Two Northwest Herald columnists have taken recent pot shots at the controversial proposed Crystal Lake TIF districts. On Oct. 30th, Brian Slupski offered a pre-Halloween satirical list of things to make local folks wary. On it is “The TIF from … Continue reading
Speaking of the old Crystal Lake Dump, as I do in the post below, I once had a phone conversation with Dick Tracy cartoonist Chester Gould about Gravel Gertie. It was when I was state representative in the late 1970’s. … Continue reading
When the Crystal Lake High and Grade School districts voted to reject the Vulcan Lakes/Route 14 Tax Increment Financing District proposed by the Crystal Lake City Council, they decided to file a report explaining why. Attacked in the city council’s … Continue reading
In the “better late than never” category is the Crystal Lake Park Board’s resolution last night to oppose the city council’s two Tax Increment Financing Districts. Had the board known the rules of the TIF “game,” it is likely it … Continue reading
In Friday’s Northwest Herald is an article about the $23 million that the City of Crystal Lake is scheduled to haul in over a twenty-year period as a result of a proposed Waste Management garbage transfer station to be located … Continue reading
Introducing himself as the chairman of Citizens Against TIFs, local activist Jim Young stated that he believed the General Assembly made a very serious mistake when it passed the Tax Increment Financing law. “It violates the principles of equity,” the … Continue reading
Over one hour and twenty minutes after the Crystal Lake City Council meeting began, Grade School District 47 Superintendent Ron Miller was the first one to get a chance to offer the first public comments in the Vulcan Lakes/Route 14 … Continue reading
When Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley says so. Or, at least, that is what he would have the audience and fellow council members believe if his performance at Tuesday night’s city council is any indication. Apparently, he was smarting from … Continue reading
High School District 155’s consultant Joe Christofanelli of the firm of Ernst and Young has conservatively estimated a net loss of $10 million should the two Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts be approved by the City of Crystal Lake. “The … Continue reading
Wouldn’t you have thought that the City Council would have made certain that its employees could drive a vehicle into the Vulcan Lakes property when it cut the deal with Vulcan Materials? Did you assume that the road between the … Continue reading
Crystal Lake neighborhoods who received the leaflet entitled, “Mayor Shepley/City Council Plan Tax Hike,” can thank Crystal Lake Libertarian Party member Jim Young. Young, who does not believe that tax dollars should be spent to subsidize developers got back into … Continue reading
The City of Crystal Lake must notify all of the tax districts who will be affected when it proposes a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district. When the city did so, only three decided it was worth their time to take … Continue reading
When the City of Crystal Lake traded the gravel under Three Oaks Road to Vulcan Material Company for the resulting lakes when gravel mining was completed, everyone using Route 14 was affected. The day after Three Oaks Road was closed, … Continue reading
There is one clear method through which improvements to Vulcan Lakes could be financed. The City Council could just ask the McHenry County Conservation District to take over the property. It could be rented out on a long-term lease, with … Continue reading
The City of Crystal Lake has not even considered imposing special property taxes on the businesses who are supposed to benefit most by the two Tax Increment Financing Districts it has proposed. Instead of taxing those businesses that will benefit … Continue reading
The Crystal Lake City Council is planning to divert money from our school, park & college districts to benefit developers along Route 14 and on Main St. in Crystal Lake. A TIF (Tax Increment Financing) District freezes the property tax … Continue reading
As much as $6 million a year tax shift from businesses in two proposed Tax Increment Financing Districts (TIFs) to us homeowners and other businesses has been proposed by the Mayor and City Council. Over 23 years, something in the … Continue reading
A mid-day Friday city hall meeting of the tax districts affected by the two Tax Increment Financing districts proposed by the City of Crystal Lake resulting in requiring one of the proposals to receive a 3/5 majority. District representatives voted … Continue reading
“How can the City of Crystal Lake adopt a TIF district that takes money away from people who don’t live in Crystal Lake?” Commissioner Dave Phelps asked. “It’ll cost people who don’t live in Crystal Lake more money. Doesn’t that … Continue reading
