Here’s a tee shirt I found at Disney World during Thanksgiving Week.
Its largest letters say,
That appears above Christ’s head and arms as he is depicted on the cross.
Beneath is Luke 23:24:
The Republican precinct committeemen spent $1,150 on a golf outing at which it appears $2,000 was raised.
There is no indication that anything was spent to support the election of Republican candidates.
The political action committee has $1,213.65 left.
Despite having spent $12,121 during the fall campaign, the Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee still has $5,768 left.
$8,610 was spent to mail a post card in support of Republican candidates.
Two $500 scholarships were also awarded.
$688 was spent on a pig roast for volunteers.
$509 was spent on other printing, the sample ballot, I imagine.
$347 was spent for fund raising expenses.
$400 was spent on filing campaign disclosure forms.
When the new contract was signed with the Huntley Teachers Association, there was a provision that non-teachers could be hired to do things that didn’t require a teacher.
Jobs like bus duty, keeping score at sporting events. Jobs teachers were getting paid $28 an hour to do.
Before Christmas I sent an email to District 158 about why none of these jobs had been posted on its web site or advertised in local papers.
I finally got an answer yesterday.
Here is what Chief Human Resources Officer Lauren Smith sent me:
I understand you have requested this information, I do apology for any delays.
We have posted the positions in both the Northwest Herald (1/4-1/8 print and on-line) and the Daily Herald (1/7-1/10 print). We also have the info posted on our website under support employment. These opportunities have also been made available to our current support staff.
We have received approx 90+ applications. Please note that this number does not represent the number of qualified applicants, only the number received.
Please let me know if you have any other questions. Feel free to call if you like.
Here’s what I was able to find on the district’s web site:
Consolidated School District 158 is currently seeking applicants for Student and Activities Supervisors. Positions are available from PreK – 12th grade with a pay rate of $14.00 per hour, school certification not required. Schedules varies with flexible hours. Interested applicants may apply on-line @ www.district158.org or in person @ 650 Academic Drive, Algonquin, IL 60102.
So, if you’d like to earn $14 an hour, give Huntley School District 158 a call.
Estimates are that the school district could save a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year by paying $14, rather than $28 an hour for such jobs.
It is hard to understand why District 158 has waited so long to save 50% on these labor costs.
This is what the winter sun looked like yesterday after our noon Crystal Lake Kiwanis meeting at Colonial Cafe.
I thought I was going to capture the orb itself, but the clouds moved in the way.
Ever since Springfield developer Bill Cellini sought and got permission to develop the Vulcan Lakes TIF property owned by the City of Crystal Lake, I have wondered why he came on October 10, 2006, and why the group he led won Mayor Aaron Shepley’s city council’s approval for the $115 million project.
(October 10th was three days before he was implicated in the Tony Rezko probe.)
I still wonder every time I see Cellini’s name in the paper.
Thursday was no different.
Gaming Board Chairman and former State Rep. And Judge Aaron Jaffe issued the following statement, printed by the Daily Herald:
“The Cellini Group, however, continues to hold an interest in a casino awarded to the Waukegan applicant, Indeed, if Waukegan is ever selected, Michael Pizzuto, a longtime associate of Mr. Cellini who purchased the collective Cellini interests for $32,450, must pay the Cellini interests the balance of their prior costs in the Waukegan project, an amount in excess of $600,000. The fact that the Cellini-Pizzuto agreement provides that the payment of prior costs may be disallowed does not abate our concern.”
Here is a short part of Cellini’s appearance at Crystal Lake City Hall.
The Carpentersville District 300 tax hike committee got about $350 in interest on its money from West Dundee’s Park National Bank during the last half of 2008.
Otherwise, the political action committee was dormant.
Sitting in the bank is $44,218.18.
Former McHenry County and Illinois Republican Central Committee Chairman and McHenry County Auditor Al Jourdan’s political action committee had little action during the last six months of 2008.
Jourdan made a $100 campaign contribution and spent $140 elsewhere.
Both contributions were low enough so that revealing them was not required.
He has $2,772.60 left in his Jourdan Committee to Preserve & Project Good Government.
Jourdan now serves on the RTA Board.
When the new contract was signed with the Huntley Teachers Association, there was a provision that non-teachers could be hired to do things that didn’t require a teacher.
Jobs like bus duty, keeping score at sporting events. Jobs teachers were getting paid $28 an hour to do.
Before Christmas I sent an email to District 158 about why none of these jobs had been posted on its web site or advertised in local papers.
I finally got an answer yesterday.
Here is what Chief Human Resources Officer Lauren Smith sent me:
I understand you have requested this information, I do apology for any delays.
We have posted the positions in both the Northwest Herald (1/4-1/8 print and on-line) and the Daily Herald (1/7-1/10 print). We also have the info posted on our website under support employment. These opportunities have also been made available to our current support staff.
We have received approx 90+ applications. Please note that this number does not represent the number of qualified applicants, only the number received.
Please let me know if you have any other questions. Feel free to call if you like.
Here’s what I was able to find on the district’s web site:
Consolidated School District 158 is currently seeking applicants for Student and Activities Supervisors. Positions are available from PreK – 12th grade with a pay rate of $14.00 per hour, school certification not required. Schedules varies with flexible hours. Interested applicants may apply on-line @ www.district158.org or in person @ 650 Academic Drive, Algonquin, IL 60102.
So, if you’d like to earn $14 an hour, give Huntley School District 158 a call.
Estimates are that the school district could save a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year by paying $14, rather than $28 an hour for such jobs.
It is hard to understand why District 158 has waited so long to save 50% on these labor costs.
This is what the winter sun looked like yesterday after our noon Crystal Lake Kiwanis meeting at Colonial Cafe.
I thought I was going to capture the orb itself, but the clouds moved in the way.
Ever since Springfield developer Bill Cellini sought and got permission to develop the Vulcan Lakes TIF property owned by the City of Crystal Lake, I have wondered why he came on October 10, 2006, and why the group he led won Mayor Aaron Shepley’s city council’s approval for the $115 million project.
(October 10th was three days before he was implicated in the Tony Rezko probe.)
I still wonder every time I see Cellini’s name in the paper.
Thursday was no different.
Gaming Board Chairman and former State Rep. And Judge Aaron Jaffe issued the following statement, printed by the Daily Herald:
“The Cellini Group, however, continues to hold an interest in a casino awarded to the Waukegan applicant, Indeed, if Waukegan is ever selected, Michael Pizzuto, a longtime associate of Mr. Cellini who purchased the collective Cellini interests for $32,450, must pay the Cellini interests the balance of their prior costs in the Waukegan project, an amount in excess of $600,000. The fact that the Cellini-Pizzuto agreement provides that the payment of prior costs may be disallowed does not abate our concern.”
Here is a short part of Cellini’s appearance at Crystal Lake City Hall.
The Carpentersville District 300 tax hike committee got about $350 in interest on its money from West Dundee’s Park National Bank during the last half of 2008.
Otherwise, the political action committee was dormant.
Sitting in the bank is $44,218.18.
Former McHenry County and Illinois Republican Central Committee Chairman and McHenry County Auditor Al Jourdan’s political action committee had little action during the last six months of 2008.
Jourdan made a $100 campaign contribution and spent $140 elsewhere.
Both contributions were low enough so that revealing them was not required.
He has $2,772.60 left in his Jourdan Committee to Preserve & Project Good Government.
Jourdan now serves on the RTA Board.
The rate of inflation has been announced for the year 2008.
The chart to the right tells the tale. (Click to enlarge.)
The Consumer Price Index increased only 0.1%.
That’s not 1%.
That’s 1/10 of of 1%.
Worse even that the 1.1% for the twelve months I reported in December in
With school districts having grown used to 3% or so (4.1% last year) and many school districts having signed teacher packages in that range, even above, you can bet there will be some worried faces today.
Oops.
Lots of schools are closed today, so the consternation probably won’t come until Monday.
Tax districts can, of course, always go to the voters and ask permission to raise taxes.
Below are the CPI’s for used for the Property Tax Cap (PTELL is the acronym) since its institution. Remember that the years given are for the assessment year. Tax collections based on these years are one year later. For example, the 2008 assessment year taxes for which the CPI was .01%, but has not been officially announced by the Illinois Revenue Department, will be collected this spring
1990 – 5.0 (5% Max, even thou CPI was 6.1%)
1991 – 3.1
1992 – 2.9
1993 – 2.7 (5% for Cook)
1994 – 2.7
1995 – 2.5
1996 – 3.3
1997 – 1.7
1998 – 1.6
1999 – 2.7
2000 – 3.4
2001 – 1.6
2002 – 2.4
2003 – 1.9
2004 – 3.3
2005 – 3.4
2006 – 2.5
2007 – 4.08 (rounded up to 4.1)
In addition to this cost of living increase, local tax districts get money from any new construction which has occurred since the year before and assessment increases from any tax increment financing districts which are expiring.
But McHenry County Supervisor of Assessments Donna Mayberry told township assessors last month that she expected negative multipliers this coming year.
Almost nothing for an inflationary increase from the Tax Cap and the assessment base going down.
Now, that’s a double whammy.
Finally, with new construction way down, one might conclude tax districts are facing a triple whammy.
There has been a move in the Illinois General Assembly to switch the measure of inflation from the CPI—to which taxpayers can relate—to a more friendly index. There are two out there that are more friendly to government-oriented folks.
One measures the increase in the cost of government. (I don’t know if the trillions being printed in Washington are included or just state and local government increases.)
The other, the employment cost index, measures the cost of employees—salaries, health benefits, etc.
On year I checked in the early 2000’s would have allowed almost twice as high an increase under the employment cost index as it would have been under the CPI.
Undoubtedly a strong effort will be made to change the inflation definition for the Real Estate Tax Cap.
And, if you don’t think so, read this article from right before Christmas.
Of course, Home Rule units like the City of Crystal Lake have other options. They are not constrained by the Tax Cap.
Such municipalities could get raise their real estate tax rates or follow Crystal Lake’s example. Under the leadership of Mayor Aaron Shepley, its council raised its ales tax rate by 75%.
One wonders how orator C.L. McCormick (R-Vienna), a contemporary and from the same district as Paul Powell, would have waxed about the “tax eaters,” a term he coined about 1972.
= = = = =
The strikers are from Huntley School District 158. The city hall with the blue skies overhead is Crystal Lake’s.
The rate of inflation has been announced for the year 2008.
The chart to the right tells the tale. (Click to enlarge.)
The Consumer Price Index increased only 0.1%.
That’s not 1%.
That’s 1/10 of of 1%.
Worse even that the 1.1% for the twelve months I reported in December in
With school districts having grown used to 3% or so (4.1% last year) and many school districts having signed teacher packages in that range, even above, you can bet there will be some worried faces today.
Oops.
Lots of schools are closed today, so the consternation probably won’t come until Monday.
Tax districts can, of course, always go to the voters and ask permission to raise taxes.
Below are the CPI’s for used for the Property Tax Cap (PTELL is the acronym) since its institution. Remember that the years given are for the assessment year. Tax collections based on these years are one year later. For example, the 2008 assessment year taxes for which the CPI was .01%, but has not been officially announced by the Illinois Revenue Department, will be collected this spring
1990 – 5.0 (5% Max, even thou CPI was 6.1%)
1991 – 3.1
1992 – 2.9
1993 – 2.7 (5% for Cook)
1994 – 2.7
1995 – 2.5
1996 – 3.3
1997 – 1.7
1998 – 1.6
1999 – 2.7
2000 – 3.4
2001 – 1.6
2002 – 2.4
2003 – 1.9
2004 – 3.3
2005 – 3.4
2006 – 2.5
2007 – 4.08 (rounded up to 4.1)
In addition to this cost of living increase, local tax districts get money from any new construction which has occurred since the year before and assessment increases from any tax increment financing districts which are expiring.
But McHenry County Supervisor of Assessments Donna Mayberry told township assessors last month that she expected negative multipliers this coming year.
Almost nothing for an inflationary increase from the Tax Cap and the assessment base going down.
Now, that’s a double whammy.
Finally, with new construction way down, one might conclude tax districts are facing a triple whammy.
There has been a move in the Illinois General Assembly to switch the measure of inflation from the CPI—to which taxpayers can relate—to a more friendly index. There are two out there that are more friendly to government-oriented folks.
One measures the increase in the cost of government. (I don’t know if the trillions being printed in Washington are included or just state and local government increases.)
The other, the employment cost index, measures the cost of employees—salaries, health benefits, etc.
On year I checked in the early 2000’s would have allowed almost twice as high an increase under the employment cost index as it would have been under the CPI.
Undoubtedly a strong effort will be made to change the inflation definition for the Real Estate Tax Cap.
And, if you don’t think so, read this article from right before Christmas.
Of course, Home Rule units like the City of Crystal Lake have other options. They are not constrained by the Tax Cap.
Such municipalities could get raise their real estate tax rates or follow Crystal Lake’s example. Under the leadership of Mayor Aaron Shepley, its council raised its ales tax rate by 75%.
One wonders how orator C.L. McCormick (R-Vienna), a contemporary and from the same district as Paul Powell, would have waxed about the “tax eaters,” a term he coined about 1972.
= = = = =
The strikers are from Huntley School District 158. The city hall with the blue skies overhead is Crystal Lake’s.
In his successful campaign for re-election during the last six months of 2008, McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi raised $77,000 and spent $52,526.
He’s got $25,438.86 left.
Details of who gave what up to a month before the election can be found here.
Contributions after October 6th follow:
- $100 – Joseph Algers, Crystal Lake, 10/14/2008
- $100 – Sharon Chewning, Bull Valley, 10/27/2008
- $200 – Richard Allan, Crystal Lake, 11/19/2008
- $250 – Sheldon Sorosky, Chicago, 10/30/2008
- $300 – John Barleycorn at Clark Street, Chicago, 11/13/2008
- $300 – Law Offices of James E. Sullivan, Chicago, 11/13/2008
- $500 – Sandra Santoni, Woodstock, 11/13/2008
- $500 – Thomas Rakowski & Associates, Chicago, 11/13/2008
- $2,500 – William Rinn, III, Crystal Lake, 11/13/2008
Democratic Party opponent Tom Cynor has not yet filed his campaign disclosure report.
In his successful campaign for re-election during the last six months of 2008, McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi raised $77,000 and spent $52,526.
He’s got $25,438.86 left.
Details of who gave what up to a month before the election can be found here.
Contributions after October 6th follow:
- $100 – Joseph Algers, Crystal Lake, 10/14/2008
- $100 – Sharon Chewning, Bull Valley, 10/27/2008
- $200 – Richard Allan, Crystal Lake, 11/19/2008
- $250 – Sheldon Sorosky, Chicago, 10/30/2008
- $300 – John Barleycorn at Clark Street, Chicago, 11/13/2008
- $300 – Law Offices of James E. Sullivan, Chicago, 11/13/2008
- $500 – Sandra Santoni, Woodstock, 11/13/2008
- $500 – Thomas Rakowski & Associates, Chicago, 11/13/2008
- $2,500 – William Rinn, III, Crystal Lake, 11/13/2008
Democratic Party opponent Tom Cynor has not yet filed his campaign disclosure report.
This picture hit my fancy as the temperature was seven degrees below zero Thursday afternoon.
This young man was performing at the Hawaiian Luau the night we arrived at Disney World last Thanksgiving Week. You can imagine how the scantily clad young men and women were feeling.
Sitting in the audience, it was so cold that I was wearing the hood of the Donald Duck sweat shirt postID=114295432754498366 over my head.
You can click on it to increase the illusion of heat where you sit.
