No Contest for Any Park District Candidates

The Huntley Park District building where the Grafton Township Board will meet tonight at 7:30.

The Huntley Park District building, which used to be Huntley High School.  Area taxpayers paid for it twice.

There are five park districts operating in parts of McHenry County:

  • Barrington Hills Park District
  • Cary Park District
  • Crystal Lake Park District
  • Huntley Park District
  • Marengo Park District

The rest of the county has more logical ways of providing recreational services.  Lake in the Hills, for instance, allocates 10% of its budget to parks.

Residents of Algonquin, Fox River Grove, Harvard, McHenry, Oakwood Hills, Woodstock, etc., have parks provided by their municipalities.  (The Kane County portion of Algonquin is in the Dundee Township Park District.)

Where village boards or city councils handle parks it is less likely that “cheer leaders” will be in control.  “Cheer leaders” tend to think that the public service that their tax district provides is the most important of them all.

In addition, McHenry County has a Conservation District, which mainly provides the opportunity for passive recreation or an unorganized nature.

I am convinced that the huge number of special purpose districts in McHenry County is a large part of the reason we are the 29th highest property taxed county in the United States of America.

Where municipalities are in control, various needs must be balanced.

In any event, here are those running for park board in April

Barrington Hills Park District (4 six-year terms)

  • Steven Allen
  • Dennis Kelly (I)
  • John Rosene (I)

Cary Park District (2 six-year terms)

  • William Harvey (I)
  • William Kreuger (I)

Crystal Lake Park District (3 four-year terms)

  • Deborah Gallagher (i)
  • Larry Wheeler (i)
  • Paul Myers (i)

Huntley Park District (2 six-year terms)

  • Jim Blasky (i)
  • Paul LeFLeur (i)

Marengo Park District (2 four-year terms)

  • Jeffrey Lindstrom (I)
  • Teresa Paulauski

Comments

No Contest for Any Park District Candidates — 1 Comment

  1. A shame, really.

    In many municipalities, the Park District component of your real estate tax bill is higher than the Municipality’s take.

    That’s right, what you pay the park district is more than what you pay the village/city/town.

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