Caroline Schertz "Objects" To PTELL

Caroline Schertz "Explains" opposition To PTELL In this video, Ms. Schertz (running for reelection to District 3 - Woodford County Board) gives her rationale for voting last August to prevent PTELL from appearing before the voters this Tuesday. For more information on this vote, please look here.

Don't forget to vote the 5th (if you haven't voted early)!

Jim Irvin and Bob Huschen Argue For County Board PTELL Vote

Here are some comments from the August Board meeting recommending that the Woodford County Board put PTELL before the voters next Tuesday.

Click here for Mr. Irvin's comments.

Click here for Mr. Huschen's comments.

The Board did not comply. Please see the prior post for more information.

Woodford County Agendas and Minutes/info

We shall endeavor to post monthly meeting agendas and minutes/budget information for our readers' convenience:

Woodford County Board -
Agendas
Minutes
Committee Minutes
Budgets - N.A.

Illinois Central College District #514 -
Agendas
Minutes
Committees - N.A.
Budgets - N.A.

Congerville-Eureka-Goodfield CUSD #140 -
Agendas
Minutes
Committees
Budgets

Deer Creek-Mackinaw Unit No. 701 -
Agendas
Minutes
Committees
Budgets

El Paso-Gridley CUSD #11 -
Agendas - N.A.
Minutes
Committees - N.A.
Budgets

Fieldcrest Community Unit No. 6 -
Agendas
Minutes
Committees - N.A.
Budgets

Germantown Hills SD #69 -
Agendas
Minutes
Committees - N.A.
Budgets

Lowpoint-Washburn CUSD #21 -
Agendas - N.A.
Minutes - N.A.
Committees - N.A.
Budgets [links broken]

Metamora Community Cons. District Unit No. 1 -
Agendas
Minutes
Committees
Budgets [links broken]

Metamora Township High School No. 122 -
Agendas
Minutes
Committees
Budgets ['07-08 missing]


Riverview Community Cons. School District #2 -
Agendas
Minutes
Committees -N.A.
Budgets [fiscal '07 missing]

Roanoke-Benson Community CUSD #60 -
Agendas
Minutes
Committees -N.A.
Budgets


Eureka Public Library District -
Agendas - N.A.
Minutes - N.A.
Committees - N.A.
Budgets - N.A.

Illinois Prairie Public Library District -
Agendas
Minutes
Committees - N.A.
Budgets - N.A.

Grant Memorial Park District
Web Site - N.A.

Metamora Park District
Web Site - N.A.

Roanoke Park District
Web Site - N.A.

Village of Bayview Gardens 309-678-4742	Village of Metamora 309-367-4044
Village of Benson 309-394-2523	City of Minonk 309-432-2558
Village of Congerville 309-448-2276	Village of Panola 309-527-3693
City of El Paso 309-527-4005	Village of Roanoke 309-923-3661
City of Eureka 309-467-2113	Village of Secor 309-744-2444
Village of Germantown Hills 309-383-2209	Village of Spring Bay 309-822-8400
Village of Goodfield 309-965-2517	Village of Washburn 309-248-7222

Benson Fire Protection District
2040 Co. Rd. 2200 E, Benson IL 61516
Fire Chief-Randy Koehler (309) 394-2421

Congerville Fire Protection District
317 County Highway 8, Congerville IL 61729
Fire Chief-Dave Zobrist (309) 448-2384

El Paso Fire Protection District
247 E. Front St, PO Box 56, El Paso IL 61738
Fire Chief-Dale Uphoff (309) 527-2555

Eureka-Goodfield Fire Protection District
PO Box 2, 211 North Main St., Eureka IL 61530
Fire Chief-Craig Neal (309) 467-6181

Germantown Hills Fire Protection District
313 Prairie Ave., Metamora IL 61548
Fire Chief-Mathew "Chip" Wilmont (309) 383-4890

Metamora Rural Fire
1472 Lourdes Rd, Metamora IL 61548
Fire Chief-Fred Glueck (309) 367-2640

Minonk Fire Protection District
PO Box 32, Minonk IL 61760
Fire Chief-Bill Herman, Jr. (309) 432-2844

Roanoke Fire District
106-108 West Broad, Box 748, Roanoke IL 61561
Fire Chief-Jeff Smith (309) 923-8351

Secor Fire District
Box 17, Secor IL 61771
Fire Chief-Greg Slayton (309) 744-5358

Spring Bay Fire District
200 Ronald Road, East Peoria IL 61611
Fire Chief-Dennis Perry (309) 822-0152

Washburn Fire District
2004 Co. Rd. 00N, Washburn IL 61570
Fire Chief-Jesse Erkman (309) 248-7219

Tip o' the Hat to www.woodford-county.org . . .

More to follow . . . stay tuned . . .

Kudos to the County

We've had a lot of fun over the past couple of years at the expense of Woodford County and the ongoing attempt to provide an "online presence".

Our County government is a strange animal in that we have an elected board, elected officials, and "hired hands", each which essentially run their own "businesses". To get all of these folks to sign on to a common internet web page scheme is no small accomplishment; nor did this come without a considerable price tag.

We at "WoodfordTaxFacts" are free with our criticism of government. It is only right that we are free with our applauding efforts to enhance, what we feel is most important in representative governance, and that is, transparency and usefulness to "the folks".

Shortly, by visiting http://www.woodford-county.org you will be able to get County Board agendas, meeting minutes, Committee schedules, pay tax bills, and over the next year or so do much more.

This investment, both monetarily and in terms of "share of mind" on the part of your representatives, shows admirable vision on the part of your local governmental agencies.

Let's face it, if we want young people to take ownership of their local government, we need to reach them in the language they understand and use - and that language today is digital.

We encourage you to 'root on' this effort by your County Board, Elected Officials, Staff, and Administration. A few "atta boys" once in a while never hurt anyone and the cost for that is. . . well . . . nominal.

The Fat Lady Sang - Again - PTELL in Woodford County

An initiative to put Illinois' Property Tax Extension Limitation Law before the voters in Woodford County once again went down in flames at tonight's regular Woodford County Board Meeting.

We thought there was a 50-50 chance of PTELL ending up on the November '08 ballot. Boy, were we wrong. It wasn't even close. It was soundly voted down, and if you take the Board members' explanations of their votes at face value, it was voted down for the most ridiculous and uninformed reasons imaginable. Here's a sampling:

"If you look at rates, I've done research, they haven't gone up that much . . ."

What do "rates" have to do with PTELL? NOTHING!

"We and others have CUT taxes in the past. I don't know if we could DO that under PTELL"

Oh, we don't think that would be a problem.

"Larger population areas shouldn't be able to tell smaller population areas what to do with their schools."

Huh? Under PTELL, as under the current laws, no one, no how, outside of a taxing district can tell that district how much money they can raise. The question of extensions in excess of the ceiling goes to the voters in and only in that district. How is this "unfair"?

"I was GOING to ask for this to be tabled for more study, but I'm not going to now, and I'm voting against letting the voters decide on this issue, BECAUSE SOME OF THE PROPONENTS HERE TONIGHT ARE USING EMOTIONAL, PATRIOTIC, INFERENCES . . ."

Well that's as good a reason as any of the others.

"I don't appreciate one of the board members making veiled threats . . . so I'm voting against it"

Yes, well, nothing like voting on the merit of the proposal.

"We [the County Board] can't solve your property tax problems"

The implication is "so why should we even try. It's not our problem."

"I don't know what the impact of PTELL has been on the counties that have it. I wish some of the "public input" speakers would have presented some facts on that. I'm voting against it"

Gee, Mr. Board member. Maybe you could have Googled PTELL before the meeting and boned up a bit. One name that would have come up is woodfordtaxfacts.org. We'd have been delighted to accommodate you. The Illinois Department of Revenue has voluminous non-biased information on PTELL and its implementation. Or you could have asked your finance committee for that information BEFORE YOU VOTED! And these are the same folks that said in the same breath (with nary a grin in sight) that the voters have trusted THEM to make taxing decisions!

It went on and on. We have access to video of some of this stuff and we'll attempt to cross post it over on YouTube and here. It's quite entertaining.

We were so shocked by some of the votes that we missed the final tally - more on that tomorrow - but it must have been nearly 2 to 1 against.

A lot of the tough talk from the last Republican Primary contest for Board seats seems to have gone all squishy when it came to PTELL.

Update:

The PJS says the vote was 9-5:

"Voting against putting PTELL on the ballot were Larry Whitaker, Kenneth Uphoff, Caroline Schertz, Joel Lemkemann, Gary Joseph, Gary Jones, Thomas Karr, James Fyke and Glazier. Voting in favor were Pete Lambie, Marcus Adams, Thomas Evans, Thomas Janssen and John Krug."

RELAX! PTELL won't hurt a bit.

The fear mongering is beginning once again in Woodford County.

Next Tuesday, the Woodford County Board will vote on whether or not to allow the State of Illinois' Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) to be put on the November '08 ballot for voters to give a thumbs up or thumbs down. PTELL essentially limits the growth of property tax extensions to 5% per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is less - UNLESS THE INCREASE IS TAKEN TO VOTERS for approval in a referendum. This "cap" does not pertain to new construction growth.

Already, two objections to EVEN ALLOWING THE "FOLKS" TO VOTE on this issue have been raised by those terrified of a PTELL initiative (taxing authorities). Both are red herrings:

1. Taxes will actually GO UP, because taxing districts will "load up" on the front end, and . . .

2. PTELL will force one local taxing district (read School District) to live by the rules of another area's voters not those in the district.

Both arguments are specious not to say ridiculous.

First of all, taxes may indeed go up initially in a PTELL county if a taxing district chooses to "front load" on its extensions before the law can go into effect. Not only is this onerous, it is a tactic designed not only as a threat to voters in advance of a vote, but if implemented after a successful vote, a deliberate, albeit legal, attempt to circumvent the will of the voters. If a taxing district chooses this route they will indeed have a revenue bump in the initial years, but history shows that this initial bump will pale in comparison to the spending restraint statistically accrued over time in those counties under PTELL versus those not. It will also destroy the taxing authorities perceived credibility, accountability, and transparency to the voters - hardly worth the effort just to be able to say, "we'll show them".

Second, with regard to the "unfairness" of one district having to live with the same rules as another in the County (the PTELL opponents gripe that areas with larger populations have a disproportionate influence) - couldn't the same thing be said about ANY county law? Why should one district live under the zoning laws of another? Why should one school district have the same truancy laws as another? What about "local control" of a school district? Let's face it - "local control" is largely an illusion anyway. What about NCLB? What about federal and state mandates? What about unions?

Local control? Well, let's demonstrate that by asking the local voter for the money rather than confiscating it.

Clearly, the "unfairness to local districts" argument a silly one. Even if it were true that the voting on PTELL were somehow skewed because it is one man, one vote (hunh?), it simply IS NOT TRUE that a taxing district can't raise any amount of money that they wish under PTELL. No one but that district's own voters can determine what their budgets will be. The district, simply, must ASK THE VOTERS rather than just TAKING THE MONEY. No other area is in charge of a district's levy or extension under PTELL. If it's more than the rate of inflation or 5% the district simply needs to ask the voters for that increase. WHAT"S WRONG WITH THAT?

Finally, and most egregiously, you will hear Woodford County Board members that are opposed to PTELL maintain that "this is why we, and the local taxing authorities' Boards are elected - to 'make the hard decisions'. We don't need PTELL to help us keep taxes low. The voters already have accountability - at election time!"

Well, that is fine and good. Unfortunately, taxes are assessed every year costing homeowners thousands of dollars. Officials aren't elected every year. Try and get an explanation in plain english for a rise in equalized assessed valuations from one of your board members at any level. This isn't asking for money - this is taking it.

Can you even attend all of those board meetings? We sure can't. There are hundreds of taxing authorities in Woodford County.

Just look at the past record and decide for yourself if you want to give permission for increased taxes or if you want to continue to cede that permission to various local boards.

Woodford County Web Site (coming soon?)

No, now, we really, really, mean it this time. The County of Woodford IS going to have a web site soon.

We think.

The email addressing scheme for the County will be First Initial; Last Name@woodford-county.org. For example, the County Administrator - Greg Jackson's new email address will be gjackson@woodford-county.org.

E-mail should already be in force for departments under this scheme.

Peoria Journal Star Stands Up (heh, heh)

In another hard hitting editorial, the Peoria Journal Star has called on the newly elected County Board Chairmen of Woodford and Tazwell Counties to "mend fences". Such sage advice can only be ignored at the Counties' peril.

This courageous stand is best illustrated by the final line of the piece:

"Whatever hatchets are out there, residents of both counties will be best served if those they elected bury them."

With a solid policy compass like this is it any wonder our Board depends so heavily on the paper's opinion for direction?

The editorial board did manage to get in the obligatory Woodford County dig, though:

"He's [Tazwell Board Chairman Prather] lucky to have a bipartisan board, if Woodford is any indication. Stable finances should help, too."

We sure hope their jobs are safe over there at the paper with the announcement of their imminent sale. We hear David Geffen is ready to pony up $2 Billion for the L.A. Times. Maybe he'd like the PJS as well. We'd miss those nuts.

New Woodford Board to grow SOD?

The Pantagraph reported on Woodford County's new Board Chairman and the face of the newly seated Board. Nothing too earth shattering there.

Of interest is a new "Long Term Plan" for the County quite unfortunately named "Shape Our Destiny 2025". Who came up with that? The acronym would be S.O.D. Perhaps that needs a little tweaking.

On a serious note we sincerely hope that SOD isn't a cloak for super-zoning ordinances, super-Board Committees, and an attempt at "New Urbanism". We're all for looking ahead, you know - who are we, where are we, how did we get here, where are we going, blah, blah, blah - strategic planning 101. It just makes our wallets tingle when we see consultants and architects and "public input" meetings. When we first hear mention of "sprawl" we will lock the wallets in the safe deposit box at the bank.

Woodford County Gets A Web Site!

No, seriously. Woodford County has a website!

I know we said that months ago, but we spent money on it. Lots of money.

Oh, well, no, it's not up yet . . . next April . . . yeah. It's gonna be great . . . there's gonna be transparency and stuff . . . accountability, and you know, e-commerce . . . and it's only gonna cost a couple a hundred a month to operate!

Woodford County has contracted with a Peoria firm to provide a web site and technological support - five months from now.

Hey, these things take time. LOTS of time; and money.

Woodford Spending To Go UP!

Here we go again.

The Woodford County Journal this week proclaimed on it's front page banner, "Woodford tax to go down". Evidently the editor forgot one word. "rate" should have been inserted between "tax" and "to"; an understandable oversight.

The headline should have read, "Woodford Spending Up 7.5 Percent!", because that is the increase in the County's budget.

How can this be? Well, you already know the answer to this. The tax rate is only one factor in total property tax extensions. The other big factor is the total property base's valuation to which the rate is applied. Of course there are other "revenue streams" besides property taxes as well - call 'em whatever you wish - they're still taxes. No one seems to understand that, unlike the taxing authorities, the average taxpayer has no other revenue sources from which to draw upon.

To be fair, "the Journal" does include a "primer on taxation" on page 4A - the editorial section. Unfortunately it perpetuates the myth that the property tax/spending equation is hopelessly complicated and you might as well leave talk of rates, abatements, levies, caps, and EAV to the experts.

Don't get us wrong, we're glad the rate went down and we're happy, we guess, to see some burden shifted to "user fees" from property taxes. Just don't be fooled that this county's taxes went down, because they sure didn't. Nor should you be convinced that all of this is way too complicated for the average voter. It isn't. It's really simple:

How much did you spend last year, the year before that, and the year before that? What do you want this year? Unfortunately for the taxpayer, this question needs to be asked of every taxing authority - schools, fire, water, municipal, library, township, county, community college, etc.

And no, "appraisal creep" doesn't refer to the guy setting the values.

Remember Woodford County's "40 Acres" and a mewl?

There is apparently a Champaign County Board meeting tonight on "Township Boundary changes". That seems to be code for land use restrictions on a County-wide basis.This should sound familiar to property owners of Woodford County as we dealt with it a year ago. From a poster over at the IlliniPundit:

“This issue of preserving prime farmland by relinquishing the owner’s property rights is a huge issue. How would you like to be a landowner and have your county board dictate new zoning regulations that restrict your ability to sell off home sites? Ten years ago a one acre home site was legal by right. Today the new zoning text amendments are proposing to restrict the landowner to one lot per forty acres with a maximum of four additional lots per tax parcel.

Here’s an example; if you owned sixty acres you could have a minimum six, possibly more home sites. If the new regs went through, you would be limited to one home site. How can the county board even consider doing this to the citizens of this county?

Especially when you see that the loss of farm land is not a big issue outside the urban sprawl of CU. CU is the culprit, not the rural landowners."

Brush up on the information because this issue will not go away quietly in Woodford County. Certain Board factions will be back again with something this next year.

[ UPDATE - 11/22/06]:

There was a large turnout for Champaign County's meeting and the ordinances will not be changed - for now; demonstrates what citizen turn-out can do at local meetings.

Still No Woodford County Web Site!

It has now been eight months since the Peoria Journal Star headline screamed, "Woodford County To Develop Web Site"!

Chairman Whitaker said, "Ten years ago, I would have scratched my head and said, 'Is this something we really need?' Today, we really need it."

The newly hired Administrator Greg Jackson said, "There are efficiencies that can be gained from e-government technologies," Jackson said. "It also shows the public that we are an open government and allows (the general public) to come online and see what we can do."

Of course this was during the primary election when certain candidates were vowing to "drag Woodford County, kicking and screaming if necessary, into the 21st century". We believed then and we believe now that this publicized vapor-ware of a web site was a stunt.

The County Board granted over $6,000 to Minonk to develop a web site. It's granted money to El Paso. Presumably the need is perceived for a county website:

Jackson said his efforts, thus far, have been well-received, with all the county department heads and elected officials supportive of the Web idea. "They are as excited about this as I am," he said.

Meanwhile, citizens of Woodford County must drive by the County Boardroom in order to see meeting agendas and minutes. There is no easy way to email Board Members. There is no easy way for voters to monitor budgets or committee meetings. The majority of Illinois counties had up to the minute elections results last week. Not Woodford. Many Illinois Counties allow for fee paying online. Not Woodford County.

Perhaps the leadership has been too busy scheduling special meetings to discuss the sanctioning of other Board members to worry about tax payer participation in local government.

This is an issue of transparency in government. Woodford should open up to scrutiny by the taxpayers.

Eight months and counting since the promises. We'll keep you posted.

Open Meetings Act

The Open Meetings Act was revised in a major way effective July 1, 2006. Under the new law, government bodies who maintain their own websites must post agendas of meetings prior to the meeting and must post minutes after the meeting.

By the way, what ever happened to the much vaunted Woodford County Website that was supposed to be happening months ago?

We win! "Triangulation" in action?

Remember the Clinton/Dick Morriss years of "triangulation"? This was basically taking away your opponents issues by taking them as your own, only with some ineffectual action.

The PJS today indicates that Chairman Whitaker now believes we should have a County web site.

Welcome to the 21st century, boys! Glad to have you along.

Missing in Action!

Where is Woodford County? The following Illinois Counties have web sites to aid the citizens in their search for information:

Adams
Boone
Carroll
Champaign
Clark
Clinton
Coles
Cook
De Kalb
De Witt
Du Page
Effingham
Ford
Grundy
Henry
Iroquois
Jackson
Jo Daviess
Kane
Kankakee
Kendall
La Salle
Lake
Livingston
Logan
Madison
Marshall
Mason
Mchenry
Mclean
Montgomery
Ogle
Peoria
Piatt
Rock Island
Sangamon
St Clair
Stark
Stephenson
Tazewell
Vermilion
Whiteside
Will
Winnebago

This is the 21st century, is it not? The County has provided municipalities grant money to develop web sites. Where is Woodford County's web site?

These Guys Voted For Tax Increases

I've debated posting this for a few days, and finally decided to do it; after all, it's a matter of public record.

The following candidates for Woodford County Board in the Republican Primary voted for the 44% property tax levy increase last year:

- James Booth
- Ron Call
- Dave Griepentrog
- Ken Uphoff
- Larry Whitaker.

Now, I don't know about you, but a lot of folks think a price should be paid for this kind of thing, and that the polls are the place to collect.

As always, I leave it to the good judgement of the voters, which is more it seems than can be said for some Board members on many issues.