McHenry County Blog

After the election of officers, the new McHenry County Board Chairman (woman, what’s she want to be called?) appoints one person from each District to a Committee on Committees.

That’s the committee that recommends who should be put in what slots.

(There are temporary appointments until then in which newly elected members take the position of the person they replaced. For example, new member Carolyn Schofield is the temporary head of the Finance Committee, taking the place of retiring Scott Breeden.)

When Tina Hill announced her Committee on Committees appointments, they were all women.

One of the female county elected officials told me she was saying, “Yes!”

Here are the appointments:

• District 1 – Anna May Miller
• District 2 – Donna Kurtz
• District 3 – Mary McClellan
• District 4 – Sue Draffkorn
• District 5 – Paula Yensen
• District 6 – Mary McCann

All are veteran members, except McClellan.

I learned of McClellan’s support for Hill at Barb Wheeler’s Lake Zurich mid-summer fund raiser.

You will note that Democrat Yensen represents her district on the committee.

At the end of the meeting, when the men learned it was their turn to throw the Christmas Party, it was revealed that Hill and Yensen had chaired last year’s holiday festivities.

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

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.

Regular readers will know that I go to parades to read political tea leaves.

Perhaps the biggest insight was that Democrat Jack Franks was in the middle of the Republican floats.

Whether deliberate or not, it surely sent a mixed message to those along the parade route.

Especially since the McHenry County Republican Party refused to field an opponent to the reliable vote for House Speaker Mike Madigan’s continued one-man rule of Illinois.

I wasn’t the only one to make note of the parade order.

Fox River Grove Republican Precinct Committeeman Andrew Gasser wrote an article touching on that, plus the co-option of Republican activists by Franks.

There were lots of candidates at the reception besides Provenzano.

I saw Joe Gottemoller, Mary McClelland, Sue Draffkorn, all of whom seek to represent part of the McHenry area on the County Board.

Former GOP State Rep. primary candidate in the 52nd District Danielle Rowe was also present.

 

And, miracles of miracles, there were two Romney for President signs.

The parade was off.

Municipal officials came first.

The McHenry Aldermen kept coming in numerical order.

The next Alderman rode in a red pick-up truck.

A convertible carrying the only Alderwoman was next.

Congressman Randy Hultgren, who won all of McHenry County, but Algonquin Township, in Michael Madigan’s redistricted map, led off the Republican contingent with Provenzano.

And, then my camera froze, so I missed the other Republicans.

But it started working again as State Rep. Jack Franks worked the crowd on the other side of the street.

If there were any indication that Franks was running on the Democratic Party ticket and would vote to re-elect House Speaker Mike Madigan once he wins his uncontested race, I didn’t see.

More Republicans were behind Franks.

A Sheriff’s Department vehicle came next.

Just one.

Not like the last Fiesta Days Parade I attended in 2010 when Sheriff Keith Nygren was being challenge by Democrat Mike Mahon. Take a look at the motorcycles, snowmobile, convertible, crime prevention trailer, perhaps being pulled by the vehicle above, but without Undersheriff Andrew Zinke’s name on its side.

But who was driving the vehicle?

Next was Mary Mahady, apparently running for McHenry Township Assessor.

Next spring township elections will be held throughout McHenry County, so this was the last time to increase one’s name identification in a Fiesta Days Parade.  Johnsburg has one in October, where there will probably be more township candidates.

Seemingly out of place at the parade was former McHenry County Board candidate Rachel Smith from the western side of Wonder Lake. She was watching the parade before a cancer fund raiser for her aunt, whose last name is Jones.

Last night when I did the story about McHenry County Board’s District 6, the numbers showed that the three incumbents were winning, plus Linda Kvidera Murphy.

Take a look:

Having not a clue what happened between then and when the following results were posted, I share them with you:

So the results are

1. John Hammerand- 3052
2. Sandra Salgado – 2762
3. Sue Draffkorn – 2728
4. Robert Martens – 2428
5. Linda Murphy – 2416
6. Ed Varga – 1774

I don’t know what John Hammerand did right, but he’s running first when neither his ballot position (in the middle) nor his gender would have led one to predict it.

Of course, he is an incumbent who works his constituents even when he is not running for election.

The other two incumbents running for re-election, Sue Draffkorn and Sandra Salgado are running close enough behind with 80% of the vote counted that their re-nomination seems assured.

Filling the slot left vacant by Pete Merkel is newcomer Linda Kvidera Murphy, Brent Smith’s sister-in-law. I’m curious to know how many doors she knocked on.

I saw no campaign from the former head of Family Services, Robert Martens.  Ed Varga had an internet presence, but if he mailed, he didn’t share any with McHenry County Blog.

 

Maybe it’s not tea leaves.

Maybe it’s newspaper clippings to which I should allude.

In any event, the first two McHenry County Board endorsement editorials got me thinking.

McHenry County’s paper of record has suggested dumping

• Board Chairman Ken Koehler in District 2 and
• incumbent Nick Provenzano in District 3.

There is one commonality and that is their having taken part in the secret meeting about district lines that the Illinois Attorney General rules violated the Open Meetings Act.

The two were on opposing sides on the tax hike issue with Koehler leading the majority, while Provenzano vote against levying the maximum amount possible.

That brings me to my first thought.

Five members took part in that secret remap meeting.

One, Marc Munaretto, is not running for re-election.

The other two are on the ballot, however:

• Tina Hill
• John Jung

Both are in District 5.

There are five people running in District 5′s Republican primary election.

Listed in ballot order, they are:

• John Jung, Jr.
• Tina R. Hill
• Virginia D. Peschke
• Michael Rein
• Michael Skala

Will the Northwest Herald refuse to endorse both Jung and Hill?

No more reason to endorse four people for the four spots than there is to vote for four candidates, if only one, two or three turn you on.

Both Hill and Jung also voted to raise tax bills as much as the law allows, as you can see in the article linked to below.  Hill switched her vote to help  break a tie vote on a motion to keep taxes constant.

Will its editorial board say, “We can only recommend three”?

And that brings me to my second reading of the tea leaves.

By not endorsing strong incumbents in District 2 (Koehler) and District 3 (Provenzano) and, maybe only three Republicans in District 5, could the folks at the NWH be setting the stage for endorsing at least one Democrat in Districts 2, 3 and 5?

There are, of course, already Democrats in District 3 and 5,

• Kathy Bergan Schmidt
• Paul Yensen

Yensen was on the side of the taxpayers on the levy vote.   Schmidt wasn’t.

In District 2, there are two Democrats running.  The first is Jim Kennedy, who was defeated by John Jung in District 5 two years after Yensen defeated Jung.

The second is Ridgefield businessman (The Framery) and almost lifetime resident Jim Roden, who seems poised to run as the “anti-Koehler.”

I’m leaving out District 4, the one that has northern McHenry Township, plus Richmond and Burton Townships in the northeast corner of McHenry County.

A hard-charging Democrat has filed, Mary Margaret Maule.

There are GOP six candidates running there.  None were involved in the secret meeting.

The only one who voted for the tax hike who is running for re-election is Sue Draftcorn.

= = = = =

See “Who Voted to Raise Your County Taxes?“

After an overly long set-up yesterday, today we move into what office seekers who attended the McHenry County Young Republicans’ Candidates’ Forum said about the County Board’s having decided to maximize the amount of money it will take out of our pockets this summer.

Before beginning, let me remind you of those incumbents who voted to increase the tax levy so the tax take from property owners will be as high as allowed by state law.

Those running for re-election are in boldface type.

• 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
• Kathy Bergan Schmidt
• Ken Koehler

Candidates were allowed two minutes to introduce themselves. Some used the time to emphasize the tax hike issue.

Friday night it was Joe Gottemoeller, Nick Provenzano, Mary Alger, Sandy Salgado, John Hammerand and Ed Varga, (I was taking photos, so if I missed someone, let us know in the comment section.)

The tax issue surfaced in some of the opening comments.

“I voted ‘No’ on the tax increase,” District 3 incumbent Provenzano said in his opening.

“I’m here to put the brakes on…raising taxes,” said Tea Party candidate Mary Alger, running in District 3.

“I voted ‘No’ on the tax increase,” District 4 incumbent Sandra Salgado chimed in.

And that was all before the tax hike question was asked.

Crystal Lake City Councilwoman Carolyn Schoefield praised the process set in place to immediately begin an effort to see how the budget could be cut. She explained that her city “dipped into our reserves to lower the tax levy,” but noted, “the reserves are not limitless.”

“I voted against the budget increase,” John Hammerand said.

“If there’s money to be spent, we use it.”

District 4′s Ed Varga of Richmond:

Ed Varga

“I was upset about hearing about the tax levy, the last minute nature of it.

“Just go to each department and say, ‘You’ve got 5% less to spend.’”

Having served on the McHenry County Board of Health, he pointed to an outside audit that said the local health department did more with less than any other Chicago area health department.

Joe Gottemoeller, a challenger in District 3, expanded on his opening remark by answering, “No” and pointing out that property taxes had increase from 2% of a home’s value to 4% since 1994.

“Government has to tighten its budget.”

“I’m not looking for increasing the tax levy,” explained District 2 challenger Tom Wilbeck. “That’s what got me involved on the very last day.”

He told that people asked, “Are you going to raise my taxes?” as he went door-to-door soliciting petition signatures.

Incumbent Mary Donner of District 3 said, “I guess you get to hear frankly (from one in the) peanut gallery who voted, ‘Yes.’”

The Finance Committee member explained that the Committee started working on the budget in May. She pointed to mandates, e.g., courtrooms for two new judges.

“We are the smallest unit government [at least the smallest Illinois county] that has a Triple A bond rating.”

District 3 incumbent Nick Provenzano reiterated that he had voted against the $2.7 million increase. He pointed out that the Board had taken “an addition $1.2 million out of the tax reserves.

“That was a mistake.

“We need to relieve staff of some of the high level decisions. We have to stop spending where we don’t need to.”

District 3′s Tea Party Republican, Mary Alger, said, “I would not have voted for the increase in taxes. I’ve looked at the notices that are tacked on houses.”

“I did not vote for the tax levy,” District 4′s Sandra Salgado repeated. She told of excesses in the budgets of “political figures.”

Salgado was told by a colleague, “That’s a great question, but you’re not the one to ask it.” She said the question involved “over $600,000.”

She said she “put a stop to elected officials salaries” going up.

“The office pays what it pays,” she observed. [Most county officials get about $100,000 a year.]

District 3 challenger Mary McClellan, first on her ballot, had this response:

“A resounding, ‘No.’

“Hold any County Board member responsible for the votes they made.”

District 2 incumbent Donna Kurtz said,

“I voted for the tax levy because I believe in fiscal responsibility.

“We had labor contract’s and inflation of 1.5%. and that [was] what the tax levy [increase] was [for].

“Others wanted to use money earmarked for capital to pay for the [operating] expenses. That was [irresponsible].

Linda Kvidera Murphy of District 4 put in her two cents worth: “I also don’t support the increase in taxes. I think County Board members should be held accountable [for their votes].

“I did support the tax increase,” admitted District 2 incumbent Jim Heisler.

He explained he started out in opposition to the increase, but “wages got us corralled where we couldn’t back out of it.”

Crystal Lake Park District Commissioner Mike Walkup, a challenger in District 3, expresses his opposition to the hike.

“I agree with Cal [Skinner]. Set the number you have and [make] that number the [levy].

“The economy is not going to get better quickly,” he predicted.

[See

"How to Cut a Budget, Plus How to Provide Political Camouflage for Incumbent McHenry County Board Members"]

District 3 aspirant Jim Schlader was the last Friday participant to answer the tax question.

“People I talk to out on the streets are asking whether they’re going to but food or [pay taxes].

“I would not vote for that increase.”

Missing from the event were District 2 candidate Ken Koehler, the Chairman of the McHenry County Board.  Koehler voted for the tax hike.

Among the missing from District 3 was former Board member Linda (Lyn) Orphal.

Not taking part from District 4 were incumbent Sue Draffkorn, plus challenger Robert “Bob” M. Martens, Sr.  Draffkorn voted in favor of the tax  hike.

= = = = =
What District 5 and 6 candidates said Saturday night tomorrow.

There are four seats open in each McHenry County Board district.

In the McHenry-Wonder Lake-Richmond-Spring Grove-Lakemoor district, there are six candidates.

They are incumbents

• John Hammerand
• Sandra Salgado
• Sue Draffkorn

The fourth incumbent, Pete Merkel, is retiring.

Newcomers are

• Bob Martens, Sr.
• Edward Varga
• Linda Kvidera Murphy

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.

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)

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.

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.

Two McHenry County Board candidates were the final politicians in the Johnsburg Saufen und Spiel Parade on 9-11.

First came Sue Draffkorn.

As she rode past, I asked if she were running for-re-election. (All County Board candidate seats are on the ballot in 2012 because of re-apportionment.)

She said she running for the office.

The other two incumbents, Pete Merkel and Sandy Salgado were not in the parade this year. Maybe they won by so much last year that they didn’t see the need.

• Jeff Thirtyacre (D) 5157 (23.31%)
• Sandra Salgado (R) 8351 (37.75%)
• Pete Merkel (R) 8611 (38.93%)