McHenry County Blog

Getting as much money out of taxpayers is pretty much the goal of every tax district official, from school board member to township trustee.

To do that, boards need to ask for more than the increase in the Cost of Living allowed by the Illinois Department of Revenue under the Tax Cap law.

Virtually every tax district will ask for the maximum increase allowed.

That’s 3% this coming year.

103% is multiplied by what is called the “tax extension,” the amount of taxes each district is allow to collect from local property owners, to determine how much the tax district can collect in 2013.

But there’s more.

If there has been new construction, as there has been on Crystal Lake’s Route 14 shopping corridor, local park districts, schools, McHenry County College, the Mental Health Board, townships, county government, etc., have to ask for more than 103% of last year’s tax take IN ORDER TO capture the new growth.

I have suggested that legislators could amend the PTELL (the technocrats’ acronym for the Real Estate Tax Cap) law by allowing each government under it to pass a resolution authorizing county officials to tax all of the new growth, rather than using the current practice of balloon levying.

So far, I haven’t noticed such legislation has been introduced.

Last week, the McHenry County Board approved a multi-year contract with the McHenry County Economic Development Commission that uses the same formula for increases contained in the Tax Cap formula used to maximize the Tax Take.

Might the roll call on that question be a good indication of which County Board members will vote in favor of maximizing the County’s Tax Take?

I think it will, so I present it below:

EDC related Resolution vote count is as follows:   19 yes    5 no

AYES:       Merkel, Miller, Munaretto, Nowak, Peschke, Provenzano, Salgado, Schmidt, Wheeler, Bless, Breeden, Donner, Draffkorn, Heisler, Hill, Jung, Kurtz, McCann and Koehler

NAYS:     Schuster, Yensen, Donley, Evertsen and Hammerand

McHenry County Board during the consideration of Jack Franks’ County Executive Referendum.

My prediction is that most of those who will vote to maximize your County tax bill voted “Yes” on the EDC subsidy resolution.

I will further predict that the vote on the tax levy will not occur until after the election, so the above roll call, plus last year’s “Tax to the Max” roll call will be the best you are going to get before you have to cast your vote.

If you think the County Board is not moving in the direction of maximum taxation, please read this May 13, 2012 article.

Those voting against cutting the budget (read the story here) were

• Bob Bless (D1)
• Scott Breeden (D2)
• Mary Donner (D3)
• Jim Heisler (D2)
• John Jung (D5)
• Donna Kurtz (D2)
• Mary McCann (D6)
• Peter Merkel (D4)
• Marc Muneratto (D1)
• Kathy Schmidt (D3)
• Ken Koehler (D2)

On a second roll call the following voted for the “Tax to the Max” levy (again, see this article):

15 members voted in favor:

• Robert Bless
• Scott Breeden
• Sue Draftcorn (a switch)
• Mary Donner
• Jim Heisler
• Tina Hill (a switch)
• John Jung
• Donna Kurtz
• Mary McCann
• Pete Merkel
• Anna May Miller (a switch)
• Marc Munaretto
• Robert Novak (a switch)
• Kathy Bergan Schmidt
• Ken Koehler

Maybe the League of Women question screeners at the last week in September County Board candidates’night will allow a question that will pin down the incumbents running for re-election on the question of whether they will vote to increase the County levy so much that our County taxes will increase as much as the law allows.

There was a long debate over whether the County Board should put a referendum on the fall ballot asking voters is they wanted to elect the County Board Chairman in an at-large election.

Before that several citizens provided input.

District 5 Republican candidate Michale Rein was asking, “Where’s the money going to be coming from?” as I arrived a bit late.

“Outside interests” was his answer to the rhetorical question.

“We’re going to end up with a career political [running McHenry County],” he added.

Earlier I posted the comments that Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore offered.

By putting such a powerful official over McHenry County government, she sees the possibility of conflict similar to that in Grafton Township.

And that’s what Jack Franks’ County Executive form of government seems to be all about.

The alternative of having a competing referendum asking,

“Shall the Chairman of the McHenry County Board be elected at-large by the voters?”

on the ballot was rejected by a 16-3 vote. Only Randy Donley, Virginia Peschke and Paula Yensen voted to place it on the ballot.

Members attending the meeting to consider a resolution to put a referendum on the ballot to allow voters to elect the McHenry County Board Chairman. Only three voted in favor.

The majority seemed to think that they stood a better chance to defeat the Franks’ proposal to shift from a Parliamentary form of government to a very strong Executive form of government if a somewhat similar sounding question were not on the ballot to muddy the waters.

And the majority clearly did not want to lose the power they now have.

Even Bob Anderson, in the room to promote his own anti-double-dipping advisory referendum, took a shot at Franks:

“If Jack Franks were doing his job, he would be addressing like this.”

Jack Franks wasn’t invited to the meeting, but his ears must have been burning.

Democrat Kathy Bergan Schmidt opposed Franks’ proposal,  calling it “a Trojan Horse.”

“We can deal with this question on our own.”

A former candidate for County Board Chairman, Virginia Peschke said, “I don’t support Mr. Franks form of government,” while expressing her support for electing the Chairman in an at-large election.

It was suggested that if both referendum passed, the County Executive one would have precedence.

Later, Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Kelly stated that the Statute “does not address the situation when you have dueling referendums.”

Marc Munaretto wanted to know if the Franks’ question could be withdrawn if the at-large election of the County Board question were put on the ballot.

“This is not Jack Franks’ petition.  He has not control over it after he handed it in…Why are we taking any time discussing it?”Kathy Bergan Schmidt asked.

[There is some disagreement with regard to Schmidt's opinion.]

“I do not support the County Executive form of government,” the man who twice ran unsuccessfully against Ken Koehler for County Board Chairman, said.

Sandy Salgado told of taking to some folks in her precinct.

“I have a feeling it’s going to pass.”

Later Virginia Peschke agree.

“We’re going to have a hard time defeating it. ”

She told of talking over a twelve-month period with Winnebago’s at-large County Board Chairman Chris Cohen.

“I didn’t find many objections.  I think many of these things are bogeymen.”

“I’m in concurrence with Kathy Bergan Schmidt’s opposition to the County Executive form of government…It gives unlimited power to that position…I do not support Mr. Franks’ referendum.”

Yensen indicated what was needed was term limits for the McHenry County Board Chairman, as did the head of the Management Services Committee, Ersel Schuster.

She also pointed out that a “countywide race for that position would be very expensive.”

She estimated candidates spent $100,000 on the campaign to become the at-large elected Chairman of the Kane County Board.

Mary Donner was suspicious about Rep. Franks’ timing, she indicated while expressing agreement with Schmidt view that putting a second referendum on the ballot would be confusing.

“I certainly do not support the Executive form of government,” Randy Donley said when he gained the floor.  He made it clear, however, he supported electing the County Board Chairman at-large.

Donley expressed the opinion that Franks would be willing to take his question off the ballot, if the County Board put the at-large referendum on the ballot.

Except for the comment to the left and recognizing people to speak, County Board Chairman Ken Koehler was silent during the meeting.

Donley asked how many had called him.

Jim Heisler, Paula Yensen, and Mary Donner said they had, although Yensen later said she had talked to him in person with others being present.

“I do not know at this time the motivation of Mr. Franks.”

“We’ve sent numerous letters to him saying we’ll set a Special Meeting when he wants to come,” County Board Chairman Ken Koehler interjected.

Announcing her intent to push for Term Limits again, Schuster said, “I find it mind boggling that a State Representative would act in this manner.”

Scott Breeden said his opposition to at-large elections was based on how the expense of the campaign wold limit “the number of qualified people.”

He pointed out that currently the Chairman “owes responsibility to the County Board members.”

Donna Kurtz said she supported Term Limits, as well as an at-large elected Chairman.

“A County Executive is so onerous,” she continued, “such a huge threat to the democratic process [because it puts] such an unprecedented amount of power and control down to the [lowest] employee.”

She pointed out a County Executive would have the power to hire its own attorney and “that will wreck havoc with legal fees.”

Kurtz said she thought having two referendums on the ballot would “confuse the issue.”

“If anyone doesn’t think there isn’t political influence in the way we now select the County Board Chairman, [he's wrong],” Peschke said.

“I’d like to know why this discussion didn’t occur prior to his getting the signatures,” Yensen said, pointing out that those petitions had set “a fire under us.”

John Hammerand probed as to whether the County Executive form of government, once approved, could be changed by putting another referendum on the ballot.

The answer seemed to be that a repeal referendum could be put on the ballot in 2014, but that would be the first election for a County Executive, so he or she would have at least one term in office.

On March 27, McHenry County’s Finance and Audit Committee discussed emergency appropriations: a pair of contracts for the Planning and Development Department –

• one for a computer program for their Permitting System and
• another for their Digital Plan Review in the amount of $427,700 that was not in this year’s budget.  (In addition, there will be an ongoing maintenance fee projected at this time to be $48,000 per year that will continue for the life of the program.)

The motion to approve the non-budgeted contract failed with four nays:

• Bob Bless
• John Hammerand
• Jim Heisler
• Scott Breeden

There were three ayes:

• Mary Donner
• Tina Hill
• Mary McCann.

The main concern at the time seemed to be that the maintenance costs were not budgeted in Planning and Development, the department that will be using the software.

P&D was not willing to absorb the fees into their budget for this year.  Neither did the IT department budget for this unforeseen expense.

All that changed at the April 10^th meeting, when the emergency appropriation was reconsidered.

Hammerand voiced strong concerns that this was not an emergency appropriation and, instead, it should be earmarked as a supplemental or budget item in the 2013 Budget.

Although no department agreed to pay the ongoing maintenance fee from their budgets,  the Finance Committee decided to place it in the non-departmental budget and move it on to the County Board for approval.

There was general agreement that sometime in the future a policy will be drawn up about the allocation of ongoing fees for computer maintenance fees.

McHenry County Board member Scott Breeden spoke to the in-formation McHenry County Business Committee, a new Political Action Committee.

McHenry County Board Finance and Audit Committee Chairman Scott Breeden was the main speaker for the McHenry County Business Committee meeting Wednesday night.

He told of the $400,000 in the county till that could be loaned to businesses that didn’t make the cut for a bank loan.

Scott Breeden

“We pick up where the banks don’t feel comfortable,” the Lakewood resident said.

The $400,000 is part of a $700,000 fund, Breeden explained. He said it wasn’t for real estate, but could be used for equipment or expansion.

And he noted that the interest rates were better than the County could earn by putting the money into Certificates of Deposit.

He also explained that he was about to move his rapidly growing company (fifteen percent of his sales are in China) from California to McHenry County.

He’s getting no help from the State, coming, instead, so he can be near his grandchildren.

He’s looking for local suppliers for his product, which activates gates and lights when vehicles drive across it.

Asked how a small business owner might know about the loan fund and Breeden said that the County Board had “tried through the Economic Development Commission.”

Using his own firm as an example, Breeden said that “to grow a business from profits is almost impossible.”

He told of paying his vendors in thirty days, but his purchasers wanting to pay in ninety days. That caused cash flow problems, especially with a rapidly growing company.

Moving from the personal to the governmental, Breeden said that this year County department heads would be told how much they have to spend next year by May.

Breeden’s goal is to get elected officials to say, “This is what you’ve got to work with” early on, instead of at the last minute.

That, he said, would give citizens six months to weigh in.

Property taxes consist of about one-third of McHenry County’s revenue.

“If we could get the school boards to do the same thing,” he mused.

Cary Mayor Tom Kierna talks about economic development.

Cary Mayor Tom Kierna was an active participant in the business development and retention discussion.

He suggested that relaxing some of the fees might be one way.

He related an experience of a company planning to build a factory in Cary that had mistakenly included the cost of machinery. When the owner saw a permit fee of $50,000, Kierna said, he was glad that he came to talk to him. The fee was adjusted downward to reflect the actual cost of the building.

“First, we have to figure out how to change the perception (that McHenry County has a bad business climate).”

“We make the decisions,” Breeden added, “but they are administered by the people we hire. They administer (the ordinances) to the letter of the law, rather than using common sense.”

Kierna cited a Cary inspector who red tagged a braille sign for a bathroom that was two inches too high.

The inspector’s attitude was “Code is code. It’s a guiding light, not the Gospel,” the Village President said.

“We have to change the culture.”

Kierna said the most important part of the meeting was finding out that the County had money to loan small business.

= = = = =
The McHenry County Business Committee is organized as a Political Action Committee, according to its attorney Dan Regna. Although the members did not give clues as to what candidates they might support for what, there were three announced or potential candidates who attended–for County Board Joe Gottemoller and Jim Schlader, for Sheriff Andy Zinke–plus Cary Mary Tom Kierna.

The Fleming Road folks had yard signs throughout their campaign. And they periodically changed them.

A message from the Fleming Road Alliance about their McHenry County Board victory:

Dear Fleming Road Alliance Residents and Supporters:

Diane Evertsen

By now you probably have read the Herald article on the meeting yesterday, and received Diane Evertsen’s email thanking you for your participation in the email campaign to contact her.

Thanks to her vigilance at committee level, the county board convened this Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss the proposed new Highway Improvement Plan (HIP). We packed the audience as well as Diane’s email box.

Overall the meeting was a success.

The county board members repeatedly took the Division of Transportation to task for not listening to their constituents.

Almost every county board member echoed the concerns of FRA and repeated the mantra “same footprint”.

Scott Breeden even added “and same profile” (same elevations) to the requirement.

Ersel Schuster

Although the Committee of the Whole does not have any decision making authority as a body, members clearly gave MCDOT direction to rethink their approach to Fleming Road and Alden Road.

Other issues in the 5-year highway Improvement Plan were also concerns to the county board members.

All in all, we believe they are taking a good look at what the county highway division is doing for the first time in a long time.

Saving the daffodils was emphasized.

It was particularly refreshing to hear Ersel Schuster comment on the need to reduce spending.

However, we cannot afford to relax and let down our guard.

We should be presented on January 18th with a revised HIP that includes changes to the Fleming Road plan.

MCDOT was clearly asked by Nick Provenzano, to present a plan that conforms to FRA requests so that cost and longevity can be compared to the four (yes four, and none of them acceptable) design plans already generated by the engineering firm TranSystems.

The County Board clearly told the County Transporation Department that they didn't want Fleming Road to be an eastern truck bypass of Woodstock.

This is the cost/benefit analysis that we have requested and been openly denied for the past two years.

We will remind you again about the meeting on the 18th. Please plan to attend. No need to speak, but the number of people in the audience in a show of unity is a very powerful influence. This is an election year. In the meantime, we will keep you posted if things come up.

Your Fleming Road Alliance steering committee thanks you for the great turnout, email deluge and heartfelt support you showed in the past week.

County board members in attendance at the COW meeting were:

Peschke, Provenzano, Jung, Heisler, Donner, Breeden, Bergan-Schmidt, Yensen, Evertsen, Hill, Merkel, Munaretto, Schuster, Wheeler, Nowak, McCann, Kurtz, Draffkorn, Miller, Koehler. The ones in bold have stepped up previously with written support letters for FRA.

Emily Berendt

The McHenry County Board failed to break with the “increase the tax take as much as possible” crowd, but they came close.

Barb Wheeler made the motion to remove the CPI and Nick Provenzano seconded it.   Wheeler is a candidate for State Representative and Provenzano is running for re-election.  Both are from District 3, where a hot primary for County Board is shaping up.

There was an 11-11 vote on the motion to prevent county government from grabbing as many property tax dollars as the Real Estate Tax Cap law allows.

A tie vote loses.

I explained what was to be presented to the County Board in this article two weeks ago:

No Financial Diet for McHenry County Next Year + The Tax Levy Game

It was a levy intended to maximize the tax take for county government.

If the levy for year two exceeds the extension year one by the percentage amount allowed under PTELL (the initials of the Tax Cap law), then taxes will go up the maximum amount allowed.

The extension is the amount allowed to be collected, that is, the amount billed by the County Treasurer.

After an attempt by half of the Board to keep county taxes from increasing, a second vote passed the “take all you can get” levy by a vote of 15-7.

Kevin Craver’s article in the Northwest Herald tells details, but the most telling observation was made by Crystal Lake’s Donna Kurtz.  The story puts it this way:

“…the hole created by inflation would increase over time and hamper the county’s ability to handle unforeseen expenses and state funding shortfalls.”

That, of course, is the line and attitude of those who believe that government must take as much as it can out of our pockets.

Somehow, I don’t think the ordinary taxpayers with a couple of empty houses on their blocks would agree with that logic.

The new McHenry County Board district lines can be seen in this map.

There was a motion to eliminate the 1.5% tax hike, but it failed 11-11.

Listed in the order in which their names were called, those in favor of limiting county government’s budget growth follow:

• Sue Draffcorn (D4)
• Diane Evertsen (D6)
• John Hammerand (D4)
• Tina Hill (D5)
• Anna May Miller (D1)
• Robert Nowak (D1)
• Nick Provenzano (D3)
• Sandra Salgado (D4)
• Ersel Schuster (D6)
• Barb Wheeler (D3)
• Paula Yensen (D5)

The map for 2012 County Board District 2, where all members voted to increase taxes. Scott Breeden is retiring and Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Carolyn Schoefield has announced her candidacy.

Those voting against cutting the budget were

• Bob Bless (D1)
• Scott Breeden (D2)
• Mary Donner (D3)
• Jim Heisler (D2)
• John Jung (D5)
• Donna Kurtz (D2)
• Mary McCann (D6)
• Peter Merkel (D4)
• Marc Muneratto (D1)
• Kathy Schmidt (D3)
• Ken Koehler (D2)

Note that one Democrat (Yensen) voted against increasing taxes, while the other (Schmidt) stuck to the traditional position of her party and voted to maximize tax income.  That mitigates against a county wide campaign by Democrats next year in which they position themselves as being on the side of the taxpayers.

There was a second vote taken in which the levy was passed as presented.

Nevertheless, almost half of the County Board members opened themselves up to primary or general election challenges about their being on the taxpayers’ side.  (Two were absent.)

On a parochial note, no District 2 members voted against increasing taxes.  Perhaps not coincidentally, District 2 has only four candidates for four County Board openings.  Finance Committee Chairman Scott Breeden is retiring.

In the most rural district and the one with most candidates running, two incumbents voted with taxpayers–Evertsen and Schuster–while one (McCann) voted to hike taxes.

County Board Chairman Ken Koehler got his budget. The woman who ran against him for Chairman, Barb Wheeler, now a candidate for State Representative, led the fight to keep taxes from being hiked. She is seen here in a meeting that led to the defeat of video poker (slot machines) in unincorporated McHenry County. Koehler supported allowing the gaming devices.

In District 5, voting “No” besides the lone Democrat Yensen was Republican Hill.  The other incumbent, Jung, who was beaten by Yensen in 2008 voted to hike taxes.  Jung ran ahead of Hill in the last election, when Jung defeated Democrat Jim Kennedy, who is running again.

The following 15 members voted in favor:

• Robert Bless
• Scott Breeden
• Sue Draftcorn (a switch)
• Mary Donner
• Jim Heisler
• Tina Hill (a switch)
• John Jung
• Donna Kurtz
• Mary McCann
• Pete Merkel
• Anna May Miller (a switch)
• Marc Munaretto
• Robert Novak (a switch)
• Kathy Bergan Schmidt
• Ken Koehler

In a related effort Tea Party East Dundee Village Trustee Allen Skillicorn could find only one person (Jeff Lynam) to vote with him on not increasing the village’s levy.

Carolyn Schofield

One day after McHenry County Board Finance Chairman Scott Breeden made it know that he is not running for re-election, Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Carolyn Schofield announced her candidacy for the vacancy.

Actually all four seats are up for election. The three other incumbents,

• County Board Chairman Ken Koehler,
• Jim Heisler and
• Donna Kurtz

are running for re-election.

Schofield lives on the southwestern part of Crystal Lake.  Her precinct was in District 5 until reapportionment added it to District 2.

Considering the pay is about $20,000 a year, plus good health insurance insurance that can be worth about another $20,000 for a family with children, more non-incumbent challengers can be expected.

Below is Schofield’s press release:

Carolyn Schofield Announces Her Election Bid for McHenry County Board – District 2

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL – Carolyn Schofield is announcing that she will seek election to the McHenry County Board. Since her election to the Crystal Lake City Council in 2009, she has worked hard to represent the best interests of the people of Crystal Lake.

As a City Councilwoman Schofield worked with City Staff to develop and implement the current rain barrel incentive program to promote water conservation.

Schofield also worked with the County on issues such as formal recognition and adoption of the Crystal Lake Watershed into the County’s Storm Water Management ordinance as well as potential regulations of coal tar sealants across the county.

As a council member, Schofield has established a strong record of innovation, sound policy-making, and fiscal discipline.

In addition to her service as a City Councilwoman, Carolyn Schofield brings an extensive background in planning and zoning.

She served on the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission for 10 years and is a member of the McHenry County Council of Governments Water Policy Task Force committee.

For her many years of service to the Crystal Lake community Schofield received the 2009 Crystal Lake Jaycee Distinguished Service Award in recognition of exceptional leadership and devoted service.

Schofield has established a record as a practical, common sense oriented policymaker due in part to her training and work as an engineer in the private sector for over ten years.

Schofield recognizes the value her engineering experience will bring to County Government.

“I am confident that my technical skills and experience will be valuable in making critical decisions on issues facing county government, such as land use and ground water protection, which will affect our county for years to come.”

Carolyn Schofield resides in Crystal Lake with her husband Steve, their three children, and their three dogs.

Scott Breeden

Scott Breeden, the man who has headed both the Village of Lakewood and the Crystal Lake Park District, has decided not to run for re-election to the McHenry County Board.

In answer to my inquiry he replied,

“I have made the decision not to run this go around.

“My little business is going to demand all of my time for the next several years.

“It’s been fun and I still have 14 months to get a few more things done.”

Breeden and John Heisler ran unopposed in the 2008 Republican Primary Election.

Two years ago four people ran for two spots. The results follow:

• Donna Kurtz – 1,833
• Ken Koehler – 1,665
• Ellen Brady Mueller – 994
• Sandra DePaul – 608
• Lyn Orphal – 524

Koehler and Orphal were the incumbents. Orphal’s precinct was put in District 3, where she is running for County Board again.

Ersel Schuster listening to discussion of Conflict of Interest Ordinance.

Whether the ordinance that the McHenry County Board passed two days ago will make any difference in the way the board does business remains to be seen.

But it is a step toward the transparency that citizens need to begin to understand whether conflicts of interest drive County Board decisions.

It passed with only two dissenting votes, Lakewood’s Scott Breeden and Huntley’s Dan Ryan.  Ryan blamed his Republican primary defeat on his unwillingness to fill out the ALAW questionnaire upon which the ordinance is based.

Here is the way Emily Berandt, the one who led the charge before Ersel Schuster’s Management Services Committee reacted:

Emily Berendt (on the left) makes point in mark-up meeting of the Management Services Committee. Sitting to her left is Janet Trafelet, who serves on ALAS's Advisory Board.

The McHenry County Statement of Economic Interests Addendum Ordinance passed at the County Board meeting Tuesday night 22-2.Although much has been deleted or changed since we presented the original draft, much of what is really important remains.

This new addendum requires county officials to disclose all real estate holdings, business and professional relationships and larger indebtednesses to entities doing business with county or local governments.

When this ordinance was proposed, we said that this was McHenry County’s opportunity to be a leader in a nationwide movement toward greater transparency in government.

ALAW urged McHenry County to take a preemptive strike against accusations of self dealing and to restore the public trust in its elected officials.  We are pleased that the county has stepped up to the plate.

Thank you to all who were involved in this process.

Emily Berendt
Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water (ALAW )

Here's a phoot of all the county board members, but Chairman Ken Koehler. It was taken in early December 2008, the day the county board elected officers.

There’s a movement on the McHenry County Board to freeze their own, plus countywide officials’ salaries.

And a counter-movement to raise the salaries of the McHenry County Clerk, Treasurer and Sheriff.

There’s politics involved, of course,

Those voting for such a freeze have a campaign dot point.
­
Challenger Nick Provenzano used the issue to good effect in his primary election for county board.  He ran first in the District 3 county board primary.

Now some of those with a vote on the matter are picking up the issue.

Yesterday, the DuPage County Board took similar action.

That will increase the pressure on McHenry County Board members to follow suit.

I understand there has been some push back from elected officials who are none too pleased with missing out on a raise next year.

If the “Raise my salary!” folks get their way, they will be handing a marvelous issue to the Democrats and newly elected Democratic Party Central Committee Chairman Mike Bissett is just the man to know how to make hay out of it.

On the County Board’s Human Resources Committee, everyone is agreed on a freeze.

Ed Dvorak made motion a motion to approve salary freezes for the Treasurer, Clerk and Sheriff. It was seconded by Paula Yensen. All members present voted, “Aye.”

Besides Dvorak and Yensen, the “Yes” votes were Ersel Schuster, Sue Draffkorn and Sandy Salgado.

In the motion on freezing their own salaries, all voted in favor. Schuster made that motion, while Yensen seconded it.

The Finance Committee also got a crack at the resolutions.

For the countywide officials, Scott Breeden, Mary Donner and Marc Munaretto voted against the freeze, while John Hammerand, Tina Hill and Dan Ryan voted for the salary freeze.

3-3.

Tie votes fail.

On going without a raise for themselves, everyone present voted in favor.

The County Board vote tally should be interesting.