McHenry County Blog

The man more responsible than anyone else for the Regional Transportation Authority’s tripling of the RTA Sales Tax in McHenry and other collar counties has decided he doesn’t want to be RTA Chairman anyway.

He told the Chicago Sun-Times that he had to serve out his term as DuPage County Board Chairman.

This same DuPage County Board Chairman is the one who convinced enough DuPage County state senators to vote for the huge RTA Sales Tax hike to pass the bill.

He did it because the use of the proceeds of a quarter of a percentage point of the tax bu collar county boards was broadened from transportation to transportation and law enforcement. At the time, DuPage County had a referendum on the ballot to raise the local sales tax to pay for the Sheriff’s and State’s Attorney’s Office (read Joe Birkett, just in case you have forgotten).

Fat chance the voters would have approved that proposal at the ballot box.

GOP candidate for Governor Bill Brady converses with his former gubernatorial opponent Kirk Dillard on the Family PAC cruise last night. Dillard introduced Brady to the crowd.

The vote cast by State Senator Kirk Dillard, among others, may well have cost him the nomination for governor, which was won by State Senator Bill Brady.  Brady got 155,527 votes to Dillard’s 155,334, a victory margin of 193 votes.  Schillerstrom receiver 7,420.

So, what would have happened if tax hiker Bob Schillerstrom, who also ran for governor, but as the most liberal Republican candidate, bombed, pulling out before the election, but not soon enough to get his name off the ballot (another reason one could attribute to Dillard’s slim loss)?

Any suburbanite who voted for him would have been open to rather severe criticism.

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CTA third rail warning.

Related articles:

A Third Rail on Transit – Part 1

A Third Rail on Transit – Part 2

Suburban Legislators with a Cost-Benefit Analysis Impairment

RTA Sales Tax Increase 200%

The week before last, the Kane County Board decided how to spend the RTA sales tax dollars that no collar county board member has to take any heat for.

82% will go to transportation, 15% to public safety and 3% will be set aside in a contingency fund, according to an article by Steve Lord that I found in Elgin’s Daily Courier-News.

On April Fool’s Day, the RTA sales tax increased 300% in the collar counties–from one-quarter of one percent on everything sold to three-quarters of one percent–thanks ultimately to three Republican DuPage County state senators. (Thanks to State Senator Carol Pankau for not caving to the pressure!)

All of the collar county’s share would have been earmarked to road improvements, except for State Senators Dan Cronin’s, Kirk Dillard’s and John Miller’s having caved to pressure from DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett and County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom’s influence.

Both men have statewide ambitions and I, for one, will not forget how much they are costing me every year. “Tax fighter” is not a descriptive word either can use accurately. “Tax Hiker” fits perfectly.

They were supporting a local sales tax increase to pay for law enforcement and it was so, so much easier to convince those three state senators to vote to divert what would have been road money than to gain actual voter approval.

The real winner was the Chicago Transit Authority, as the Sun-Times headline amply reveals.

I estimated that McHenry County’s annual cut was about $9 million.

The Illinois Revenue Department told me that money would start flowing to county treasuries this summer.

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The pictures of the McHenry County Board were taken the night that the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax was defeated, I believe.

If I were on the McHenry County Board, I would allocate all of the new money to roads, by the way.

The week before last, the Kane County Board decided how to spend the RTA sales tax dollars that no collar county board member has to take any heat for.

82% will go to transportation, 15% to public safety and 3% will be set aside in a contingency fund, according to an article by Steve Lord that I found in Elgin’s Daily Courier-News.

On April Fool’s Day, the RTA sales tax increased 300% in the collar counties–from one-quarter of one percent on everything sold to three-quarters of one percent–thanks ultimately to three Republican DuPage County state senators. (Thanks to State Senator Carol Pankau for not caving to the pressure!)

All of the collar county’s share would have been earmarked to road improvements, except for State Senators Dan Cronin’s, Kirk Dillard’s and John Miller’s having caved to pressure from DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett and County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom’s influence.

Both men have statewide ambitions and I, for one, will not forget how much they are costing me every year. “Tax fighter” is not a descriptive word either can use accurately. “Tax Hiker” fits perfectly.

They were supporting a local sales tax increase to pay for law enforcement and it was so, so much easier to convince those three state senators to vote to divert what would have been road money than to gain actual voter approval.

The real winner was the Chicago Transit Authority, as the Sun-Times headline amply reveals.

I estimated that McHenry County’s annual cut was about $9 million.

The Illinois Revenue Department told me that money would start flowing to county treasuries this summer.

= = = = =
The pictures of the McHenry County Board were taken the night that the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax was defeated, I believe.

If I were on the McHenry County Board, I would allocate all of the new money to roads, by the way.

Not your birthday hat.

Your thinking cap.

I told you you can’t get rid of Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% Crystal Lake Sales Tax Hike by covering it up.

You say you don’t know where it is?

Well, we who shop in Crystal Lake need help.

The RTA is going to triple its quarter of one percent sales tax tomorrow.

The total rate is 6.5% today. 7% tomorrow.

Not much we can do about that since the Democrats imposed it on our still Republican county.

Oh, they had help from those misguided DuPage County Republicans like State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom and those three GOP state senators who sold out the other collar counties to please Birkett and Schillerstrom.

And, that’s before Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% city sales tax hike takes effect on July 1st.

What to do.

That’s the question.

Are you sure you can’t find your thinking cap?

Not your birthday hat.

Your thinking cap.

I told you you can’t get rid of Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% Crystal Lake Sales Tax Hike by covering it up.

You say you don’t know where it is?

Well, we who shop in Crystal Lake need help.

The RTA is going to triple its quarter of one percent sales tax tomorrow.

The total rate is 6.5% today. 7% tomorrow.

Not much we can do about that since the Democrats imposed it on our still Republican county.

Oh, they had help from those misguided DuPage County Republicans like State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom and those three GOP state senators who sold out the other collar counties to please Birkett and Schillerstrom.

And, that’s before Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% city sales tax hike takes effect on July 1st.

What to do.

That’s the question.

Are you sure you can’t find your thinking cap?

$9 million more a year for the County Board to spend.

No pain.

Except on us taxpayers.

Absolutely no effort on the county board’s part.

Not even a county board vote.

The best kind of a tax hike.

One someone else takes the heat for.

No need to pass a sales tax increase as has been done twice in the Rockford area, once for a new jail and once for roads.

Free money.

And, we have DuPage County Republicans to thank.

So, thanks, DuPage County Republicans.

Oh, they didn’t do it by themselves.

Chicago Democratic Party legislators did most of the heavy lifting.

That’s appropriate because Chicago’s CTA gets most of the money.

But, let’s remember what three DuPage County state senators–doing the dirty work of DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom–did to us.

Originally, the bribe for the McHenry County Board was to be $9 million earmarked for roads and public transportation. (Wasn’t that supposed to be RTA’s job?)

Here’s the language:

“to fund operating and capital costs of public transportation services or facilities or to fund operating, capital, right-of-way, construction, and maintenance costs of other transportation purposes, including road, bridge, public safety, and transit purposes intended to improve mobility or reduce congestion in the county.”

Proportionate amounts for all the collar counties.

But, for the most part, that was not sufficient enticement to merit a “Yes” vote on House Bill 656 from either collar county Republicans or Democrats.

None of the legislators representing McHenry County were part of the cabal that forced this 7.7% sales tax hike down our throats.

Then, the big-spending DuPage County Republicans, led by County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, decided that wasn’t good enough.

They wanted to spend the money on “public safety,” not roads.

So, the current DuPage County Republican County Chairman, Dan Cronin, conspired with the immediate past GOP chairman, Kirk Dillard, and the two convinced a third, newly minted DuPage County state senator, John Miller, to vote for the CTA bailout bill with an amendment that would allow the road money to be spent on the sheriff’s department and other public safety desires.

They didn’t come up with this idea on their own.

Their DuPage County Board Chairman Schillerstrom convinced them.

Hey, better than sweating out whether the voters would approve a half-cent sales tax in February 5th’s primary election, right?

Why let the people decide when three state senators can do the job so much quicker?

So much less messy.

And, remember that name Schillerstrom.

He wants to run for statewide office.

Note to any primary opponents: contact me.

So, now the McHenry County Board has almost twice the current state Motor Fuel Tax subsidy of $4.6 million to spend every year.

Now, the question is how to spend it.

The opposition coalition, by the way, was similar to 1974’s when the few Republicans who voted in favor of the Regional Transportation Authority’s creation, went down to defeat.

Think House Speaker and bill sponsor Bob Blair (R-Will County) and senate sponsor John Connelly (R-Lake County).

$9 million more a year for the County Board to spend.

No pain.

Except on us taxpayers.

Absolutely no effort on the county board’s part.

Not even a county board vote.

The best kind of a tax hike.

One someone else takes the heat for.

No need to pass a sales tax increase as has been done twice in the Rockford area, once for a new jail and once for roads.

Free money.

And, we have DuPage County Republicans to thank.

So, thanks, DuPage County Republicans.

Oh, they didn’t do it by themselves.

Chicago Democratic Party legislators did most of the heavy lifting.

That’s appropriate because Chicago’s CTA gets most of the money.

But, let’s remember what three DuPage County state senators–doing the dirty work of DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom–did to us.

Originally, the bribe for the McHenry County Board was to be $9 million earmarked for roads and public transportation. (Wasn’t that supposed to be RTA’s job?)

Here’s the language:

“to fund operating and capital costs of public transportation services or facilities or to fund operating, capital, right-of-way, construction, and maintenance costs of other transportation purposes, including road, bridge, public safety, and transit purposes intended to improve mobility or reduce congestion in the county.”

Proportionate amounts for all the collar counties.

But, for the most part, that was not sufficient enticement to merit a “Yes” vote on House Bill 656 from either collar county Republicans or Democrats.

None of the legislators representing McHenry County were part of the cabal that forced this 7.7% sales tax hike down our throats.

Then, the big-spending DuPage County Republicans, led by County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, decided that wasn’t good enough.

They wanted to spend the money on “public safety,” not roads.

So, the current DuPage County Republican County Chairman, Dan Cronin, conspired with the immediate past GOP chairman, Kirk Dillard, and the two convinced a third, newly minted DuPage County state senator, John Miller, to vote for the CTA bailout bill with an amendment that would allow the road money to be spent on the sheriff’s department and other public safety desires.

They didn’t come up with this idea on their own.

Their DuPage County Board Chairman Schillerstrom convinced them.

Hey, better than sweating out whether the voters would approve a half-cent sales tax in February 5th’s primary election, right?

Why let the people decide when three state senators can do the job so much quicker?

So much less messy.

And, remember that name Schillerstrom.

He wants to run for statewide office.

Note to any primary opponents: contact me.

So, now the McHenry County Board has almost twice the current state Motor Fuel Tax subsidy of $4.6 million to spend every year.

Now, the question is how to spend it.

The opposition coalition, by the way, was similar to 1974’s when the few Republicans who voted in favor of the Regional Transportation Authority’s creation, went down to defeat.

Think House Speaker and bill sponsor Bob Blair (R-Will County) and senate sponsor John Connelly (R-Lake County).