That’s the response that I received from my Freedom of Information request to Village Clerk Melissa L. Goldman.
Here’s the part of her email that answers my question:
“The Oakwood Hills Police Department currently does NOT have a pension fund and has not had a pension fund within the last ten audited years.
“They are based part-time and it is not offered.”
I found the following information on the Chicago Tribune’s Real Estate page on the internet.
It has an interative map of McHenry County (and all other parts of the six-county Chicago metropolitan area) that tells what has happened to real estate values in municipalies with enough sales from which to pull statistics.
Changes in home prices in McHenry County over the last five years (2007-2012). Only Lakewood homes increase in value.
Code for the map above.
In McHenry County, I was surprised that homes in my village of Lakewood (a suburb of Crystal Lake) have held their value better than anywhere else.
Other communities have no information.
A press release from the Fox River Ecosystem Partnership:
Public Talk and Natural Area Tour
Restoring Local Natural Resources
FREP Noon Network on Wednesday, August 17 in Oakwood Hills
Attend an event on Wednesday, August 17, Noon to 1:30 p.m. to learn about a current local community effort to restore a natural area and the benefits it will provide to the community and the environment.
The Fox River Ecosystem Partnership (FREP) hosts a bi-monthly FREP Noon Network that will begin at the Oakwood Hills Park pavilion off of North Park Dr. in Oakwood Hills.
Oakwood Hills Village Trustee, Kerry Leigh, will share information on her work with the Village of Oakwood Hills to restore 20 acres of savanna habitat in the community park adjacent to the Oakwood Hills Fen Nature Preserve.
Oakwood Hills Fen. Photo from The Fox River Ecosystem Partnership.
Steve Byers, Field Representative with the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission will lead a tour of the fen wetland, one of the rarest types of wetlands in the U.S.
Bring your lunch to enjoy at the pavilion where you can learn about restoration efforts to remove invasive plant species that will improve the health of the natural area and allow easier access to a portion of the park for passive recreational activities. Attendees will also learn how a partnership with McHenry County Conservation District and financial assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service helped to make this project possible. Steve Byers will provide information on the unique natural resources associated with nearby Oakwood Hills Fen Nature Preserve.
After the presentation, Kerry Leigh and Steve Byers will lead the tour of the restoration area and nearby Oakwood Hills Fen Nature Preserve.
The program is open to the public and is one of the regular bi-monthly FREP Noon Network lunchtime programs providing an opportunity for FREP members and other interested people to discuss Fox River Watershed-related topics and learn more about environmental projects and programs.
There is no charge and reservations are not necessary. People are encouraged to bring their lunch to eat during the program. Wear comfortable walking shoes if you plan to join the tour.
The event is co-sponsored by the Village of Oakwood Hills and the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County.
This program is part of a current effort to help protect water quality and watershed health in the Silver Creek and Sleepy Hollow Creek watersheds in southeastern McHenry County.
A watershed is an area of land that drains water into a common receiving body such as a stream. Oakwood Hills is within the Silver Creek Watershed. These watersheds are part of the larger Fox River Basin. To learn more, visit http://foxriverecosystem.org/planning.htm .
Directions: The park is located several blocks east of the village hall located at 3020 North Park Dr., Oakwood Hills. Turn south just past Oakwood Dr. to enter the parking lot. Walk south to the nearby pavilion.
For more information, call 815-338-0393 or send an e-mail to atershedinfo@mcdefenders.net.
The watershed planning activities are being funded by Section 604(b) of the Clean Water Act by way of a grant from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Water, to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.
This a comparison of city and village tax rates for bills paid last year versus bills that will be due this year. Remember that the tax collection process is always one year behind the assessment process, so taxes on 2010 assessments will be paid this year.
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
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.
Oakwood Hills’ artist Robert Stewart is holding an open house this Saturday in Cary from 11-4 to show off his new work and personal collection.
Stewart specializes in crystal boxes.
Maybe ten years ago, I saw some of his big crystal boxes and they are spectacular.
A photo just cannot do them justice.
Two designs resulted from special requests from yours truly.
One was for a heart-shaped box to give my future wife way back in 1990.
Another was the cross box.
If you want to see his splendid work, the address is 115 Cary Street in Cary.
If you are looking for a spectacular gift, here’s a place to look.
It’s too bad that I can’t stop over.
That’s the day for my son’s 11th birthday party.
Drive down Lakewood’s Lake Avenue and you won’t be able to miss it.
= = = = =
The boxes on the window sill are in our price range. Unfortunately, there was only intermittent sun as I was taking the pictures. When the sun strikes Stewart’s boxes rainbows show up on the ceiling. The ones shown here were in our price range.
Oakwood Hills’ artist Robert Stewart is holding an open house this Saturday in Cary from 11-4 to show off his new work and personal collection.
Stewart specializes in crystal boxes.
Maybe ten years ago, I saw some of his big crystal boxes and they are spectacular.
A photo just cannot do them justice.
Two designs resulted from special requests from yours truly.
One was for a heart-shaped box to give my future wife way back in 1990.
Another was the cross box.
If you want to see his splendid work, the address is 115 Cary Street in Cary.
If you are looking for a spectacular gift, here’s a place to look.
It’s too bad that I can’t stop over.
That’s the day for my son’s 11th birthday party.
Drive down Lakewood’s Lake Avenue and you won’t be able to miss it.
= = = = =
The boxes on the window sill are in our price range. Unfortunately, there was only intermittent sun as I was taking the pictures. When the sun strikes Stewart’s boxes rainbows show up on the ceiling. The ones shown here were in our price range.
Latest Posts
