Crystal Lake TIF Monuments Cost $16,000 Each – Cost Updated/Corrected Downward

Looking west on Route 14, you can see the brand new TIF-financed monument in front of Fifth Third Bank and the one near Pizza Hut across the street. They cost $16,000 each and mark the edge of the Virginia Street Tax Increment Financing District. Note the decorative "brick work" around the monument. It can be seen at intersections as well.

The first one I saw was near Pizza Hut.

Get close enough to the new $16,000 monuments and you can see this symbol of the City of Crystal Lake.

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: a “CL” with sailboat like sails filling in the “C” and the “L.”

So where does the money come from?

Let me quote the Chicago Sun-Times from August 16, 2009:

“TIFs re-direct taxes away from schools, parks and other local government agencies bankrolled by property taxes. Property taxes within a TIF district are frozen at existing levels for 23 years.”

And how much will it cost residents of McHenry County (because TIF districts export what’s spend to taxpayer in all overlapping tax districts and Crystal Lake, of course, is in McHenry County, the Conservation District, the Crystal Lake Park District, School Districts 155 and 47, etc.).

So, what’s the cost?

Mayor Aaron Shepley didn’t know when I asked Friday, but pointed me to someone in the City Engineering Department who would.

= = = = = =

What I heard over the phone was $60,000.  The real cost was $16,091, City Finance Director Mark Nannini called something after 10 AM to tell me.  Guess I misunderstood an answer to my question of “$16,000.”

I have revised the article and headline to reflect that cost.

= = = = =

The answer  (drum roll) is

$16,000 for each one.

There are four.

So, when a local tax districts tells you it can’t afford something that costs $64,000, remember the found monuments on Route 14.

That’s where the money went.

At least the city council members did not insist that their names be placed on the monuments.

Most public officials with an edifice complex do.

Related articles:


Comments

Crystal Lake TIF Monuments Cost $16,000 Each – Cost Updated/Corrected Downward — 15 Comments

  1. Senseless spending like this has to stop!

    How do we make these elected officials understand that expenditures like this are unnecessary and wasteful?

    Isn’t it common sense that if our libraries need books and our children need an education that we should be giving that money to them first.

  2. TIF districts are a perfect example of a good government program, that gets bent and abused by greedy local governments and politicians. TIF districts were created to combat URBAN BLIGHT. NOT to redevelop land to benefit FOR-PROFIT enterprises and “beautify” local communities and make local pols look good to the electorate.

    As former Senior Trustee of McHenry Township (6 years), I attended numerous Township Officials of Illinois conventions (on the taxpayer’s dine). Every year, they offered seminars to teach Township officials on the best (and proven) ways to use TIF districts to reshape development in their area to their wishes.

    They taught us how to get what we wanted, stay in the grey areas and not “technically” break the law. We learned how to handle objections from school districts and other property tax supported units of local government over their loss of tax monies for 23 years. They even showed ways to extend the term of TIF’s if we wanted to.

    Talk about a perfect scam. And the Crystal Lake officials spent “stolen” taxpayer money to erect monuments to themselves for “gaming” the system and ingratiating themselves to the voters.

  3. In my opinion these politicians are NuTs.

    If they are not voted out you are just begging for the same insanity they so proudly display.

  4. Such waste in these tough times.

    Is this the same council that chose the brick crosswalks on Rt. 14?

    They’re neither practical nor aeshetically pleasing.

    Agree with M.U.G.

    Vote them out.

  5. I noticed them yesterday as I drove past on U.S. 14.

    What a waste!!!

    I’d say it in stronger terms, but I figure some youngsters might be reading McHenry County Blog.

    And those atrocious street lamps.

    What did THEY cost?

    The first good wind in Crystal Lake will probably bend them like pretzels. (No offense meant to pretzels.)

    This is what happens when the public stops paying attention to elected and appointed officials and stops attending public meetings!!!

    We certainly have the “make-work” and “waste tax dollars” projects in Woodstock.

  6. My wife and I have already stopped shopping in Crystal Lake.

    We choose our babies doctor in another town. Crystal Lake has lost our tax dollars due to their stupid politicians.

    You could have spent $240k to feed the needy or anything that would make the town a better place for the taxpayers; not tombs.

  7. The term used in the TIF documents is “gateway monument”.

    The monuments were drawn into the TIF by a designer way back in 2003 or so.

  8. Yes Gus…they put up public streetlights without checking the wind loads.

    You people never cease to amaze me.

  9. Isn’t it interesting that you never see line items for “TIFs” on your tax bill?

    The redirected TIF money is line item detail that never appears on tax bills.

    I wonder what would happen if you take your tax bill to the assessor or city and ask them to tell you, what portion of that tax bill is being spent on TIFs?

    I imagine it would take quite a bit of work to determine the answer. I

    f TIF redirected revenue was required to be put on a tax bill as such, maybe TIFs would be less popular.

    If citizens taped their property tax bill to their refrigerator door and looked at them every day, may more citizens would attend board meetings at which TIF projects are approved.

  10. Gus hit it exactly right.

    We tried to vote these horrible people out.

    No one would listen.

    It is just sickening that we have to put up with this nonsense and thievery because people are too lazy to learn what is really going on in their OWN city.

    Now what do we do?

    Voting them out will not return our money.

    (Thank you, Cal for staying on top of this and hunting down the price tags.)

  11. At this point, I updated the article, lowering the cost per monument from the $60,000 I heard on Friday to the $16,091 I was told shortly after 10 AM Monday was the correct figure.

    Jokes are probably appropriate now about what the first sense is to go when one ages.

  12. **Jokes are probably appropriate now about what the first sense is to go when one ages.**

    Facts aren’t a sense.

  13. Dave must be a humorless liberal.

    It still is not funny that even one dime of my money had to go for this shameful waste.

    Once, again, thank you Cal, for hunting down the price tags.

  14. No Cal, the joke is on us; the taxpayers that paid and continue to pay for these monstrosities.

    I am convinced they are not ‘monuments’ but in actuality obelisks.

    Obelisks are ‘monuments’ to the sun god Ra.

    Too bad we were not paying attention back in 2003 to TIF designers like Mark said.

    Since Lakewood is throwing us back into TIF land with the Sports Complex agenda, we need to pay attention.

    Thank you, Mark!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *