House Speak Paul Ryan Speaking for Randy Hultgren in Spring Grove Friday

Congressman Randy Hultgren announces that House Speaker Paul Ryan, who represents the congressional district just north of the Wisconsin state line, will be at Scot Forge in Spring Grove on Friday. Important details: RSVP by COB Wednesday night to Beth Goncher <bethgoncher@gmail.com> … Continue reading

Six Years for Gun Possession by a Felon

A press release from the McHenry County State’s Attorney: CHRISTOPHER CZAJKOWSKI SENTENCED TO SIX YEARS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS FOR UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A WEAPON BY A FELON Patrick D. Kenneally, McHenry County State’s Attorney, announces that 24-year-old Christopher … Continue reading

Gravel Pit Company Gives Franks $2,500 Four Days Before Citizens Come to Complain about Expansion

At Tuesday’s meeting of the McHenry County Board, citizens from the Spring Grove-Fox Lake area appeared to object to additional gravel pits in their area. One of those who spoke mentioned the Thelen Sand and Gravel company. Hearing the name … Continue reading

McHenry County Taxpayers Owe Over $130 Million for Underfunded Police and Fire Pensions…as of Two Years Ago

Commenter Mark has laid out all of the municipal police and fire pension fund money owed by McHenry County taxpayers. Let’s review police and fire pension funding status in McHenry County. Remember, Jack Franks says he has a plan to … Continue reading

Passenger Tanya McDonough of Spring Grove Dies in Traffic Accident, Driver Charged with Aggravated DIU Causing Death

A press release from McHenry County Coroner Anne Majewski about the traffic accident death of Spring Grove’s Tanya McDonough on Sunday: The Chicago Tribune reports that McDonough was a “passenger in a vehicle driven by Ryan Heineman, 33,” who also … Continue reading

Traffic Ticket Discrimination Against Out-of-Towners Everywhere, But Crystal Lake and

The Chicago Tribune released results of a study of traffic ticket data that shows whether police departments discriminate in favor of their own residents. In the towns studied in McHenry County Crystal Lake and Harvard stood out as being even-handed. … Continue reading

Tax Takes for Cities and Villages

Below is what cities and villages in McHenry County did to property taxpayers last year and what can be expected this year: City or village INCR / DECR INCR / DECR 2015 – 2014 2014 – 2013 IN TOTAL TAX … Continue reading

Effective Tax Rates in McHenry County

The only way to compare property tax burdens is to divide one’s property tax bill by the value of one’s home. That’s what the Chicago Tribune did in November of 2015. The effective tax rates found for McHenry County towns … Continue reading

Rauner Rescues Police & Pension Fund Taxpayers

You may remember that Spring Grove voters rejected a referendum request to impose a tax to pay police pensions. Apparently municipalities in Spring Grove’s situation, but a LOT LARGER (30 full-time police and 50 full-time firefighters) lobbied their legislators and … Continue reading

Comparing City & Village Tax Takes

Yesterday, we took a look at what school districts requested to be collected last year and this year. Today we’ll look at municipalities. A number of McHenry County municipalities overlap into adjacent counties. If you see “McH only,” that is … Continue reading

Taxes for Schools, This Year & Last Year

Since schools comprise the bulk of property tax dollars, I thought some might be interested in seeing how they changed from last year to this year. Although the percentage change column is labeled “% Change + of -” the first … Continue reading

Spring Grove Election Results, Referendum Fails

The election results for the Village of Spring Grove can be seen below: Winners were Randy Vinyard incumbent Jim Anhalt Ron Kopke Losing were Ryne Powell Steve Bishop Ted Trzaskowski The other election was a referendum to impose a police … Continue reading