Pension Funding for McHenry County Townships

Looking at the financial shape of townships in McHenry County, a Friend of McHenry County Blog found the following Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund information filed with the State Comptroller for 2017 (for Algonquin, Chemung, Dorr, Grafton, McHenry, Nunda, Riley and … Continue reading

Comparing the Number of Employees of McHenry County Townships

The Illinois State Comptroller has a data base contacting information about tax districts throughout Illinois. Looking at 2017 data from those for the seventeen townships in McHenry County, one finds the number of employees running from a low of 2 … Continue reading

The State of Assessments in Greenwood Township

Moving through McHenry County township assessment alphabetically brings us to Greenwood Township. Northern Woodstock, western Wonder Lake and points between, including the Courthouse, lie in Greenwood Township. Assessments made in 2017 for which property tax bills will come this spring … Continue reading

Compensation for Greenwood Township Officials

Spurred on by the McHenry Township Board’s having dropped Township Trustee salaries to zero starting with those elected in 2021, I have asked for current compensation from other townships. Here is the information about Greenwood Township: Supervisor – $24,500 Road … Continue reading

County Puts 5.18% Multiplier on Grafton Township Increasing Real Estate Assessments

The McHenry County Supervisor of Assessments has imposed slightly more than a five percent across the board increase on Grafton Township real estate assessments. This is the second year the County has thought real estate prices in Grafton Township have … Continue reading

Comparing Township Costs & Surpluses

A friend of McHenry County Blog ran these figures on McHenry County Townships: Comparison of McHenry Township Finances Township Fund Balance to Revenue Per Capita Expenditures Per Household Expenditures Alden 124.7% 266 747 Algonquin 72.8% 44 124 Burton 176.7% 59 … Continue reading

What Happened to Township Taxes?

Here is what is happening to taxpayers as a whole: Township  Inc/Decrease  2015-2014 in Total Tax Inc/Decrease 2014-2013 in Total Tax HARTLAND $95.24 ($518.43) ALDEN $1,484.21 ($2,923.60) DUNHAM $877.76 ($10,905.30) HEBRON $4,219.09 ($5,118.21) RILEY ($2,678.90) ($1,172.12) SENECA ($6,000.31) ($4,000.73) GRAFTON … Continue reading

Elected Officials in McHenry County in IMRF Pension System

Thought folks might like to know what elected officials besides most McHenry County Board members participate in the pension fund of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). I filed a Freedom of Information Request asking for the following: “All employers … Continue reading

Last Chance for Angry Voters to Get Really Involved – Precinct Committeeman Write-In Opportunities

The Washington Post has found an academic, Sam Wang, who says, “based on polling data based on polling data, Donald Trump is in as strong a position to get his party’s nomination as Hillary Clinton in 2016, George W. Bush … Continue reading

Ten Townships’ Welfare Costs

Found this comparison of Township General Assistant handed out and accompanying administrative costs. You don’t have to guess that it came from Bob Anderson … Continue reading

No Cost-Benefit Analysis on Township Consolidation, Just Data Dump – Part 3

Wonder Lake’s Craig Pfannkuche, a retired South High School history teacher and often Greenwood Town Meeting Moderator, urged more people to attend township meetings. “I am very pleased with the services provided by township government.” Identifying himself as a Road Commissioner … Continue reading

Tax Considerations on Township Consolidation

Commenter Susan has done the math on a couple of the townships which consolidation proponents suggest should be merged. Her analysis is below: Am I missing something, or is the voter’s decision made by simply looking at the comparative tax … Continue reading

Roads Cared for By Township Highway Commissioners

In an attempt to get people thinking about the proposal to combine townships, look at the number of miles of road each Township Road Commissioner maintains: In addition, Algonquin Township Road Commissioner Bob Miller writes that he offers assistance to … Continue reading

A Benefit of Consolidating Township Governments

Back in the 1970’s, Algonquin Township Assessor Forrest Hare computerized his office, probably the first to do so in the State of Illinois. He also took an interest in how assessment could be made more accurate. Hare looked at measures … Continue reading

Most Township Boards Ask for Less or Same Amount of Taxes as Last Year

Townships are a much maligned form of local government. Today we show you how much McHenry County’s seventeen townships will extract from pocketbooks this year compared to last year. Extensions are the amount of taxes which are billed.  The tax … Continue reading

Townships and Tax Caps

Let’s go through the townships in alphabetical order to see how the Real Estate Tax cap affects how much money they can collect. This information, as with previous articles about the Tax Cap, comes from the McHenry County Clerk’s web … Continue reading

McHenry County Romney Alternate Delegate on Jack Franks’ Fundraising Host Committee

A friend of McHenry County Blog has forwarded an invitation to Democrat State Rep. Jack Franks’ September 29th fundraising breakfast at Donley’s Wild West Town. The Jesse White Tumblers will perform. As usual Franks provides a list of those who … Continue reading

51% of McHenry County Precincts Have No GOP Candidates for Republican Precinct Committeeman

As I start formatting this information from the McHenry County Clerk’s Office about who filed for Republican Precinct Committeeman in what parts of the county, my first impression is that “No candidate filed” will control the GOP Central Committee after … Continue reading

BGA Goes After Township Government – Road Costs

A couple of weeks ago news media unloaded the latest attack on township government. They were working from a Better Government Association report. Most of the attention was aimed at Cook County townships. That’s where most of the land is … Continue reading