McHenry County Blog

Northwest Herald reporter Amber Krosel quotes newly-sworn in Grafton Township Trustee Gerry McMahon at Thursday night’s meeting.

This was the same day that McMahon and his fellow trustees were given their third McHenry County Court smackdown concerning their illegal attempts to build a new township building.

McMahon was giving a lecture about how insignificant the taxpayer meerkat’s concern about paying for the over $5 million new township hall the township trustees are trying to shove down their throats.

The cost was so small. It was like comparing a meerkat to an elephant. That’s what McMahon argued.

What McMahon just can’t comprehend is that the meerkat taxpayers might just want to be asked their permission before being put in debt for $5 million.

The “trust me” argument from public officials went out of style with President Jimmy Carter.

President Ronald Reagan brought the “trust, but verify” method of dealing with the Soviet Union.

Ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich and other crooked and arrogant Illinois state and local officials have brought citizens to the stage of

The surface reason for issuing the over $5 million in debt is that current township facilities are inadequate.

But the real reason is that if the township board even doesn’t take as much money as it can get, it forever will lose whatever that stream of income is.

It’s a function of the tax cap, which allows local governments to take from us what they got last year, plus the increase in the cost of living.

If a district ever takes less than the maximum allowed, its “base” is lower for the next year and every year thereafter.

Oh how I wish there were more public officials who did not adhere to the

philosophy.

Township Assessor Bill Ottley gave me this insight after the annual town meeting while inquiring why I, who lives right across the township line in Algonquin Township, cared about what Grafton Township was doing.

Proponents of the debt certificate financing scheme the township trustees are trying to put in place argue that taxes will not go up.

What they mean is that tax bills will remain the same. They won’t be higher than they already are.

There most certainly will be more taxes extracted from Grafton Township taxpayers.

You can’t pay back more than $5 million without someone’s pocketbook being lighter than it would be without bearing that burden.

But, proponents keep arguing,

Daily Herald reporter Jeffrey Gaunt suggests such a pitch is worthy of a used car salesman.

But as Gaunt so persuasively wrote about the Carpentersville School District 300 referendum in January 2006:

“It’s a little like tacking 10 years onto a five-year prison sentence. You’re already in prison, the argument goes, so what’s a few more years.”

In Grafton Township’s case, it’s tacking on 20 years.

For argument’s sake, let’s say the impact on Grafton Township tax bills is too small to worry about.

Is anything else wrong with the town hall picture?

I can think of two things.

The first concerns the democratic process.

Township government is supposed to be, but is less and less, the government of the people.

I can remember when uppity township electors wrote in $1 for each line item in the Nunda Township Road Commissioner’s budget. I think the commissioner was Leroy Geske. That was around 1970.

Residents of a private subdivision road wanted township taxpayers to improve it, but the township road commissioner, citing state law, refused.

Retaliation didn’t deprive him of his salary because it’s in the Town Fund.

That was the same year that Algonquin Township Assessor Forrest Hare’s supporters added $500 in legal fees to sue the McHenry County Supervisor of Assessments Willard Hogge for having equalized Algonquin Township’s property values higher than they should have been.

The township attorney frittered away the money telling the township board, which did not want the suit to go forward, why it couldn’t be done.

The Illinois General Assembly, always being responsive to township officials, plugged that hole.

It prohibited electors from voting on budgets.

The second reason will be addressed tomorrow.

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The other articles in this series are can be found here:

The Skunk, the Meerkats and the Elephant – Part 1

The Skunk, the Meerkats and the Elephant – Part 3

I happened across the following letter to the Crystal Lake Herald that was published February 9, 1977, prior to the Algonquin Township primary election that pitted appointed incumbent Ed Traub against Forrest Hare’s former top assistant Bob Kunz.

I thought some might be interested in it.

You may remember the debacle (Article 1, Article 2) for the local Republican Party when Forrest Hare “lost” the 1973 caucus by four votes and no recount was allowed by the township central committee. Hare ran a write-in campaign and easily beat the establishment candidate.

Below was one of my father’s contributions to Bob Kunz’ campaign. He was running against appointed incumbent Ed Traub, appointed when Forrest Hare resigned to go into private enterprise.

Editor:

Noting Ed Traub’s letter to the editor in Friday’s paper, it appears desirable to really set the record straight.

If Traub does not have a bad memory or if he did not reduce the taxes on those 200 or so properties last year, then he should promptly bring suit against somebody for forging his name on records which are at the courthouse.

It was reported to me that abatements (tax reductions) were signed by a person named Traub, purporting to be the Algonquin Township Assessor; and the handwritten information on the forms corresponded to the signed name.

In addition Supervisor of Assessment Hogge confirmed to the reporter that the abatements were made by Traub. Hogge would have no reason to such a thing to harm a friend.

Traub actually confirmed in his letter that the 11 per cent multiplier was not added to his home, just as I had stated.

Traub is wrong when he says “the 1975 assessment on which you paid taxes some months ago were…the work of Hare.” Only the initial base was provided by Hare; the extra 11 per cent was added by the courthouse, the group from which Traub is an alumnus.

Regarding homes that were not on the assessing rolls, Traub should be aware that most (and maybe all) of that fault lies with the Supervisor of Assessments who is currently on the pan for not having passed occupancy permits along to the township assessors.

Traub’s acquaintanceship with Algonquin Township assessments if he isn’t aware of the uprising in the late 1950′s when some 800 to 1000 attended a mass meeting in Cary to demand legal assessments.

Attorney Tom Henley started his local practice on that project. The people got but a bare bone tossed to them, just sufficient to calm them down. Some of us think the battle is worth continuing until preferential taxation ceases and we are all treated fairly.

Traub misreads my intent, but is entitled to his opinion. It is not my desire to “Control and manipulate assessments.” Quite the contrary is the case. I want to see such practice cease…throughout McHenry County. And, especially, I don’t want it Algonquin Township. That’s why I so strongly favor the election of Bob Kunz.

Sincerely,

Cal Skinner, Sr.

Kunz won that primary election and is running unopposed for re-election as Algonquin Township on February 24th.

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My father could certainly write better than I.

I happened across the following letter to the Crystal Lake Herald that was published February 9, 1977, prior to the Algonquin Township primary election that pitted appointed incumbent Ed Traub against Forrest Hare’s former top assistant Bob Kunz.

I thought some might be interested in it.

You may remember the debacle (Article 1, Article 2) for the local Republican Party when Forrest Hare “lost” the 1973 caucus by four votes and no recount was allowed by the township central committee. Hare ran a write-in campaign and easily beat the establishment candidate.

Below was one of my father’s contributions to Bob Kunz’ campaign. He was running against appointed incumbent Ed Traub, appointed when Forrest Hare resigned to go into private enterprise.

Editor:

Noting Ed Traub’s letter to the editor in Friday’s paper, it appears desirable to really set the record straight.

If Traub does not have a bad memory or if he did not reduce the taxes on those 200 or so properties last year, then he should promptly bring suit against somebody for forging his name on records which are at the courthouse.

It was reported to me that abatements (tax reductions) were signed by a person named Traub, purporting to be the Algonquin Township Assessor; and the handwritten information on the forms corresponded to the signed name.

In addition Supervisor of Assessment Hogge confirmed to the reporter that the abatements were made by Traub. Hogge would have no reason to such a thing to harm a friend.

Traub actually confirmed in his letter that the 11 per cent multiplier was not added to his home, just as I had stated.

Traub is wrong when he says “the 1975 assessment on which you paid taxes some months ago were…the work of Hare.” Only the initial base was provided by Hare; the extra 11 per cent was added by the courthouse, the group from which Traub is an alumnus.

Regarding homes that were not on the assessing rolls, Traub should be aware that most (and maybe all) of that fault lies with the Supervisor of Assessments who is currently on the pan for not having passed occupancy permits along to the township assessors.

Traub’s acquaintanceship with Algonquin Township assessments if he isn’t aware of the uprising in the late 1950′s when some 800 to 1000 attended a mass meeting in Cary to demand legal assessments.

Attorney Tom Henley started his local practice on that project. The people got but a bare bone tossed to them, just sufficient to calm them down. Some of us think the battle is worth continuing until preferential taxation ceases and we are all treated fairly.

Traub misreads my intent, but is entitled to his opinion. It is not my desire to “Control and manipulate assessments.” Quite the contrary is the case. I want to see such practice cease…throughout McHenry County. And, especially, I don’t want it Algonquin Township. That’s why I so strongly favor the election of Bob Kunz.

Sincerely,

Cal Skinner, Sr.

Kunz won that primary election and is running unopposed for re-election as Algonquin Township on February 24th.

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My father could certainly write better than I.