McHenry County Blog

Erik Sivertsen

I’ve been remiss on looking at school board election results…probably because I don’t know as much about them as about the races about which I written.

Today I looked at McHenry Grade School District 15′s results and discovered that School Board President Ted Pillow lost by 164 votes. (This number might change a bit as absentee ballots received after the election are counted.)

I haven’t written much about the McHenry Elementary District other than when Home School Dad John O’Neill won in 2007.

O’Neill ran unopposed for a two-year term this year.

Erik Sivertsen is the man who beat the School Board President 3,208 to 3,044. The other winners were

• Kimberly Qualls with 3,686
• Amanda Geyer with 3,605
• Patrick Miller with 3,601

When last mentioned, Sivertsen had won a court case along with Cary District 26 Grade School Board member Chris Jenner to remain on the ballot for both the grade school board race and for McHenry County College.  Sivertsen placed fourth with four to be elected in the District 15 race and eighth our of nine for the MCC Board.  Jenner placed second in the race for three openings on the college board.  He withdrew his name from the District 26 contest before the court hearing.

Grade school board members will be sworn in by May 7th after the election canvass, which is taking place this week.

Both O’Neill and Sivertsen are Republican Precinct Committeemen.

McHenry Grade School Board member John O’Neill says that the location of the Board meeting which will set next year’s tax levy has been changed to the District Office at 1011 N. Green St., in  McHenry.

Below is a repeat of what is at stake:

The following email has arrived from McHenry Elementary District School Board member John O’Neill:

John O’Neill

At the McHenry School District #15 Board of Education meeting held Tuesday, November 13th at Landmark School in McHenry we voted on publishing the “Notice of Proposed Property Tax Increase” in the Northwest Herald.

his will satisfy the Truth in Taxation requirement for the district to propose an increase in its tax levy. Imagine my surprise when I read it and at first glance I was drawn to the words,

“This represents a 52.96% increase over the previous year.“

My blood pressure shot right up there but then my heart nearly stopped when I saw the bottom showing the notice was submitted by…

John O’Neill, Secretary
Board of Education
McHenry School District #15

…part of the duty of secretary is that notices of meetings, agendas, etc go out in the name of the secretary.

At the meeting we discussed the tax levy at great length and the district’s Finance Committee Chairman and Business Manager both gave an overview of the Tax Cap Law or PTELL which really makes it difficult for taxing bodies to create their budget without enacting a tax increase.

One of the difficulties is that if there has been any new construction in the previous year, without taxing to the maximum the district will forever lose the ability to receive taxes from the new construction.

When Our illustrious State Rep. Jack Franks was pushing for a fundamental change in the governance of McHenry County with his County Executive referendum one of his talking points was that McHenry County sought the maximum tax for each of the past 21 years.

District #15′s tax levy is the type of “maximum tax” he was referring to.

Taxing districts overwhelmingly tax to the max under the so-called “Tax Cap” law in order to share the tax burden with all properties in a district, not just those which were built in previous years.

While Franks railed against the County for levying the maximum amount, there was a deafening silence from him regarding other taxing bodies such as

• School Districts
• Municipalities
• Library Districts and
• Fire Protection Districts

which regularly tax to the max.

This is typical of the Liberal Left when they give you the “truth” but not the whole truth.

After all the dust settles, McHenry School District #15 is seeking an increase in the neighborhood of 3.24% along with a bond repayment of 1.22% for a total increase of 4.46%.

This does not mean that a homeowner’s property tax bill will necessarily increase by 4.46% due to the convoluted nature of property tax calculations; not to mention the fact that a homeowner may win a property tax appeal and have their taxes lowered – in some cases.

The attached notice is, in fact an invitation to the Public Hearing which will be held at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, November 11, 2012 at the District headquarters on Green Street McHenry Middle School, 2120 W. Lincoln Road in McHenry. I hope to see many taxpayers there.

The McHenry Grade School Notice of the intent to increase District 15′s levy by over 50%. Click to enlarge.

Here’s the summary for McHenry Elementary School District #15 new Five-Year Teacher’s Contract:

Compensation changes for the life of the contract include the following;

• New compensation increase = 0.47%
• Investment in professional learning communities = 2.20%
• Total compensation increase = 2.67%

Other parts of the contract with financial implications:

• Tuition savings
• Retirement savings
• Reduction in lane changes
• Stipend savings and health screenings

It may not be a big, important law, but Illinois does have a very weak income disclosure law.

All elected officials are required to file it annually.

Lots of notice is given.

District 15 School Board member Patrick Miller ignored those letters of reminder and missed the deadline.

Before he was removed from office, he resigned.

He, among four others applied for the vacancy.

Here’s an observation of what happened from someone on the scene:

Of four candidates who submitted their resumes and letters of intent to stand for appointment to the D15 School Board in McHenry, one Debra Hanlon emerged with impeccable credentials.

Two other community members,

• Erik Sivertsen and
• Deb Smith,

applied for the appointment, showing the drive and determination to step-up when the call went out.

Unfortunately, four board members felt compelled to appoint the same board member, Patrick Miller, who is alleged to have broken election law, ignored numerous requests for information from officials, and was ultimately forced by the State’s Attorney to resign or face prosecution.

Of the two remaining board members, one voted for Hanlon, the other abstained.

Breakdown as follows:

Paul Santopadre	Miller
Mike Hetterman	Miller
John O’Neil	Hanlon
Kim Qualls	Abstain
Ted Pillow	Miller
Melanie Orendorf	Miller

At the end of the day, it appears that it is politics as usual at McHenry’s D15.

Another source tells me that Miller did not show up for the meeting.

As you had reported on June 21st, Patrick Miller resigned from the District 15 Board of Education, with a note at the end of his resignation letter asking for the board to consider reappointing him to the vacancy.

The original deadline for resumes to be submitted was July 7th. A meeting was then held on July 12th, to appoint a replacement.

There were 2 people who submitted their resumes to be considered for the vacant position.

I was one of those two along with Mr. Miller.

The board decided to postpone their decision, until tomorrow night, August 2nd at 7:30pm, presumably due to a desire to get more than 2 people to submit their resumes.

They reopened the opportunity for those interested to submit resumes until July 28th.

In a phone call to the district office this past Friday, I was informed that there are a total of 4 people who have submitted their resumes and are being considered to fill this vacancy.

The idea that Mr. Miller might be reappointed to this position is very upsetting.

In his letter of resignation he used the term “oversight”, to explain his failing to submit his statement of economic interests.

Even if you assume that is was an oversight (regardless of the fact that he was sent 3 letters by the County Clerk, and probably reminded as he filed his statement of candidacy, as well as the numerous references to the required filing in Illinois candidate’s guide), a decision to reappoint him to this vacancy would be irresponsible to say the least.

To simply miss 3 letters requesting that you file an important document, should be enough that the board would no longer even consider him for the opening, but it seems that is not the case.

We need several concerned citizens to come out to this meeting and address the board on this issue.

We need to let the board members know that we don’t want Mr. Miller to be on the board if he is unable to respect the citizens of the district to meet the states minimal requirements.

While I am hopeful that I will be appointed to this position, I think the most important point here is that Mr. Miller cannot for the sake of the district be appointed.

If you would be kind enough to pass on this information, that would be great. Thank You for the great service that you do for the citizens of the county in keeping us informed of issues such as this.

Sincerely,

Erik Sivertsen

I’ve run the increased cost side of the numbers for merging McHenry Grade School District 15 and Wonder Lake’s Harrison School District 36 with McHenry High School District 156 and the numbers verify the judgment of the seven school board candidates Wednesday night.

When asked if they favored consolidation, as proposed Democratic Party Governor Pat Quinn, the answers were

“No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No.”

Seeking election to the District 156 High School Board for the first time are Timothy Byers, Darnell Qualls and Tracy Simon. All turned thumbs down on consolidation of school districts, as did the other four candidates for the board who took part in the League of Women Voters candidates' night.

When I calculated the addition cost that bringing grade school teacher salaries up to those enjoyed by Crystal Lake’s High School District 155 teachers, the number was an extra $27 million.

I didn’t know how to calculate the savings from fewer administrators, but Quinn estimated the total to be $100 million statewide.  Would it be even a million dollars savings in District 155?

This part of the school report card shows average salaries in District 15 and compares them to the statewide average.

Elementary school teachers in McHenry District 15 earn an average of $53,496   a year, according to its 2010 School Report Card. (The link can actually be found on the front page of the district’s web site.)

Harrison School District's salaries are shown on the Report Card along with a lot of other data.

In Harrison, the figure is $46,653.  You can see the whole report card here.

The weighted average of the two is $52,853.

If you are into source data, it’s below:

Average salaries and number of teachers

• McHenry High School District 156 – $68,228 – 158 teachers
• McHenry Grade School District 15 – $53,496 – 282 teachers
• Harrison Grade School District 36 – $46,653 – 29 teachers

The average McHenry High School teacher salary is $68,228. That is $14,732 more than the average elementary school teacher's salary in its feeder districts.

So, if we subtract the average grade school salary ($53,496) from the average high school salary ($68,228) the difference is $14,732.  (The link to the high school 2010 School Report Card can be found here.)

With a total of 311 elementary school teachers, the total salary differential is $4,581,652.

Not as much as for District 155 to the south, but still a hefty number.

First to answer the consolidation question, Beth Taylor nailed the reason for opposition.

There were two questions about consolidation of high school and grade school districts at the McHenry High School Board candidates night sponsored by the McHenry County League of Women Voters Wednesday night.

Beth Taylor’s reply to the first question, which focused on possible administrative savings:

“The wage adjustments outweigh administrative savings by 8-10 times.”

Steven White pointed out there are “significant differences in average salary between elementary and high school salaries that would eliminate (any administrative savings).”

The League of Women Votrers moderator at the candidates' night.

Incumbent Board member Mellody Ahrens agreed. “We would have a big salary increase…”

“Consolidation doesn’t seem to be a good idea,” agreed Timothy Byers. “It would cost the district a great deal of money.”

The other candidates made similar remarks.

All had compared the costs of raising elementary school teachers to the higher level of high school teachers and decided it wasn’t a good idea.

Then, the moderator asked for a “Yes,” “No” answer on the topic of consolidation, evoking Governor Pat Quinn’s name.

Both candidates supported by the teachers union and those supported by the taxpaying public opposed consolitation of local grade schools with the high school district.

“No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,”

said the seven candidates present.

Besides the ones mentioned above, the others in attendance were Steve Bellmore, Tracy Simon and Darnell Qualls.

Missing the meeting were Alexandra Coy and Daniel Koruna.

Why two questions when the answers to the first question were all negative?

I can only image that the Illinois League of Women Voters favors the bill that would bust the budgets of taxpayers on the eastern side of McHenry County where there are not unit districts. (I emailed the state League early Thursday morning asking whether it had taken a position on the legislation, but my email went unanswered.)

Tomorrow, the math.

Two local governments got recommendations from a board member to go easy on taxpayers.

No need to extract as much as possible from taxpayers was the suggestion of Grafton Township Supervisor and McHenry Grade School Board member John O’Neill.

Linda Moore

Moore suggested that the Grafton Township Board not increase its levy.

The other members present disagreed, not wanting to leave any money in taxpayers pockets that could be legally extracted under the Tax Cap law.

While the increase in the Consumer Price Index was 2.7 %, the board voted to increase its levy by 4.999%.

Any higher and Grafton Township would have had to place one of those rather meaningless black-bordered ads.

Why?

As Township Trustee Betty Zirk said, “I just want to make sure we get as much tax money from growth as we can get.”

John O'Neill

If the township board had just decided to increase its levy by 2.7%, that would not have been possible, if there was any growth in assessed valuation.

Jump to McHenry Grade School District 15, where board member John O’Neill argued that the levy should only be increased 1%.

O’Neill presented the litany of economic woes which have befallen McHenry;

• The “Worst Recession since the Great Depression.”
• Unemployment at 10%
• Property Values plummeting whiles our friends at D156 are trying to hike our property taxes.
• The McHenry City Council recently approved increasing it’s share of sales tax by 50%.
• The day before the School Board’s levy hearing, the McHenry City Council was discussing raising water rates.

Every time McHenry’s residents turn around, they’re being “nickeled and dimed to death.”

“Let’s give the taxpayers in McHenry a break,” O’Neill said.

The board opted for increasing the levy 2.7%.

Administrators pointed out that O’Neill’s proposal would cause the district to lose $6-7 million over the next five years.

O’Neill pointed out that the district might need need to dip into our reserve, although it was originally meant for future buildingand expansion much the same way that the taxpayers have had to dip into their savings and 401K plans just to keep on paying the bills and avoid foreclosure although those savings were originally meant for retirement.

O’Neill was subjected to comments about his not really understanding school finance.

It seems to me he understood it, but decided in these hard times that taxpayers deserved a break.

Meanwhile, in Downstate Jonesboro, the school board rejected administration recommendations that its levy be increased by 4.5%.

The school board meeting was videotaped.

No votes appeared for the raising the levy. The board decided to forego the 2.7% increase in taxes that it could have gotten.

And Crystal Lake’s city council decided to take a pass on increasing its levy, but Crystal Lake has lots of money in the bank and is not limited by the Tax Cap because it is a Home Rule city.

As it did about two years ago, Crystal Lake could just increase its sales tax again.
= = = = =

Are there other elected officials in McHenry County who have tried to get their boards not to max out on next year’s taxes?  Please let me know in the comment section.

The filing has just ended, but lots of grade school board candidates in McHenry County are assured of election.

Here at Election Central, McHenry County Blog declares the fifteen candidates listed below elected.

In Fox River Grove Grade School District 3, there are four openings and four candidates, so there is no contest.

4-year Term (three to be elected)

• Jertry Blohm
• Thomas Mollet
• Devin Bright

2-year (one to be elected)

• Stephen Pickering

McHenry Grade School District 15 is another district where there is no contest.  Get enough signatures to place yourself on the ballot and you won.

2-Year-Term (one to be elected)

• John O’Neill (incumbent)

4-Year-Term (three to be elected)

• Mike Hettermann
• Paul Santopadre
• Patrick Miller (incumbent)

In Cary Grade School District 26, the candidate for the two-year term is assured of election:

• Floyd Myers (one to be elected)

There are four seats that will be on the ballot in Wonder Lake (Harrison) Grade School District 36 and four candidates.  All will obviously win.

Two-year term (one to be elected)

• George Wood

Four-year term (three to be elected)

• Linda Amettis
• Karen Parks
• Laurie Alsot

Prairie Grove Grade School District 46 has but two candidates for three vacancies. Democratic Party candidate for County Board, Lori McConville is one of them.  She will win pubic office, as will the other candidate who filled.

• Khushali Shah
• Lori McConville

The deadline for filing a write-in candidacy with the McHenry County Clerk is Thursday, February 3, 2011.  Get more votes than any other write-in candidate and you’re elected.

"Congressman Walsh. It feels so good to say that," McHenry Grade School and Library Board member John O'Neill said at Congressman-Elect Joe Walsh's McHenry Town Hall meeting earlier this month.

McHenry Elementary School District 15 has four candidates for four seats up for election next spring.

Here are the details:

2-Year-Term (Vote for one)

• John O’Neill (incumbent)

4-Year-Term (Vote for three)

• Mike Hettermann
• Paul Santopadre
• Patrick Miller (incumbent)