McHenry County Blog

"Too bad you taxpayers didn't engage my services to fight the property tax increase by the McHenry County Board," says Keely Cat. "I beat them on the McHenry County Republican Cat Tax, so you know I have the right skill set."

With tax bills having arrived, it seems appropriate to call attention again to those McHenry County Board members who recommended to tax us to the max:

Who Voted to Raise Your County Taxes?

The Board members voted “balloon” levy, that is, they asked for more than they knew they could ever get to make sure they captured the full 1.5% increase allowed under the Real Estate Tax Cap law.

Plus all the new construction in the County.

I noted that the McHenry County Board’s tax take was 1.85% higher than last year and asked County Administrator Peter Austin why.

Here is his answer:

“Three main reasons:

1. New Growth of $31,668,547 – Not capped in first year
2. State of Illinois assigned a .017700 multiplier
3. Valuations continue to decline, causing tax rates to artificially increase to maintain parity with tax revenues from the prior year.

“This is not unique to only the County’s rate. This is happening across all taxing bodies within the County also.

“I would recommend to any person questioning the “why” to view the County Clerk’s web site where all of the calculation formulas are displayed.”

The County and bunches of other tax districts have been pushed under the statutory maximum tax rate by the Property Tax Cap.

Because there is no meaningful rate limit, when tax districts ask for more money, as long as the figure in state law is with the inflationary increase allowed by the Tax Cap (which the technicians call PTELL), rates increase to make up for decreases in assessed valuation.

When I saw that “Election Workshop” item on the agenda of the special meeting of the McHenry County Board for Tuesday, I called and asked the President’s Office what was up.

The woman I talked to did not know.

I figured it couldn’t be about board elections, since they were this past spring.

That left referendums.

That means tax hikes.

Thursday, a Northwest Herald article by Brett Rowland verified my premonition.

It is too bad that the MCC Board was unwilling to be more forthright.

The reaction shown in the comments below the article show that the College has a real image problem.

Certainly, the history of opaqueness will be an issue in any tax hike effort.

This is a board that won’t even tape record its meetings so someone could hear what went on, if he or she could or did not attend a meeting.

Let alone live stream the meetings.

The content of comments made by members of the public is not reported in the minutes.

“Transparency” is not part of this government’s philosophy.

This is a board that hid the baseball stadium details that would have put taxpayers on the hook for over $20 million in bonds…plus interest.

This is a board that kept us in the dark while conspiring to allow the tallest broadcast aerial in the State of Illinois.

One of St. Louis tax hike consultant Unicom-ARC's successful efforts to convince Woodstock School District voters to vote yes.

And new President Vicky Smith made it quite clear that her selection had more than a little to do with raising taxes.

Two summers ago there was a series of “community” meetings put together by the same tax hike consultant that ran the success tax hike campaigns in Woodstock Unit District 200 and Carpentersville District 300.

Read about those meetings and other aspects of MCC’s tax hike preparation efforts in the links below:

• McHenry County’s Power Elite and Meteors
• McHenry County’s Power Elite as Seen by McHenry County College
• MCC’s View of the Power Elite, as Laid Out in it Communications Plan
  
  What Does It Take to Have Democracy?
• McHenry County College Power Elite Nominees
• MCC Power Elite Add-Ons
• McHenry County College Inviting Public
• McHenry County College MAP “Engages” 60 Community Members
• 2010 Referendum Predicted For MCC, District 300 & District 200 Tax Hike Firm to be Hired by McHenry County College
• MCC MAP Meeting Light on Community Participation
• McHenry County College Citizen Engagement Process Attracts 31
• Northwest Herald Reporter Discerns Real Reason for McHenry County College’s $137,750 Hiring of Tax Hike Firm
• MCC MAP Meeting – Part 2 – Building Up Balances
• MCC MAP Meeting – Part 3 – Enrollment Increase & Who Pays What
• Northwest Herald Reveals More Than Ever Before about School St. Louis Tax Hike Firm Unicom-ARC
• MCC MAP Citizen Engagement Process Ends with Maybe 14 Non-Employee Citizens at Last Session

My timing was off on the date of the referendum. The rest should prove instructive to those interested in how a tax district goes about raising taxes.

You can tell it’s fall.

The corn and soy beans are being picked.

The campaign signs are out.

Ah. Nothing like a fall sunset.

The McHenry High School tax hikers are placing signs around town. This “Vote Yes” four by four foot sign is at the northwest corner of McHenry (Crystal Lake to those living in McHenry) Bull Valley Road.

It was put up by this tax hike committee:  Vote Yes 156.

The web site talks about “continuing the legacy,” whatever that means.

The group is meeting at 7 PM at the McHenry Public Library.

Any tax hike opponents brave enough to walk into the lions den?

If anyone were running against a tax hiker in Illinois–state or local–this would be a marvelous template.  It’s a TV ad being run by Delaware’s Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Christine O’Donnell against Democrat Chris Coons.

There are stark white on black messages in the TV ad from Christine O'Donnell.

Taxing 911 calls comes into play.

Property taxes come into play in the ad.

The ad's implication is that inheritance taxes are an issue.

"He's taxing everything out here."

Signs in David Phoenix' front yard.

I first noticed the write-in for state representative sign when I took one of my son’s friends home after a sleepover.

There it was in the front yard in Four Colonies next to a Bill Brady for Governor sign.

It was a sign re-cycled from David Phoenix campaign for the Crystal Lake Grade School Board.

When it was pick-up time after another sleepover yesterday evening, I hurried out to get an interview with David Phoenix.

“Why are you running?” I asked.

“Because I didn’t want to vote for either of the candidates running and I wanted my vote to count,” Phoenix told me through his vehicle window.

“I was so upset with Mike (Tryon) for voting for the capital bill tax increases in 2009,” he explained.

“Which ones?” I asked the attorney, who served on the Crystal Lake Grade School Board.

“All of them…beer, liquor, shampoo, candy that doesn’t include wheat.”

I asked if candy containing rice was taxed, but he didn’t know.

“I never got a satisfactory explanation from Mike even though he lives eight or nine houses away from me,” he continued.

“I disagree with (Robert) Kamepfe on just about everything,” he concluded.

Phoenix has a Facebook page here.

It says,

“After Mike Tryon’s vote to raise taxes in early 2009, during a recession, I contacted his office for an explanation.

“Mike has yet to get back to me.

“His opponent is a liberal tax and spend Democrat.

“Since there seems to be no candidate in the 64th District who seems to be willing to stop with the typical Illinois tax and spend philosophy, I filed my paperwork to ‘officially”‘ be a ‘write in’ candidate.

“If you are tired of politics as usual and tax increase after tax increase, feel free to write my name in on November 2nd for your representative for the 64th Congressional District.

“I will no longer vote for the lesser of two evils.

“I welcome you to join me.”

His email address is davidgphoenixpc@yahoo.com.

Trying to distance herself from Obama and liberal politics on something, anything, liberal Democrat Melissa Bean has decided to support tax cuts for the wealthy.

Melissa Bean campaigning at the Johnsburge Saufen und Spiel Parade.

Well, maybe, but temporarily.

I couldn’t find anything in the Daily Herald or the Northwest Herald about this.

After taking millions of dollars in political cash from special interest groups, Bean needs at least one thing she can point to that is different than what Obama wants.

As a practical matter Bean’s position is meaningless as Democrats in the House have a huge majority.

Bean good buddy Democratic Party Speaker Nancy Pelosi (who held a fund raiser for her in San Francisco) probably released Bean from having to take a liberal Dem position on the issue.

Bean was one of a whopping four House Dems who wrote a draft letter, as opposed to a real, final version letter.

Apparently if Bean wants to change her mind she can say she never wrote a letter because it was only a “draft.”

It takes a slinky like political backbone to go public with a “draft” letter on whether some Americans should receive large tax increases starting January 1st.

You can bet Bean will point out this meaningless draft to newspaper editors.

With only three other House Dems signing on, Bean will use this as an example for how she stands up to the Dem leadership and builds consensus.

A consensus of only three other House Dems isn’t much to peacock around about. In a way it’s humorous in a pathetic politics sort of way.

I put “Tax Cuts (Maybe)” in the headline because, after all, it is only a “draft” letter by Bean, subject to complete reversal, of course.

The original information was gleaned from this CNN story.

The “maybe” draft-letter about tax cuts that Bean might be for (or might not be for) are only on a temporary and not a permanent basis.

It may not surprise you that Bean’s draft letter isn’t up on her campaign web site.

That’s the one that doesn’t list any public appearances, but lets one ask for a meeting.

I didn't have a picture of a black hole in space, so this dark funnel my son spotted one morning in a Springfield hotel's hot tub will have to do for an illustration.

Naturally the black hole that wishes to eat a couple thousand dollars of my income originates in Chicago.

Consider he Chicago Sun-Times today.

Look at the cover.  Abraham Lincoln is crying because taxes aren’t higher.

He isn’t crying because people are unemployed.  He’s crying because governments, state and local, haven’t picked enough money out of our pockets.

I figure when the tax rate is hiked by two-thirds from 3% to 5%, the suggestion from years past of Pied Piper Ralph Matire and, more recently, Chicago’s Civic Federation, it will cost me 750 crying Lincoln $5 bills more than the year before.

That’s when my state pension, for which I repeatedly thank taxpayers, drops by 5%.

It won’t just be me, though.

Everyone with retirement income will see a cut in tax home pay, so to speak, of 5%.

I wonder how many people in Sun City will welcome that day, probably sometime during this July.

Wage earners would see their pay checks get cut by “only” 2%.

Don’t worry.

Government won’t waste any of your lost income.

Surely, Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley and the five city council members who voted with him to hike Crystal Lake’s city sales tax 75% haven’t wasted any, have they?

“Ax your tax” seems to have been the sentiment of most tax hike referendum voters in McHenry County this election.

Voters in this recession were not kind to tax district officials’ requests for referendums to raise taxes on April 7th.

The Nunda Township Open Space referendum went down to defeat. See

While incomplete results of the $178 million bond referendum placed on the ballot by Elgin Community College was ahead last night when I wrote this story

the missing precincts in Cook County must have been pretty negative. Elgin’s Courier-News is reporting a victory margin of just 29 votes. You have to see what the Elgin paper did for the referendum’s passage on Sunday. Click on the link.

This is an excellent example of how limiting campaign contributions of non-newspaper owners will have a negative effect.

How could a private individual get as much impact opposing a referendum as the Elgin Courier did in its front page support of it.

McHenry County voters in the ECC district, coterminous with District 300, voted against it 1,162 to 798.

Cary Grade School District’s $17 million Working Cash Fund bond issue went down the tubes by a vote of 1,754 to 922. Almost two-thirds voted “No.”

The Marengo-Union Grade School District 165 tax rate hike tanked 62% to 38%.

The only referendum which the McHenry County Clerk’s web site shows passing is that of the Spring Grove Fire Protection District. It has a 10 vote lead. The tally, without including absentee and early votes, is 769-759.