Included on the Tax Rate Calculation page of the McHenry County Clerk’s Office are totals for taxes levied on property within TIF Districts. Tax Increment Financing Districts are mechanisms that allow municipalities to pry money out everyone in McHenry County … Continue reading
A 2007 Cub Scout meeting caused me to miss Springfield politician-developer Bill Cellini’s appearance before the Crystal Lake City Council the day it awarded the contract for the development of the Vulcan Lakes TIF District. It wasn’t until a Northwest … Continue reading
Saturday morning it was foggy. How foggy? Take a look at the water tower in McCormick Park next to the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce Building. In the foreground you can see one of the ornamental street lights financed by … Continue reading
These $16,000 Crystal Lake City Council-approved Tax Increment Financing District boundary markers were made for advertising. Unfortunately, the west wind-blown snow has obliterated the message of whomever is advertising today. The advertiser should ask for his or her money back. … Continue reading
The old signs marking Lakewood’s municipal boundary were wooden and not in good shape. So, following in the footsteps of the Crystal Lake stone masonry monument builders, the Lakewood Village Board authorized new village signs last September. Total cost not … Continue reading
Channel Two broadcasts into McHenry County. Maybe CBS would pop for an institutional ad on the four $16,000 TIF monuments on Route 14. = = = = = Photoshopping by one Heck of a Guy blogster Allan Showalter. … Continue reading
If a hockey team can win the Stanley Cup, surely it has earned enough money to pay for ads on Crystal Lake’s four Virginia Street Tax Increment Financing District stone monuments. = = = = = Photoshopping by one Heck … Continue reading
With the contract problems between owners and players, the NBA might be looking for institutional advertising. What better place that the four $16,000 Virginia Street Tax Increment Financing District boundary markers? = = = = = Photoshopping by one Heck … Continue reading
What a perfect ad to place on Crystal Lake’s $16,000 credit-financed TIF monuments: one for MasterCard. = = = = = Photoshopping by one Heck of a Guy blogster Allan Showalter. … Continue reading
Coca-Cola has deep pockets. Maybe the company would help pay the $16,000 that the TIF District monuments each cost on Crystal Lake’s Virginia Street. = = = = = Photoshopping by one Heck of a Guy blogster Allan Showalter. … Continue reading
Public service announcements don’t bring in any revenue to help pay for the four $16,000 monuments, but they would establish that ads could be purchased. = = = = = Photoshopping by one Heck of a Guy blogster Allan Showalter. … Continue reading
If men arrange to ask their fiancés to marry them on billboards and electronic signs in baseball parks, why not with an ad on Route 14’s TIF District monuments? And, it could help pay for the four $16,000 stone pillars. … Continue reading
There’s a lot of profit in gambling, so maybe the Illinois Lottery might be interested in advertising on one of the four Crystal Lake Virginia Street Tax Increment Financing District monuments. Who knows? The Lottery might rent all eight sides. … Continue reading
Crystal Lake used to get a lot of money from sales taxes? To keep the dollars flowing, the Crystal Lake City Council voted to hike the city’s rate by 75%. Advertising shopping opportunities in the city might help repay the … Continue reading
If the Crystal Lake wants to pay off the $64,000 that the four Virginia Street Tax Increment Financing District stone pillars cost, maybe car manufacturers would be a place to try to sell ads. = = = = = Photoshopping … Continue reading
Yesterday, I suggested that maybe the Crystal Lake City Council could recoup some of the $64,000 it spent of our money on four stone monuments telling people they were on Virginia Street. I say “our” money because the $16,000 apiece … Continue reading
Besides increasing parking fees and fining people $100 for speeding past a camera, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has come up with an idea that might work in Crystal Lake. He suggests selling space on public places, such as bridge monuments. … Continue reading
“I wonder how much the first lawsuit’s going to be for.” That’s what one person said about the blocking of the sight line from the Pizza Hut parking lot. At least when the snow from last February’s blizzard blocked views … Continue reading
The new monuments marking the edges of the Virginia Street Tax Increment Financing District cost $16,000 each. There are lots of questions, one set of which begins with “Why?” Let me give you a sample: “Why were they thought necessary … Continue reading
The first one I saw was near Pizza Hut. What was it? It looked like it belonged in a cemetery. Friday, I learned city officials actually call them “monuments.” On the monuments is the Crystal Lake City emblem or symbol: … Continue reading
