A spiffy new television ad is the latest method State Rep. Jack Franks is using to convince people to vote for him for McHenry County Board Chairman.
Here’s the text, which a man reads:
Seen your property tax bill?
A faked McHenry County tax bill.
It’s pretty bad news.
caption id=”attachment_98816″ align=”aligncenter” width=”892″]
Headlines from the Chicago Tribune and the Northwest Herald bemoaning high property taxes.[/caption]A lot of taxes skyrocketed.
While our taxes skyrocketed, the County Board gave themselves pensions and perks.
Here Jack Franks displays one of the headlines resulting from his legislation banning future county board members from participating in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund pension plan.
So, Jack Franks passed a law to end that scam.
As our legislator, Jack’s always fought against tax hikes.
Now, he’s running for Board Chairman to end the fraud and abuse.
This is one of a couple of shots of Jack Franks while newspaper endorsements were being displayed.
Jack Franks has a real plan to cut our property taxes.
While not on the sound track, this slide says, “Jack Franks will cut property taxes, shrink the county board, impose term limits, consolidate agencies.”
He’ll bring much needed reform to the County Board.
We need tax relief.
The last slide in Jack Franks’ TV ad.
We need Jack Franks.
= = = = =
Jack Franks, contrary to this ad, has never set forth a “real” plan or any kind of a plan to cut property taxes.
And, he can’t shrink the County Board.
And, he can’t impose Term Limits.
He might be able to convince the County Board to “consolidate agencies,” but there is no way he can do that without County Board approval, where he would not even have a vote, if elected.
Counterpoints
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Taxes –
Mr. Franks voted for unfunded mandates which became law.
The worst were legislative pension and retiree healthcare benefit hikes while pensions were already underfunded.
The pension and retiree healthcare benefit hikes are contractual and cannot be diminished or impaired per one sentence added to the Illinois State Constitution on December 15, 1970.
Thus workers employed at the time of the hike, and all subsequent workers until the law is changed, are constitutionally guaranteed that hike until they perish.
In the case of a 21 year old who lives to 65, that is a 44 year tax hike.
Underfunded pensions are the biggest problem in the state of Illinois.
25% of all general revenues at the state level are now going to pensions.
A large source of general revenue funding is income taxes.
Guess what, there will likely be an income tax hike before the new legislators are sworn into office in January 2017.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Endorsements –
Dick Durbin, wealthy trial lawyers, and top labor leaders support Jack Franks at his upcoming fundraiser in Chicago.
Does that sound like a crowd that wants lower property taxes for McHenry Count residents?
Is Dick Durbin known as a tax fighter?
Do union leaders want lower taxes so there’s less revenue flowing to the union?
Meanwhile, Jack Franks does not publicly endorse local McHenry County Democrats (has anyone ever seen a direct public endorsement from Jack Franks for a McHenry County Democrat?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Endorsements –
The Northwest Herald reported twice in 1998 that Jack Franks said he would ran for a maximum of 3 terms (6 years).
His first term began in 1999.
1999 – 2000 = Term 1
2001 – 2002 = Term 2
2003 – 2004 = Term 3
Thus Jack Franks last term would have ended in January 2005.
Jack Franks has instead went on for an additional 6 terms (12) years.
———–
The Northwest Herald reported in 2014 that Jack Franks said he would would not run for County Board Chair in 2016.
Jack Franks is running for County Board Chair in 2016.
————-
So what good is a Northwest Herald endorsement if the candidate does not even live up to pledges which he gave the very newspaper giving him a current endorsement.
No wonder candidates don’t live up to pledges.
The newspapers don’t hold them accountable.
And the Northwest Herald made zero mention of this in there endorsement of Mr. Franks.
++++++++++++++++
Jack Franks measure that barred county board members from pensions.
That’s a stretch.
The county board themselves voted to end pensions.
Mr. Franks raised the issue to IMRF and the press.
But, scrutiny into county board pensions started in Grundy County and it was uncovered by an IMRF auditor, and that was a year or two before Jack Franks brought up the issue.
+++++++++++
Any savings from County Board pensions are more than washed out by Jack Franks voting to hike the accrual rate in “Downstate” fire pensions.
That was an unfunded mandate, a legislative pension benefit hike, and at the time, most of the fire pensions were underfunded.
Plus the other legislative pension and retiree healthcare benefit hikes for which he voted that became law.
+++++++++++
Jack Franks did not opt out of his pension as a State legislator.
That pension if he lives to his life expectancy will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in employer contributions to the pension fund over his expected life.
Would have to submit a FOIA request to IMRF to see employer contributions to date.
Maybe someone wants to submit a FOIA request to GARS pension fund.
And then a forecast would have to be made for future employer contributions to his pension fund, through his life expectancy.
++++++++++++++++
Impose term limits –
Impose term limits on who?
Board members?
Jack didn’t even live up to his own term limit pledge of 6 years.
Hypocrite.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Shrink the County Board –
Why?
It seems to be a good distribution of power having 6 districts, 4 members per district.
His proposal is to increase the number of districts, and have 1 member per district.
Then who draws the new districts….does he want a Democrat leaning District drawn?
County Board salaries and benefits are not a major cost to taxpayers.
And the cost per board member in salary might increase in time if the each county board member has more work as a result of reducing county board members.
++++++++++++++
Consolidate agencies.
Which agencies?
Mr. Franks just hates releasing details before the voter votes.
The big concern in consolidating agencies is do they result in a group of workers more likely to form a bargaining unit (union local), which would hike taxpayer costs.
To evaluate consolidations, first data on existing agencies should be presented to taxpayers on spreadsheets.
That was a major problem with the proposed township consolidation effort.
The data was never posted on a website in spreadsheets so the taxpayers can do their own analysis.
Next, the proposed savings should be presented to taxpayers in a spreadsheet posted to the website.
That is never done (if so, where’s the example).
+++++++++++++++++++
Jack Franks claims to be a tax fighter.
A real tax fighter would explain unfunded mandates to taxpayers.
Jack Franks was on the local government unfunded mandate task force.
Literally.
The task force was called the Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandate Task Force Chaired by Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti.
But no word from Jack Franks about unfunded mandates.
All he talks about is consolidation.
Unfunded mandates are a major reason for hiked property taxes.
Too many politicians in Illinois have had a lover affair with unfunded mandates.
It’s like charging the credit card.
Hand out the presents and charge credit card.
+++++++++++++++++++
Basically Jack Franks is telling voters what they want to hear.
Can he deliver and will that result in reduced property taxes?
++++++++++++++++++++
Somewhere there’s the statement that Jack Franks never voted for an unbalanced budget.
The state constitutional requirement for a balanced budget is a joke, it does not require a truly balanced budget.
So he may have voted for state budgets that were constitutionally balanced, but they were not balanced in a common sense realistic fashion.
Illinois has had an unbalanced budget for years thanks to loopholes in the state constitutional requirement for a balanced budget.
Regarding an unfunded mandate pension benefit hike, in the case of a 21 year old who lives to 85 (rough life expectancy of a 21 year old), that’s a 64 year tax hike.
Underfunded pension benefit hikes to pensions that are already underfunded are a taxpayer nightmare.
Speaking of Richie Durbin, I’d hope Cal runs the same type of stuff against him next election like he is against Jack.
Richie has voted for around 17T of our national debt.
Even Jack hasn’t been as bad for this county, state, and even the nation as Richie has.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
http://www.lyingjackfranks.com/
Lie after lie, Jack is your guy.
Mark,
Are you going to give up your IDOT pension?
Is there, or is there not, a state of Crisis in McHenry County due to Property Tax Rates?
If there is, a leader will declare this crisis and shift the onus of providing burden of proof for ALL County spending going forward onto the petitioner for money.
At present, County property tax dollars are distributed according to some methodology in which public property tax rate is not a determinant factor.
If a Leader declared a Property Tax Rate State of Emergency, then rather than having a tiny self-funded crew of tax watchdogs trying to put out fires all over the place, the time/resource burden would shift to those GETTING YOUR MONEY!!!
THOSE GETTING YOUR MONEY would need to outline how the theoretical ‘good’ they propose to do outweighs the CRISIS destroying everyone’s home budget and property value at extraordinary rates.
IDOT.
+++++++
Current Democrat 63rd District State Representative Jack Franks wrote a letter dated February 27, 2003 to Margaret Houlihan, Deputy Chief of Staff Intergovernmental Affairs for then Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Rod Blagojevich had just taken office for his first term as Governor on January 13, 2003.
45 days later, Jack Franks wrote this letter:
“To: Margaret Houlihan
From: State Rep. Jack D Franks
RE: Positions with Gov. Blagojevich Administration
Date: February 27, 2003
The following are individuals who we had requested be considered for jobs with the Blagojevich administration. They are prioritized as follows:
1. Deborah Wolf Franks for a Commission;
2. Herbert H Franks for a Commission;
3. David B Franks, a non-paid position with Boxing Commission;
4. John Bartman, a position with IDOT;
5. Michael Dalesasndra, position as Highway Maintainer with IDOT;
6. Judge Erin O’Connell Diaz, position with the Illinois Commerce position;
7. Nancy Vazzano, managerial position with any public service department;
8. Fred Shay, primary management position, primarily Info Technology and IDOT Aviation;
9. Ron Giorandano, position with an advisory commission;
10. Susan Van Weelden, position with any commission;
11. Bill Clow, any public service department;
12. Mary Kennedy, any public service department.
JDF”
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2008/07/04/governor-releases-2003-jack-franks-patronage-request-memo-2
++++++++++++
IDOT appears 2 times on that letter.
++++++++++++
The 4th name on the letter is John Bartman.
John Bartman received a position at IDOT in 2003 after the letter was written, according to Bernard Schoenburg of the Peoria Journal Star.
++++++++++++++
Peoria Journal Star
Blagojevich Hires His Kind
August 25, 2005
by Bernard Schoenburg
“During its first 2 1/2 years, the Blagojevich administration has hired more than a dozen of the state’s 102 Democratic County Chairman for state jobs.”
“Champaign County’s Tony Fabri of Champaign and McHenry County’s John Bartman of Marengo each began in 2003 as IDOT local community and safety liaisons.
IDOT spokesman Matt Vanover said those jobs include ‘work with the local community and do community outreach and safety education outreach.’
Each made $43,800 annually, though Fabri left the job in early 2003.”
+++++++++
Note from above, John Bartman is former Chair of the McHenry County Democrat Party.
Also note, John Bartman is currently employed as a prevailing wage monitor for IIIFFC, which is an IUOE Local 150 union affiliate that monitors prevailing wages on state funded projects.
Is that information on his campaign website?
+++++++++
Pensions.
+++++++++
Lots of comments on this site about pensions.
Pensions are the biggest fiscal problem in the State of Illinois.
The Illinois Policy Institute reported this year that, “Pension costs alone now consume 25 percentP of the entire state general fund budget.”
Jack Franks has not opted out of his State pension.
He will receive a pension valued well over $1 million dollars when he retires.
Pensioners generally recoup their lifetime employee contributions to the pension fund in the first 1 – 2 years of retirement, as has been reported by many organizations including Taxpayers United of America.
++++++++++
The first three people listed in the letter above were Jack Franks’ wife, father, and a brother.
++++++++++
John Bartman and Jack Franks are friends that both reside in Marengo.
Typo.
IDOT appears 3 times in the letter.
Lol
Ok Mark,
Are you still on Sharon Drive?
McHenry County Board Presidential Candidates:
Is an above 3% (as high as 4.6%) Property Tax Rate a Crisis Condition. or not?
If Franks were a conservative Catholic, Evangelical or Baptist …. would he be such a little darling for the captive press in Illinois?
I really don’t think so.
Voltaire had it right ….. perhaps it was the only thing that he ever did get right!:
http://i.imgur.com/Rqj4l.jpg