systems:

• TPO Roofing Membrane: The “white” Thermoplastic Membrane Roofing system was specified for its high solar reflective index commonly referred to as SRI.
• Roof Insulation: The two inch thickness of existing roofing insulation was replaced with two layers of two inch thickness (total of 4 inches) of polyisocyanurate board insulation. The original R value of the old roofing insulation was approximately R-10. The new insulation has an R value of 24.
• The carpet and paint products specified contain low Volatile Organic Compounds reducing the impact of these components on indoor air quality.

Mechanical Systems:

• Furnaces – New Energy Star rated gas fired furnaces were installed to replace the old gas furnaces. The old furnaces had an annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) of 80%. The new furnaces are high efficiency, sealed combustion type and have an annual fuel utilization efficiency of 95%.
• Air Conditioning – New Energy Star rated air cooled condensing units were installed to replace the old air conditioning system. The new condensing units utilize a refrigerant that have zero ozone-depletion potential. The condensing units also have a seasonal efficiency of 13.
• Controls – Direct digital controls were utilized to operate the equipment with building unoccupied temperature setbacks and capability of web-based monitoring of the building.

Electrical Systems:

• Interior Lighting: Interior lighting utilized energy efficient fluorescent lighting sources. Meets the International Energy Conservation Code’s (IECC) power allowance requirements of 1.0 Watts per square foot.
• Exterior Lighting: The parking lot pole lighting was specified with LED lamps in lieu of traditional HID (Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium) units. The LED lights utilized less energy than traditional lamps and last 40% longer. The typical LED light fixture will burn for 50,000 hours compared to traditional 400W Metal Halide lamp that has an average life of 36,000 hours.
• Lighting Controls: Individual interior lighting controls, including dual light level controls, were provided for the interior lighting fixtures.
• All internal lighting fixtures are connected to a central lighting controller which will automatically shut off lighting fixtures after normal business hours.
• A master switch has been provided for occupants to override the interior lighting automatic shut off function.
• Exterior lighting controls include an astronomical time clock and a photo-sensor. These controls will prevent exterior lighting fixtures from consuming energy during daylight hours.

Energy Management begins with a senior-level commitment for continuous improvement in energy efficiency. The County Board and the McHenry County Facilities Management Department have adopted this commitment as they move forward with other County buildings.

The founder of Freeport, Illinois, Tutty Baker, who died in 1855, is the pseudonym of a Stephenson County blogger. He calls his publication the Stephenson Blumdoggle.

The blog seems to have been inspired by Stephenson County’s Board Chairman, whose last name is Blum.

John Blum and his county board seem to have put the taxpayers in debt to build an industrial park that has not worked out too well.

Hence, the play on the word “boondoggle,”

Look at the blog's purpose: "An honest source of informed opinion for Freeport and Stephenson County."

Imagine my surprise when I discovered an article about an article about the McHenry County Finance Committee that ran on McHenry County Blog yesterday.

Tutty’s article is entitled,

A Freeport Connection in McHenry County

Here's the book I finished much too late Monday night to make the County Board's Finance Committee meeting.

I was finished a good novel–”Julian Comstock, A Story of 22nd Century America” by Robert Charles Wilson–last night, so didn’t make it to the County’s Administrative Building for the Finance Committee meeting.

But I am interested if the Committee members recommended selling Z Financial two lots in the Village of Wonder Lake with a market value, according to the assessor last year, of over $30,000 for $1,300.

While it probably has no connection, Z Financial gave three multi-thousand dollar contributions to County Treasurer Bill LeFew a couple of years ago.

Tutty suggests that his readers might be interested in looking at the Illinois State Board of Elections pages that show

• contributions from Z Financial and
• contributions from John Zajicek, its owner.

Zajicek is identified as an “investor” in reports made to the state.

I note the Bill LeFew is not the only County Treasurer to whom the company and the man have made contributions.

From the McHenry County government email last Friday:

Tax Bill Reminder

You can pay in person in Woodstock at the Treasurer's Office or at most banks or by mail, making sure you have Monday's post mark on the envelope.

The second installment for the 2010 property taxes for McHenry County property owners is due this Tuesday, September 13, 2011.

Those looking for payment options may obtain this information online at www.mchenrytreasurer.org or by calling the Treasurer’s Office at 815-334-4260.

It is extremely important for property owners to pay close attention to their total property tax exemptions listed on the bill which could lower the current tax bill. For a complete list of exemptions, please click here.

County residents receive a single tax bill in May 2011 for the full year’s taxes, payable in two equal installments and will not be receiving a second bill when the second installment is due.

Pursuant to Illinois law, the County is required to add a 1.5% penalty for taxes paid or post-marked after the due dates.

When I worked at the United States Budget Bureau in 1965-66 right after grad school in public administration at the University of Michigan, there was a period just before the budget went to the printer that employees worked very long hours.

Apparently my successors still do.

Fox News reports that over half now want to join a union. I guess they want to be paid overtime.

I wonder if they will be willing to be paid undertime for the days right after the budget goes to bed when they have nothing to do.

My senior budget examiner Roger Adkins told me to go through the files.

Now, that was interesting.

No, I mean it.

I found a memo that recommended the 1964 Democratic Party’s Small Business Platform.

Apparently, a Civil Service employee had done Democratic Party work.

That stuck me as improper.

In an orientation session, new employees were told that President Lyndon Johnson was the first President who had used the Budget Bureau throughout the year.

That, of course, made sense because of the budget examiners’ connections with their agencies. Mine was the Small Business Administration.

And, when this 23-year old called his contacts at the SBA, they never knew whether if was the new guy asking a question or whether he (that is, his boss) had been asked to inquire on behalf of a White House staffer.

Very heady stuff.

There was also the perk of having an office next to the White House.

Where I worked was called the Executive Office Building. Now it's been re-named the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

When I went to visit in 1972, I walked up the steps of the Old War Department Building and found the budget folks had been displaced by an expanding White House staff.

They were then located a block away n a high rise behind Blair House. Security was by rent-a-cop, rather that Federal employees.

There was one other perks..

One day, President Johnson needed a Greek chorus for some visiting dignitary.
So we got to spend part of our lunch hour in the Rose Garden.

Sometimes I wonder what my life’s course would have been had I not come back to run for McHenry County Treasurer when my father, who had almost beaten the McHenry County Board Chairman for the GOP nomination for the newly-created post of County Auditor, told me he wasn’t going to run for County Treasurer and I might be interested. (I flew home, met the announced candidates, Harvard Police Chief Gene Brewer and Hartland Township Supervisor Ray Murphy, who also served on the McHenry County Board by virtual of being a township supervisor, and decided I was as competent as they.)

Mr. Lawrence, the man who interviewed me, knew that I was a Republican. He asked Roger if he could work with a Goldwater Republican and Roger, being quite a jovial fellow whom I believe could have worked with anyone, said he could..

I’m pretty sure that I was the only out-in-the-open Republican in the building. Every once in a while another staffer would approach me in the hall and confess that he or she was a Republican, too. One. A girl a bit older than I, took me to a party attended by economist John Kenneth Galbraith. Standing by the sink, he looked perfectly ordinary.. I’m pretty sure that was the one next to the Russia Embassy.

Then there was the SBA Budget Officer Hoadley. (Probably spelling his name wrong.) After he heard that I was going to run for McHenry County Treasurer, he pulled open his bottom drawer one day and showed me a six-pack of Goldwater, a drink marketed by some company during the 1964 election.

When Nixon came into office in 1968, I figure there would have been some upward mobility.

But, back to the reason for this article.

The Budget Bureau is now called the Office of Management and Budget. (So much for tradition.)

And over half of its members no longer consider themselves professionals.

They want union protection from onerous working conditions, it seems. This “a highly educated and professional group,” as union spokesman Peter Winch describes them want more appreciation.

Doesn’t everyone?

Most could probably get an agency job paying more money, as I was offered by the SBA, but I guess they love their workaholic jobs too much to leave.

Think the employees of the Illinois Office of Management and Budget will follow suit?

Although they are not going to be put in the mail until Friday, McHenry County Treasurer Bill LeFew’s web site has tax bills on the internet already.

At least they were when I tried about an hour ago.

I’m getting nothing when I try now.

The first screen on the McHenry County Treasurer's web site. One is supposed to be able to click on the top center button and get to a page where one can type in a person's name or address or Property Identification number and pull up the tax bill. I am told that once one reaches that page to put in less information than is requested. The zip code isn't needed, for example. I live on Meridian Street, but just typed the number and "Mer" and it worked. Must be too many people trying to access their tax bills now.

Here’s the place to go.

From the 2010 4th of July Parade in Crystal Lake.

I have done some Crystal Lake area comparisons and found two tax districts which bit the bullet and asked for the same amount of money this year as they got last year.

Drum roll, please.

Calculating from a neighbor’s tax bill, the tax districts worthy of praise in this trying economy are

• Crystal Lake High School District 155
• Crystal Lake Park District
• City of Crystal Lake

Their bills this year are about as close as one can come. All three are with hundredths of a percent of last year’s bills.

On the bill I examined, District 155 amounted to 25% of the total, while the park district was 4.6%.

From a percentage point of view, the booby prizes go to

• Lakewood for sticking its hands in taxpayers’ pockets to take an extra 10.7%
• Algonquin Township Road District, with an increase of 8.2%
• Crystal Lake Grade School District 47, which increased its tax take by 6.6%

Lakewood takes almost 14% of its Algonquin Township’s residents tax dollars.

The Algonquin Township Road District takes little in dollars, less than 2%. Excluding pensions half of the amount collected within municipal boundaries goes for city and village streets.

The Crystal Lake Grade School District, on the other hand, is the biggest part local ta bills.

Over 38% of the total. A six percent high is real money. $328 on the real estate tax bill from which the calculations in this article are based.

There was no election competition for the park district and high school boards. Maybe if there had been campaigns, the incumbents on the ballot would have bragged about being in tune with the economic times.

The high school board did have a citizens’ group looking at it, however. It’s called GAND Community Advocates. The “GAND” stands for the Grafton, Algonquin, Nunda and Dorr Townships in which most of District 155 lies). District 47 covers parts of the same townships. The group is now trying to bird dog the high school teachers’ union contract negotiations, but the school board is unwilling to make any details public.

No one running for the grade school board had any literature. If anyone was paying attention to what that taxing entity does besides its employees, it would be hard to document. One candidate lost; the others on the ballot won.

In Lakewood, an appointed incumbent lost for a two-year term. Taxes did seem to be an issue.

April 4, 2011's Rockford Register-Star

Hard to remember the last time I bought a newspaper on a newsstand. I think it was while we were in West Virginia.

Monday, when I was in Belvidere, I saw the Rockford Register-Star story above about the the Winnebago County Board’s having voted to give up their pensions and now urging other part-time politicians to do the same.

Of course, you aren’t eligible to get a public pension if you don’t have a salary, so they’re not talking about school board members, the people who control most of the local tax dollars.

But, county board and township board members are paid, so they qualify.

I’d link to the article, but the story is not on the internet.

The other reason I had to buy the paper to show it to you.

Look above the story.

“PRINT EXCLUSIVE – NOT AVAILABLE FREE ONLINE“

But the price for this weekday paper was $1. You can bet I debated whether it was worth the price.

So, why would county board members want a pension.

As I have stated before, there are three basic motivations for seeking public office. “The three P’s,” was the way the Field Director of the Republican National Committee put it in an Illinois College campaign school during the summer of 1968:

• Power
• Prestige
• Pecuniary

The first two are self-explanatory. The third is about money. That could come in the form of salary, pension, more law, insurance or other business. Might even be bribes for some.

When I ran for McHenry County Treasurer, although the salary of $10,000 in 1966 was higher than my entry level management intern $7,500 compensation in the United States Bureau of the Budget, money wasn’t the motivation.

Getting involved in elective politics was.

I didn’t even participate in the pension system (IMRF) as Treasurer until a couple of years into my four-year term. I guess twenty-somethings this didn’t thin.

When I ran for state representative six years later, I knew the salary was $17,500 a year, but I’m not sure it was set prior to the primary election filing date.  Again, it was not the motivating factor.  I guess prestige was the prime motivator at that point.  That and having the ability to do something about the ideas in my “Needed Legislation” file.

I had not a clue what the legislative pension system was all about.

I didn’t even transfer my Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund credits at first. Then I figured out it was too good a deal to pass up.

And that brings me to the point of this article.

Any0ne who is any public pension fund can transfer his years of credits to a pension fund with better benefits than his own.

The article points out that dropping county board pensions is not a big money saver.

The IMRF benefits for a county board member, unless he  or her is a highly paid board chairman can’t be that good.  I’ve lost track, but I think one has to be in the system 40 years to obtain the maximum benefit.  That’s in addition to Social Security, if I read the IMRF web site correctly.  You can read the top 25 local IMRF pensions here.

IMRF is financial sound because when I was County Treasurer, its Board of Directors embarked on a 40-year plan to make it so.

Unlike state government, its local government members–primarily municipal, county and township governments–following the plan.

But, let’s get back to the county board or township board members,  city councilmen or village board members who would be the major beneficiaries of earning years of pension credits at the relatively low salary of a McHenry County Board member.  The county salary is about $20,000 a year.

Who is that person?

It’s the one or two or three who might end up winning a much higher paying elective office.

Countywide offices in McHenry County now pay in the $100,000 range, much higher if one is a law enforcement officer or a judge.

Are you a lawyer and aspire to be a judge?

Serve on a low-paying village board for a number of years first.  That puts you closer to the 20-year (maybe it’s been changed  now) minimum service for a maximum pension.

And those within the Republican political community know there are County Board members who would love to replace County Clerk Kathie Schultz and Recorder of Deeds Phyllis Walters when they decided to retire.

So, will the McHenry County Board decide to strip future members of pensions and the very valuable fringe benefit of health insurance for themselves and their families?

Ask them.

The Rockford Register-Star spent a lot of work to prepare this chart of local governments providing elected officials public pensions.

As all of you should know this retired legislator receives a generous pension.  I thank you for that.

The low budget campaign for County Treasurer featured this Mimeographed pole signs.

It is based on four years of being County Treasurer when my salary was marginally lower than a state legislator, four years in the state bureaucracy when I was earning more that a state legislator, but still paying into that pension system and sixteen years in the Illinois House of Representatives, during which time the base salary for pretty much all but freshmen members was boosted by being a committee chairman or minority spokesman (of the Appropriations Committee that handled the highway budget the last six years).

That’s twenty-four years of pension credits.

I remember one discussion with the late Doug Hoeft of Elgin, who was my age and understood the pension system much better than I.  A former educator, he took me though the calculations of retiring after having twenty years of pension credit.

The pension was based on 85% of a legislator’s final salary before one retired.  If a legislator got a higher paying job after leaving the General Assembly, that post’s final salary became the base against which 85% was multiplied.  There were some real abuses, as you can see from this article:

Pension Winners in the General Assembly Retirement System

Cal Skinner, Jr., campaigning in DeKalb. Photo by Robin Geist.

I didn’t make the top 50 in the pension system article above, but mine is generous at $76,377 last year, according to my income tax form.

How did it get to be more than I was ever paid as a state representative?

Part of it is the 3% so-called Cost of Living increase each July 1st. All retired employees (except IMRF retirees, a commenter notes below) receive that, regardless of system. Newly hired public employees will not, it is my understanding. (Maybe some public employee who is not yet retired can explain the changes the legislature passed last year in the comment section below.)

But there was something else I was unaware of until after I lost the primary election in 2000.

For those who retiring legislators who had more than twenty years of pension credits, I learned, there was a boost of one’s pension after one year. It was a sizable one which I can’t check out as I am writing and posting it because it is Saturday.

Didn’t make much sense, but I can pretty much assure you I didn’t vote for it. At least if it passed after 1975.

In sixteen years I served (73-81, 93-01), I remember voting for only one legislative pension bill and that was in my first session. I didn’t understand it, but I remember C.L. McCormick, the Vienna Republican in Paul Powell’s old three-member district telling me it was OK to vote “Yes.”

There was one other reason I bought Monday’s Rockford Register-Star.  The paper is obviously trying to provide value to those who subscribe or purchase news stand copies that internet readers do not receive.

I wonder if it is the paper’s policy to try to do a story like this every week.

If so, that takes a lot of effort.