McHenry County Blog

The service area of the Northern Moraine Water Reclamation District.

There aren’t many of them–two to be exact–but Sanitary Districts do exist in McHenry County.

Usually, sewage is taken care of by municipalities.

But, sometimes villages don’t have enough money to provide the service and a separate tax district called a Sanitary District is created.

One that started out as the Island Lake Sanitary District is now called the Northern Moraine Water Reclamation District.

The Island Lake officials inaugurated it with a ceremony they delightfully called “The Royal Flush.” It allowed residential growth in the area.

Most of the district’s revenues undoubted come from user fees.

The current Corporate tax rate of just over 3.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation is no where near the maximum for the fund–16.6 cents.

The other Sanitary District is also well below its maximum 16.6 cent rate. It’s Corporate Fund is at 4.1 cent per hundred.

It’s the Lake in the Hills Sanitary District.

I remember attending its Grand Opening, too, back in the late 1960′s when I was County Treasurer. It was created about 1963.

"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.

Certainly it will be hard for some readers to grasp, but three of the four Republican legislators representing McHenry County voted for the tax increases on beer, wine, liquor, candy, soft drinks, etc., not to mention putting slot machines in every location with a liquor license.

The tax hikers and gambling expansion supporters are State Senator Pam Althoff and State Representatives Mark Beaubien and Mike Tryon (seen above from left to right).

All three voted to hike taxes on alcoholic beverages.

But, not to worry, at the same time they gave the liquor license holders the right to put five slot machines in their stores and taverns to make up for the inevitable lost revenue, at least that’s my take.

Here are the tax increases:

• 23 cents a gallon for beer
• $1.39 a gallon for wine
• $8.55 a gallon for liquor

And, as the media has been concentrating on, candy without flour will be subject to the full sales tax now.

Not to mention soft drinks.

That will include Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% Crystal Lake City sales tax increase.

They will all argue (Althoff, Tryon) the tax dollars and slot machine money will go for a good cause–roads, bridges, schools, Chicago State University’s $40 million new West Side of Chicago campus, etc.

No, come to think of it, they probably will not defend the $40 million in pork for State Senator Rickey Hendon.

When the Candy Mom came home from Sam’s Club last night with a big box of KitKat, I looked at the ingredients and saw “flour.”

That meant she did not have to buy it before the new tax on candy went up.

She should have bought the almost pure sugar candy you see in the First Methodist Church of Crystal Lake’s Vacation Bible School-purchased paper mache bowl.

The other two legislators, one a Republican and one a Democrat, voted, “No.”

The Democrat, of course, is State Rep. Jack Franks.

The Republican is newly-elected State Senator Dan Duffy.

Incidentally, the Northwest Herald article on the tax hikes today, did not reveal who voted how, but some commenters did.