Thank you for the alert.

Give the proponents credit, the 377 referendum made the ballot the “hard way”.

Unlike McHenry County, where the county board placed the referendum on the ballot, the Kane County referendum is a voter-initiated referendum and proponents gathered nearly 35,000 petition signatures to place it on the March 18th, 2014 ballot.

This past April, McHenry County voters sent a very clear message (65% against) in opposition to the 377 Board in McHenry County.

Yes, the turnout was low on April 9th, and only 31,000 voters cast ballots on the referendum, but the message was clear, and your coverage and Andrew Gasser’s work and other opponents made a clear impact.

In Kane County, the referendum supporters and opponents have a similar challenge with a twist — a low-turnout primary election, and partisan offices on the ballot, along with the nonpartisan referendum. While this mix favors opponents, it’ll be an interesting campaign to watch. Unlike McHenry County, there is no countywide 708 Mental Health Board in Kane County, just in certain municipalities and townships.

And, some voters in Kane County will have more than 1 tax referendum on the ballot, most notably, the voters in Sun City who are in the Huntley Park District.

Finally, I found your articles covering the past referendum starting with last November, and listed them below for easier access to read:

http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2012/11/09/mchenry-county-board-resolution-for-tax-hike-referendum-seems-to-endorse-it/

http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2013/03/08/tax-hike-referendum-set-for-april-8th/

http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2013/03/22/campaign-against-377-referendum/

http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2013/03/28/northwest-herald-makes-no-recommendation-on-countywide-tax-hike-referendum/

http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2013/04/06/tax-hikers-call-saying-voting-yes-will-save-tax-dollars-sure-and-glass-is-as-value-of-diamonds/

http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2013/04/06/tax-hikers-call-saying-voting-yes-will-save-tax-dollars-sure-and-glass-is-as-value-of-diamonds/

http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2013/04/07/708-board-giving-only-10-of-tax-money-to-developmentally-disabled/

http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2013/04/08/opponents-to-real-estate-tax-hike-referendum-tuesday-make-robo-call/

@Allen, good to see you and your associates are already on top of this.

While the proponents for this referendum did a good job gathering the petition signatures to submit the 377 referendum to the voters in March, I must point out the Kane County Executive Committee on January 10, did not advance the ballot question to the April 2013 ballot.

From the Executive Committee minutes:

“Committee members acknowledged the importance of issue, but many expressed concern about putting additional burden on the taxpayers, the lack of a complete plan to provide assistance to people with substance abuse and mental illness issues as well asthe developmentally disabled, low voter turnout in the spring, etc.

“Comment was made that a broader approach might find more support.

“Some spoke in favor of putting it on the ballot to let the voters decide, noting that the Board could limit the impact on taxpayers.

“It was suggested that supporters continue their efforts to get the required signatures to get the question on the ballot that way.

“Motion failed by Roll Call vote – 4 Aye (Donahue, Ford, Hoscheit, Vazquez), 6 Nay (Frasz, Allan, Castro, Kojzarek, Silva, Wojnicki).

“Item was not moved forward to the full County Board.”

Please note, one of the no votes was cast by Barb Wojnicki, who’s chairman of the Kane County Republican Party.

Another no vote, Board Vice Chairman Drew Frasz, has publicly endorsed the referendum’s approval, according to the Daily Herald article Cal linked in his article.