The McHenry County Non-Dedicated Roads Coalition has sent letters and questionnaires to each person running for the McHenry County Board.

Those who live on roads not maintained by Township Road Commissioners just don’t understand why their usually older subdivisions get such a small cut of the Township Road District pies.

Municipalities, for instance, get 50% of a Township’s Road and Bridge Fund property tax collections on properties within their boundaries.

Here’s the August 9th letter sent to County Board members:

I am writing to you in your capacity as a candidate for election to the McHenry County Board. I am writing to all candidates, incumbents and newcomers.

My purpose in writing is to provide some basic information about an issue that is of utmost importance to some ten thousand McHenry County residents who live in old heritage subdivisions. In addition to providing you with a brief information sheet explaining our issue and how it involves the McHenry County Board, we are including a candidate questionnaire that is self-explanatory.

Our motivation is straight forward and selfish. We want to indentify who needs knowledge of our issue and/or who is already up to speed with it and has an opinion and is willing to share it with us. We intend to be active supporters of those who hear our cause and are sympathetic to helping resolve it. Quite simply, we want to know who we would like to see elected and then try to help that come about.

Our questionnaire includes an opportunity for you to seek additional information and clarification. Any of our ten member steering committee, one or more of whom you probably know, would be willing to provide that information. If you don’t already know of our issue, let me summarize by telling you that we seek nothing from the county other than utilizing a State of Illinois statute that enables the county to modify road standards for old heritage subdivisions that are shut out of their share of township road and bridge taxes collected by the township because of standards that the county now has in place and are impossible to meet but were not in place at the time these old subdivisions were platted.

While we would appreciate and sensibly utilize any help we might receive from the county or township, what we really seek is only our fair share of the road and bridges taxes that we pay for the roads that go by our homes. It is our position that it is the townships that are denying us a return of our tax dollars but that it was the lax or non existent standards that the county set, or didn’t set, many decades ago, that lets that happen.

Thank you for participating in the democratic process with us. We seek no hand outs or preferential treatments. Please hear our story and help us.

Sincerely,

John Reihansperger, President

Here’s the questionnaire:

McHenry County Board Candidate Questionnaire

This questionnaire is the initiative of the McHenry County Non-Dedicated Roads Coalition. For over five years our coalition has been attempting to resolve an issue with our respective township road districts that requires involvement by the McHenry County Board for resolution. We make up over ten thousand McHenry County citizens.

Thank you for helping us assess how much work we have to do. We eventually need three-fifths of the entire board for us to be successful.

Candidate name (as it will appear on the ballot)_________________________________

McHenry County District #____________

Address_________________________________________________________________
(#—-Street—city—state—ZIP)

Phone #s

e-mail__________________________ Web site? _______________________________

Please circle your response.

1.) Do you live on a non-dedicated road? YES NO

2.) Do you know of our issue? YES NO

3.) Have you already been informed enough and made a decision about whether or not you are supportive of our position? YES NO

4.) If “No”, would you be willing to provide us the opportunity to explain our issue and listen to our talking points?   YES NO NA

5.) Do you support our position?  YES NO DON’T KNOW

Please circle above the phone number, e-mail, or snail mail address that we should use.

(H)_________________(C)__________________(Fax)_________________

THANK YOU!!!

Please respond ASAP