Board Member Sought for TB District

A press release from the McHenry County Board:

The McHenry County Board is accepting applications from INDIVIDUALS interested in appointment to the McHENRY COUNTY TUBERCULOSIS BOARD.

One position is available for a three-year term which expires on June 30, 2018.

Application forms are available at the County Board Office, Room 209, McHenry County Government Center, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock, IL 60098 (815-334-4221) or at the County’s website at http://www.co.mchenry.il.us/home/showdocument?id=12290.

Completed applications should be returned to the County Board office no later than 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, 2015.

If mailing your application, certified or registered mail is recommended.  Mailed applications should be sent to the following address:  McHenry County Board, 2200 North Seminary Avenue, Woodstock, IL 60098.

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The term of Karen Van Buren (McHenry) expires 6-30-2015.

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Why the TB tax district still exists is beyond me.

It was the first health district enacted by the Illinois General Assembly. It provides free care to those who have tuberculosis.

That is no longer a disease that needs a special tax.

Back in the 1980’s then-County Board member Ann Hughes put a referendum on the ballot to abolish the district, but it failed.

Perhaps some current ambitious County Board member or candidate will get enough signatures to put the question on the ballot again.


Comments

Board Member Sought for TB District — 8 Comments

  1. I do not know how many TB cases were diagnosed in McHenry in the past year, but statistics for prior years up until 2013 are here:

    http://www.idph.state.il.us/health/infect/2013_TB_Rate_Map.pdf

    The other thing that I can speak about: TB used to be a “third world” disease, but it has made a comeback because of HIV/AIDS.

    The cases diagnosed with TB nowadays are “multi drug resistant” and need to be treated with multiple antibiotics, for a minimum of 6 months at a time.

    Treatment has to be supervised (the patient has to be watched swallowing the pills – because guess what, the patients affected are the kind of patients who may decide to not take the pills).

    It is not a simple case of letting the idiots die – because the disease is contagious.

    You can get it in the DMV, or in the ER, or in the store if you are close enough to the affected person and unfortunate enough.

    TB is a bad, bad, contagious disease. I

    t is very similar to leprosy (bacteria of the same family).

    It used to be known as “consumption” in the preantibiotic era.

    Thanks to antibiotics and public health, it became rarer in the US, but it has now come back.

    I would be careful with cutting funding for this stuff, because even a single infected patient can start spreading it.

    As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

    I think government has a perfectly legitimate role in prevention of contagious disease.

  2. I do not understand the need for a separate taxing district, I frankly confess my ignorance here.

    I do not understand why there have to be separate tax districts for anything.

    According to my simple mind, there should be a single local tax for schools and roads and police and jails and health and courts and parks.

    Whoever collects that tax – our local government – would be controlled by us via the ballot box.

    I never understood why there have to be so many separate mini-governments covering the same territory.

  3. The failed referendum is yet another classic example of “let the voters decide”.

    TB is up because millions are entering our country without medical background checks.

    The fault lies at the feet of the Administrations in D.C.!!

    Illinois is attempting to remove religious exemptions for forced vaccinations but schools are forced to accept illegal alien children without medical certifications!

    Voters keep electing people with ‘common sense deficits’ to office.

  4. name less – the come back has a lot to do with our terrible immigration policies.

    People coming over the border and from Eastern Europe are strong sources.

    We do not give any kind of screening for disease, even for those that come legally.

    TB is frequently brought in by these people.

  5. I have TB (caught it as a child because I have a primary immune deficiency) and not a single person has been infected because of me.

    There is no need for this taxing district.

    There are many antiquated laws that need to be removed, as well.

    I was unable to be hired by an Illinois school district because of TB, but I was allowed to volunteer 100’s of hours in the schools.

    The current TB cases can be reported to the state department and the CDC, but McHenry County does not require a separate taxing body for this.

    There is no need for even a full time employee for this.

  6. The reason is that the 1870 State Constitution limited the borrowing of local governments to 5% of their assessed valuation.

    Some areas wanted to borrow more than that.

    Some examples:

    Park Districts. They are pretty much a city function in other states. I have been told that Illinois is the only state with separate, independent park districts. One can imagine that Crystal Lake, for example, want to buy park land, but the city didn’t have enough borrowing power to buy what folks wanted. The answer? Create a park district.

    School Districts. Most of the state has unit districts. That refers to kindergarten through high school grades being under one school board. When areas decided they wanted to borrow more than the 1870 Constitution allowed, grade schools were separated from high schools.

    The reason for the restrictions in the 1870 Constitution, I’ve been told, was the borrowing to finance canals. The expected revenue stream to pay off the money borrowed to dig the canals didn’t appear because railroads were more efficient in moving freight.

    Regardless, we are now stuck with way too many tax districts.

  7. LaurieJ you must have LATENT TB or you were treated for TB previously.

    You can’t just walk around with active TB.

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