Wonder Lake McHenry County Board member John Hammerand has sent an open letter to his constituents who may have their taxes hiked by a special service area assessment.
McHenry County Blog is pleased to share it below:
As it is officially unnecessary to notify the residents of the Unincorporated area and Village of Wonder Lake of the impending Special Service Area for the dredging of the lake, resulting in a tax increase on your real estate tax bill, I feel compelled to write this letter so that residents are aware of the situation.
The Resolution for a Special Service Area has been passed by the County Planning and Development committee and will be on the agenda of the McHenry County Board for immediate and final action on Tuesday, March 18th at the Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock (east of Seminary on the north side of the road.)
The meeting will be on the second floor in the County Board Meeting Room.
If you sign up, you will be given time to speak, but it is not the practice of the County Board to answer questions, only to accept testimony.
As it only takes one person to request an SSA, there will be not individual notification. That will come later in the process, when 51% of the owners and 51% of the registered voters can object to the process through a petition.
I feel the process is unfair. Whether you are for or against the project, there should be a more extended hearing time before you are saddled with an additional tax.
The Special Service Area Resolution will be posted on my website, www.hammerand.com
Watching out for your interests,
John D Hammerand
McHenry County Board
District 4
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The top picture of Wonder Lake was taken on August 10, 2007, when the lake was high enough for boat lifts to be floating away. The Administrative Building is show between the two photos of Wonder Lake. The bottom lake photo was taken on September 21, 2007, after the winter draw down. At the bottom is the sign you should be looking for. It is north of the county jail. No green grass is guaranteed.