IMRF, SLEP, ECO, AOQE, and other sundry alphabet soup ingredients in County Pension Outlays

From the Woodford County 11-30-2005 financial audit:



IMRF (Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) contributions [by State mandate]:

SLEP (Sheriff's Law Enforcement Personnel - 6.5%
ECO (Elected County Officials) - 7.5%
AOQE (All Other Qualified Employees - 4.5%

County contribution rate for calendar 2004:

SLEP - 15.44% of payroll - $ 210,517 total
ECO - 56.55% of payroll - $ 105,063 total ( 5 persons, if we're correct)
AOQE - 2.90% of payroll - $ 68,957 total

Now, if we're not mistaken, Woodford County got hoodwinked by the State of Illinois by the ECO thing in 1997, and opted out in 2000. The result - we're stuck with over $100,000 per year in pension funding for a handful of County employees, while the remainder have some what less than $280,000 per year contributed on their behalf - we'd say that goes for in excess of 100 employees, as a guestimate.

We don't have an answer . . . we can only ruminate on the mistakes. The elephant is stomping in the closet.

Topinka Advocates Sales Tax Cap On Gas

We're pretty sure that the total excise tax, State and Federal, is 58 cents per gallon in Illinois. If we're off a few cents, it's only because on the incredible obfuscation on this issue. The dirty little secret over the past year or so is that sales taxes on the increased prices at the pump have been a huge windfall for State, County, and Municipal governments.

Yesterday, Judy Barr Topinka said she'd like to "freeze" State sales tax when the pump price is $2.50 per gallon or higher. The tax would be collected on $2.50 even if the actual price was $4.00

Aside from the retailers' nightmare of tracking a change like this, it sounds like a good start to us. Now to get the feds on board. If the sales and excise tax on fuel isn't going to be dedicated exclusively to road building and maintenance, then we've prefer getting rid of them entirely. They shouldn't be used as windfalls for the "general funds". How's that for a "windfall profits tax"?

Timberline Camp Ground and Arsenic?

The Peoria Journal Star today reports that Timberline Mobile Home Park has been cited by the Illinois EPA for twice the acceptable level of arsenic in its well water. Unfortunately, the yard stick was moved the first of the year. The "acceptable" level went from 50 parts per billion to 10 ppb.

Arsenic is a sometimes naturally occurring component of some well water. Last year they were well (no pun intended) within the limits - this year they face fines or worse. Sigh . . .

The PJS also seems miffed that Timberline and the other development mentioned are owned by "out-of-towners". I don't know what the population of Timberline is, but I doubt if there are a whole bunch of investors located there - maybe they mean Goodfield - or Peoria. I don't think Cat is owned by "townies". I'm not sure about the PJS. That angle seems a quasi-populist spin which is specious to its core. Let's just look at the facts and not whether the landlord lives on site.

Woodford County School District Spending Trends (click chart to enlarge)

Here's some School District info from Woodford County. It takes a little staring at to garner insights. The final column refers to the "65% threshold" which everyone across the country is talking about. It refers to 65% of the money going "into the classroom" as opposed to administration and other activities and expenses.

Where Do Woodford Property Taxes Go?

So who gets what in Woodford County as a result of Property Tax Extensions?

County....................5.4%
Township..................8.2
Municipalities............5.2
Schools..................73.9
Fire.........................4.0
Park...........................6 (point-six)
Libraries...................2.7
Multi-Twp...................<.1

The 2003 baseline was approximately $ 42.73 million. (all date from Ill. Dept. of Revenue)

Woodford County PropertyTax Extensions By Type

From the Ill. Dept. of Revenue, here is a breakdown of the Property Tax burden born by type of property (extensions for 2003):

County............Residential.....Farm....Commercial....Industrial...Rail Roads....Minerals

Woodford..............66%...........21%.............11%................1.7%............<.1%...........0
($ 42,728,191)
Statewide...............61%.............3%.............25%................10%............<.3%........<.1%
Cook County..........53%..........<.1%............34%................14%............<.2%............0
Collar Counties......76%..............1%............16%..................7%............<.1%.........<.1%
Rest of State..........60%............13%...........21%..................6%............<.7%.........<.2%

As you can readily see from the above, Woodford County residential property owners pay a higher share than anywhere, other than the "collar" communities, and of course, our farm owners' percentage is the highest of anywhere. Together, they paid 87% of the total extensions.

Woodford County TransPORT Board Member

There has been extensive media coverage about TransPORT taking over the old Caterpillar Mapleton facility. In case you were wondering, (we sure were) Joe Bachman is the Board Member appointed by the Woodford County Board to TransPORT. He is "a local farm owner, represents Woodford County on the TransPORT board. Bachman was born and raised in Roanoke, IL , where he operates his farm with his two sons. Bachman has extensive farming experience along with a strong background in construction. He played a major role in the initial construction of Parsons Manufacturing and assisted in the rebuild after the tornado damage", according to the TransPORT web site.

Board meeting minutes may be found here.

Illinois EPA's New Fees To Local Communities

Last year, Senator Dan Rutherford (R-Pontiac) made public the amount of new fees each city in Illinois was assessed by the Blagojevich Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). After weeks of stonewalling, the agency finally provided the dollar amounts charged the communities for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The new state fees were assessed for sewer and wastewater discharge and of course would have to be paid by the community’s resident’s property taxes or greater sewer or water charges.

Rutherford was forced to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request last year and appealed the IEPA’s refusal to provide the information on dollar amounts each community was assessed by the Blagojevich administration. Here's why - the inequities are staggering:

City.........Population... Fees..Per Resident.....Fee.......Per Res.


AURORA............142,990....... $35,500.............$0.25..............$36,500..................$0.26

BRIMFIELD.............933.........$5,000..............$5.36................$5,000..................$5.36

CHICAGO.......2,896,016.....$447,500..............$0.15.............$420,000..................$0.15

DEER CREEK..........605.........$5,000..............$8.26................$2,500..................$4.13

EAST PEORIA.....22,638......$37,500...............$1.66..............$32,000..................$1.41

EL PASO.................2,695........$5,000...............$1.86................$5,000..................$1.86

EUREKA.................4,871........$8,000...............$1.64................$9,000...................$1.85

JOLIET................106,221.....$133,500...............$1.26.............$138,500..................$1.30

METAMORA.........2,700.......$18,000..............$6.67...............$15,500..................$5.74

MINONK...............2,168.........$8,000..............$3.69.................$6,000..................$2.77

PEORIA...............112,396......$77,500..............$0.69................$50,000.................$0.44

ROANOKE.............1,994........$5,000..............$2.51..................$2,500..................$1.25

WASHINGTON...10,841...... $28,500.............$2.63................$28,500.................$2.63

Meanwhile . . .

Back to your recent April 15th fun, perhaps you'd like to know how many folks don't pay anything.

A Few More Taxes In Illinois

Tax Information

	Aircraft Use Tax
	Automobile Renting Occupation & Use Taxes
	Bingo Tax & License Fees
	Charitable Games Tax & License Fees
	Chicago Soft Drink Tax
	Cigarette & Cigarette Use Taxes
	Circuit Breaker & Pharmaceutical Assistance
	Coin-Operated Amusement Device Tax
	County Motor Fuel Tax
	Dry Cleaning License Tax & Fee
	Electricity Distribution & Invested Capital Taxes
	Electricity Excise Tax
	Energy Assistance & Renewable Energy Charges
	Estate/Inheritance Tax (Attorney General)
	Gas Tax
	Gas Use Tax
	Hotel Operators' Occupation Taxes
	Income Taxes (for Businesses)
	Income Tax (for Individuals)
	Insurance Taxes (IFDPR)
	Liquor Tax
	Manufacturer's Purchase Credit
	Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority Food & Beverage Tax
	Motor Fuel Taxes
	Oil & Gas Production Assessment
	Payroll/Withholding
	Property Tax Information
	Pull Tabs & Jar Games Tax & License Fees
	Qualified Solid Waste Energy Facility Payments
	Racing Privilege Tax
	Real Estate Transfer Tax
	Riverboat Gambling Taxes and License Fees
	Sales & Use Taxes
	Sales of Aircraft & Watercraft by Lessors
	Tax Increment Financing
	Telecommunications Tax
	Telecommunications Infrastructure Maintenance Fees
	Tire User Fee
	Tobacco Products Tax
	Unemployment Insurance Tax (IDES)
	Vehicle Use Tax
	Watercraft Use Tax

Illinois Taxes and Woodford County

ILLINOIS
Sales Taxes
State Sales Tax: 6.25% (1% on qualifying food, prescription & non-prescription drugs, medical appliances). Woodford County Public Safety Tax of 1.0%. Municipal taxes not included.
Gasoline Tax: * 36.2 cents/gallon
Diesel Fuel Tax: 36.6 cents/gallon
Gasohol Tax: 36.2 cents/gallon
Cigarette Tax: 98 cents/pack of 20

Personal Income Taxes
Tax Rate Range: Flat rate of 3% of federal adjusted gross income
Personal Exemptions: Single - $2,000; Married - $4,000; Dependents - $2,000
Standard Deduction: None
Medical/Dental Deduction: None
Federal Income Tax Deduction: None

Property Taxes
Taxes are imposed by local government taxing districts (counties, townships, municipalities, school districts, and special taxing districts. Most property in the state is assessed at 33.33% of its market value, except farmland which is based on its ability to produce income.

There are six different homestead exemptions (Click here for details).

General Homestead Exemption is available annually for owner-occupied residential property. The amount of exemption is the increase in the current year's equalized assessed value (EAV), above the 1977 EAV, upto a maximum of $5,000.

Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption allows senior citizens who have a total household income of less than $40,000, and meet certain other qualifications to elect to maintain the equalized assessed value (EAV) of their homes at the base year EAV thereby preventing any increase in that value due to inflation.

Homestead Improvement Exemption is limited to the fair cash value that was added to the homestead property by any new improvement, up to an annual maximum of $75,000. The exemption continues for four years from the date the improvement is completed and occupied.

Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption allows a $3,000 reduction ($3,500 in Cook County) in the EAV of the property that a person 65 years of age or older is obligated to pay taxes on, and owns and occupies, or leases and occupies as a residence. Exemption is limited to the fair cash value that was added to the homestead property by any new improvement, up to an annual maximum of $45,000. The exemption continues for four years from the date the improvement is completed and occupied.

Disabled Veterans' Exemption may be up to $58,000 of the assessed value for certain types of housing owned and used by a disabled veteran or his or her unmarried surviving spouse. The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs determines the eligibility for this exemption, which must be reestablished annually.

Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Program allows persons age 65 or older, who have a total household income of less than $40,000 and meet certain other qualifications, to defer all or part of their real estate taxes and special assessments. The deferral is similar to a loan against the property's market value and a lien is filed on the property in order to ensure repayment to the deferral. The state pays the property taxes and then recovers the money, plus 6 percent annual interest, when the property is sold or transferred.

Inheritance and Estate Taxes
There is no inheritance tax and only a limited estate tax related to federal estate tax collection.

For further information, visit the Illinois Department of Revenue

Fees And Hidden Taxes

While searching for something else, we found the following from a Bloomington Pantagraph Editorial by Bill Wills back in January:

. . . As long as I will be accused of picking on Bloomington, I'll start there.

Including such things as garbage-collection fees on water bills allows city officials to levy another fee without saying they increased taxes for a needed service.

Only 52 percent of my 2005 water bills paid for water. No one has found a good way to measure sewage discharge, so 22 percent of my water charges is added on for sewer service. And then the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District took another 27 percent of the actual water cost. And finally there was a $1.15 monthly service fee plus a city utility tax.

For that $304 worth of water, I paid $586.

But my real estate tax rate wasn't increased.

I would bet the same scenario is happening in Normal - and other towns, too.

After I figured up the add-on fees for water, I checked my other utility bills (I'm a glutton for punishment).

I now understand why a lot of younger people are switching to cell phones and getting rid of their "land lines" at home.

Cell phones are generally more expensive, but there are plans that allow free long-distance calls. And am I glad.

Last month, I didn't have a single long-distance call on my telephone bill. Thank goodness. The bill was $36.66. Oh, my residential line bill was only $15.99 - a reasonable sum. But there were those little government fees again: federal excise tax, state sales tax, Illinois telecom excise tax, state infrastructure maintenance fee, Illinois universal service fee; Simplified Municipal Telecom tax, Emergency 911 (at least I know where that money is going, I think), Illinois Telecom Relay service and a Federal Universal fee.

Then it was on to my cable television bill. Not so many taxes there - just an FCC regulatory fee, a city tax of $1.19 a month and a monthly franchise fee. But they still tacked about $3.50 onto my monthly fee.

By the time I got to my electric bill, I wasn't shocked.

My monthly bills weren't too bad. But there was the $18.90 a month facilities charge (dummy me, I thought that would be a cost of doing business, not a monthly add-on); a city tax, a franchise tax that probably goes to the city, too; a state tax, an "Illinois Utility Tax"; and an Illinois Commerce Commission Regulatory Tax, a fancy name for more state taxes.

The least amount I paid was $29.34 in extra fees on my electric bill each month.

I wasn't a happy camper by the time I added up the basic monthly charge, environmental recovery charge, city and state taxes on my natural gas bill. I paid more than $10 per month for those add-on fees and charges.

And there you have it folks. Our governments at work. I sometimes get the feeling that bureaucrats spend much of their time dreaming up new fees so they can avoid being honest with people and saying, "We have to increase your taxes."

Shortly, we are doing an extensive piece on the cost of "hidden" taxes and fees; state, local, and federal. It will make your hair stand on end. These are the really insidious taxes - the ones you must hunt for to know that you're paying.

C'mon, You Can Give A Little More

Alright, April 15th has come and gone, but you still can do a little something extra to help out. There is actually an obscure provision in the federal tax code which entices taxpayers to pay a little extra to Uncle Sam: the ability to write a special check to help pay down U.S. debt.

Yes, that's right, you CAN voluntarily send debt-reduction checks to the IRS along with your federal tax return, or just send in a check any ole time. It's not very well publicized by the IRS. There's no line on the 1040 form for "debt reduction." However, the IRS website offers instructions for those who don't feel they pay their "fair share":

If you want, make a check payable to “Bureau of the Public Debt.” You can send it to:

Bureau of the Public Debt, Department G, P.O. Box 2188, Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188.

Or you can enclose the check with your income tax return when you file.

According to the most recent IRS Data Book, last year 48 taxpayers mailed in contributions to reduce the public debt, for a total of exactly $21,179. That's $441 per gift. Since 1982, there have been a total of 16,122 voluntary contributions to reduce the debt, for a grand total of $9.8 million—or about 0.00012 percent of the nation's public debt of $8,367,661,575,868 as of March 29, 2006 according to the U.S. Treasury.

(Info courtesy of The Tax Foundation)

Letters From:American City & County Magazine

This article was written by Johnathan Davis in American City and County Magazine. [Emphasis is ours] :

Blogs, Transparency, and Governments

Over the past 15 years, technologies such as e-mail, instant messages and Web sites have created new ways for people and organizations to communicate. Now, blogs are maturing into a communication method that local governments can no longer ignore.

Blogs, or Web logs, began as personal online journals. However, a growing population now is using blogs as information and news portals. Bloggers often are highly aware of local, regional and national news, and often focus on local government.

Some people have argued that blogs do not qualify as a legitimate media form and, therefore, bloggers should not enjoy the rights of traditional media organizations. However, municipalities should consider their state laws before making that argument. North Carolina, for example, has general statutes that explicitly define what qualifies as public information, and anything falling into that category is open for any individual — with or without press credentials — to examine. By cooperating with bloggers, local governments can find effective allies, educate residents and increase transparency within their organizations.

Besides acknowledging blogs in the community, local governments need to decide whether to host blogs of their own. Elected officials can use blogs to explain, in their own terms, why they voted a particular way on a controversial subject, rather than have their comments filtered through the mass media. Also, city leaders can use blogs to address the rising cost of fuel and the projected budget shortfall it will create, allowing readers to understand balancing municipal funds.

We hope that Woodford County officials and office-holders are watching.

Free! Freee! Freeee!

In a blatent attempt (and keeping with our theme of "transparency) to generate more traffic here and increase our "hit count" - let the give-a-ways begin!

WoodfordTaxFacts.com will ship you a copy of Katherine DeBrecht's book, shown above - FREE (in the continental U.S.).

The book retails for $15.95, and can be had at Amazon for $9.99. I guess our deal is better. You can view it here.

We only have two, so the first and second email we receive requesting the book will get them. Go to "View My Complete Profile" on the top right of this page, then choose "email" on the left.

Look for more Freebies in the future; and it's not even coming out of your taxes! Is this a great country, or what?

UPDATE: The free books are GONE! Make sure to look for future promotions.

Why Edgar Didn't Run

A good new friend of ours was recently having breakfast out in Phoenix and lo and behold at the next table was our ole friend former Governor Jim Edgar. They discovered that they live quite near one another out there.

One thing led to another, and our friend ask the Governor why he didn't feel he could run for the Republican nomination. Governor Edgar reportedly said, "Well if I were there, I couldn't be here, could I?"

In light of Blago's residency quirks, maybe a Governor living in Phoenix wouldn't be so bad.

Bernanke's Off The List

From Reuters -


Wed Apr 19, 3:48 PM ET WASHINGTON -

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said tax cuts can spur greater economic activity and boost economic efficiency, but generally do not wholly pay for themselves.

"Tax cuts that reduce marginal tax rates will likely improve the efficiency of the economy and boost overall economic activity," Bernanke said in an April 18 letter to Rep. Brad Sherman (news, bio, voting record).

"Because they increase economic activity, cuts in marginal tax rates typically lead to revenue losses that are smaller than implied by so-called static analyses, which hold economic activity constant," he said. "However, under normal conditions, tax cuts do not wholly pay for themselves."

The letter, released by Sherman's office on Wednesday, was in response to written questions the California Democrat submitted in connection with a February 15 hearing on monetary policy at which Bernanke testified.

So that's it. In addition to his cheesy watch, Chairman Bernanke's prounouncement that "tax cuts do not wholly pay for themselves" (who ever said they were supposed to be revenue neutral) precludes his inclusion in our Christmas list.

The Primary Is Officially Over

Last night's regular Woodford County Board meeting was the shortest by far we've attended. It was under two hours. The election must be over.

Arguably, the two most interesting items came up nearly as asides, right towards the very end of the meeting. There was a delicate minuet performed around the issue of the "Public Safety" sales tax of 1% with regard to the general financial situation of the county after an audit for 2005 which showed that the 44% property tax levy increase probably wasn't all that wise or necessary. Fuel tax receipts (surprise, surprise) are way up as well. We shall report on the audit as soon as we get a copy from the courthouse.

The other item was discussion about potential pay raises for County Board members; yep, election definitely over.

News Flash: Wal-Mart NOT Opening Banks

Wal-Mart is not opening banks, contrary to the rabid anti-Wal-Mart crowd out there. (By the way, if Wal-Mart is so evil, what was Hillary Clinton doing on its Board? Guess that won't be in the Presidential campaign bio.)

The retailing giant is seeking FDIC approval to operate as an industrial bank. Which means instead of having to utilize a third-party financial institution to process a customer's check, debit or charge card payment, Wal-Mart can perform these transaction themselves. Just as Target, GE, Toyota, and General Motors do.

The banks currently performing these transactions for Wal-Mart currently charge the retailer millions of dollars each year for this work. Wal-Mart is simply asking for the same privilege its chief competitor Target enjoys.

So rest easy, Wal-Mart will NOT be "destroying the banking business as we know it".

Why Do You Look For The Living Amongst The Dead?

We don't want to push a Christian perspective on those who decline such things -

howsoever, we wish all a blessed Easter season, the power of God's grace and healing to be manifest in your lives, and for forgiveness to wrap around our hearts and minds.

Letters From: The Coyote re-Taxes On Wealth And Savings

Taxes on Wealth and Savings

Most taxes are on income or sales, and so they are at least marginally calibrated with an individual's cash flows. The exceptions to this are property taxes and inheritance taxes. These two taxes both go after an individual's savings -- property taxes mainly on the home, the primary savings vehicle for most Americans, and inheritance taxes on everything you've saved when you die.

Lets take property taxes first. Many people complain that modern life has become a treadmill, forcing families to work harder and harder to keep up their lifestyle. To a large extent, I think this is a myth - people may be working harder but their effective standard of living is way, way higher than say 30 years ago. But one of the things that definitely creates a treadmill are property taxes.

Many people have worked hard to pay off their mortgage, thinking they could settle down into their retirement in a paid off house. Unfortunately, they may find that their home has increased in value so much that their property taxes at retirement are actually much higher than their original payment on the house. Take the case of a couple who bought their house in an urban area for $25,000 and find its now worth $375,000 forty years later (this is an average urban price increase over the last 40 years). For simplicity, we will assume the effective tax rate has stayed at $1.50 per $100 for these forty years (though its more likely to have gone up). In 1965, they paid $375 a year in taxes. Today, they have to pay $5,625. In other words, their property taxes today are over 22.5% a year of the original price they paid for the house. Now, this is all fine if the couple strove to work up the corporate ladder and get promotions and grow their income proportionately. But what if they didn't want to? What if they just wanted to buy that house, pay it off, and live modestly selling driftwood sculptures at farmers markets, or whatever. The answer is, because of property taxes, they can't. Likely they will have to sell this house, give up the urban life they wanted, and either move to an urban dump they can afford the property taxes on, or they move out to the country. Here is an example, via Reason, of this process of property taxes forcing out urban residents living small in favor of yuppies living the dream. It is ironic that a tax initially invented for populist reasons to cut back on wealth accumulation hurts the lower income brackets and those trying to step off of the capitalist treadmill the most. In fact, it was the poor in the Great Depression who typically lobbied for laws to put moratoriums on property tax collections.

The estate tax has many of the same origins and issues. The biggest downside of the estate tax is that it tends to force premature sales of productive business assets to pay the tax. Rather than leaving small businesses in the family, who have the experience and passion to make them work, they typically must be sold to third parties outside the family to pay the estate taxes. Again, the law of unintended consequences crops up - estate taxes and the sales they force have done more to contribute to merger and acquisition activity, which in turn drives consolidation of economic assets into fewer and fewer corporations. The tax meant to stifle wealth accumulation among individuals has in fact spurred wealth accumulation among corporations. While used for many purposes today, LBO's, that bogeyman of the left, were invented to manage this estate tax forced sale problem.

Letters From: Champaign

Blowing in the Wind

The NG [Champaign News-Gazette] editorialized on April 10th about wind power, and a bill languishing in the General Assembly that would mandate that the power companies generate 2% of their power from renewable sources by 2007, and 8% by 2013.

One key quote, “It was a win-win for everyone.”

I beg to differ. If it was a win-win for everyone, why do we need legislation to mandate it? The answer of course is that wind power is still more expensive. The NG later tried to show that the cost increase is negligible, but they reference the estimated cost increase as the result of a Com Ed voluntary (and minor) measure, not the proposed legislative mandate.
Wind power may become a viable power source, especially considering the increasing costs of traditional inputs like coal and natural gas. But if you need the force of law to make power companies use it, there must be a fly in the ointment somewhere. Categories: Government/State, Energy -->
- - - redstatewannabe at April 12, 2006, 2:12 pm

Bond House Gives IL Negative Rating Over Pensions

Associated Press News wire article:

April 14, 2006
(AP) SPRINGFIELD, Ill. A New York bond-rating house has given Illinois a "negative outlook" rating based on concerns that the state won't be able to meet its growing pension obligations.Fitch Ratings gave negative outlook rankings to only two other states -- Michigan and the hurricane-ravaged Louisiana.The negative outlook ranking means that Fitch is considering lowering its rating of the state by one notch.A Fitch analyst warns that the state's double-A bond rating is in danger of being downgraded in the next year or two, meaning state
borrowing costs would increase by millions of dollars.Illinois has a $39 billion funding shortfall in pension funds -- and costs are growing every year.

So, we're right behind New Orleans and Detroit, huh? That's comforting. We hope all of the public employees vested in these plans have a little something set aside in private plans.

Letters From: the Woodford County Journal

We don't usually get involved personal disputes in politics. However, due to a couple of phone calls on this letter and it's parent, from Mr. Welch, we're going to "reprint" it here:

Welch Letter Was Off-Base -

Uninformed, misinformed, or contrary. [sic] I am not sure which type of person John Welch would qualify as after the letter to the editor concerning Tiera Darnall-Charlton. [Ms. Darnall-Charlton was never mentioned by name as far as we remember]

Uninformed; because the only home on the tax rolls at the time of filing of the petition was in Palestine Township.

Misinformed; because someone gave him bad information.I believe residency only requires a mailing address. You do not have to eat or sleep there.

Contrary; what purpose did the letter serve, other than to discredit Mrs. Darnall-Charlton, since the primary was over[at the time of the letter]? Perhaps Mr. Welch considers her as future competition since PTELL[Illinois' Property Tax Extension Limitation Law] became an issue with his support and her opposition. I noticed a large ad in the [Woodford County] Journal did not include her name as being back on track. [we have no idea what that sentence was to mean]

Of course, my name was not included because of my opposition of [sic] PTELL, which was in support of the county citizens present at the meeting [we think he means the majority of the people speaking at the County Board meeting where a vote was taken on allowing a ballot referendum on PTELL spoke against allowing the folks to vote on it - the school districts, libraries, etc. were disproportionately represented]

Misinformed; may be the best term since I have heard the statement, "PTELL will cut taxes." Not true. The people who cut or raise taxes are the members of the board. Show them where to cut services the public does not want and tax cuts may follow. [see below]

I made a statement during campaign conversations, [that] I felt Tiera with three small children may not have time to do a good job as a Board Member when also working full time. [see below] I do hope she decides to continue in public service in the future. Those willing to spend the time and effort are too rare [see below]

- - - Kenneth M. Uphoff
[Woodford County Board member from District 1

Now, with regard to Mr. Uphoff's assertion that:

' "PTELL will cut taxes." Not true. The people who cut or raise taxes are the members of the board. Show them where to cut services the public does not want and tax cuts may follow. '

We've never heard ANYONE, EVER state that PTELL will cut taxes. PTELL will reduce the rate of extension growth. PTELL communities, over time, show rates of slower government spending. PTELL helps send a message to government taxing authorities that the folks want to be involved, and WANT TO BE ASKED about government spending plans and priorities. (witness the District 150 school building fiasco over in Peoria). Mr. Uphoff knows that without PTELL, the County Board has VERY LITTLE to say about overall county taxes. They can only control the County's portion of our taxes. The majority is controlled by the Boards for the School District, Libraries, Fire Departments, ICC, the city councils, the Townships, etc. As a citizen, try going to all of those board meetings each month to keep these Boards on track. Don't forget to attend all of their individual Committee meetings as well, because that is where the real business is done. In addition, to be sure, it's a little duplicitous at best, and immensely condescending at worst, for Mr. Uphoff to tell the voters that it's THEIR responsibility to show the Board where expenses can be contained and then assert, "tax cuts MAY follow". We read that as, "yeah, we might cut tax rates - we might not. What cha 'gonna do 'bout it?" This is not transparency in government. This is opacity in government.

Mr. Uphoff continues "damning with faint praise" Ms. Darnall Charlton. It comes off as sexist and insulting. After referring to "Mr. Welch" several times, he calls her "Tiera" and questions her ability to serve because of her family. Would he question the same about a man with "three small children"? After that, he states his hope she will serve in the future - presumable when Mr. Uphoff comes to believe that her children are old enough to scrape by without her for a few hours a month.

Unfortunately, we believe Mr. Uphoff is his own worst enemy . . . and we actually rather like the guy; sometimes though, that is not enough. We need a Board more in touch with "the folks" and the future.

Whose Money Is It, Anyway?

Now, we're not huge fans of " statistically adjusted" opinion polling; especially when it's supposedly national, and most especially when 900 voters are the totality of the sample. None-the-less, we offer for your reflection and consideration -


FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll, released April 12, 2006:

How much of the money you pay in taxes do you think is spent on government programs that you personally favor and support?

April 4-5, 2006 -
Almost all 7%
Some 36
Not much 34
None 11
(Don’t know) 12


After federal taxes are collected from the American public, do you think Congress thinks of the money more as taxpayer money to spend carefully or as their money to spend as they wish?

April 4-5, 2006 -
TaxPayer's 10%
Their's 80
(Both) 3
(Neither) 1
(Don’t Know) 6


(Polling was conducted by telephone April 4-5, 2006, in the evenings. The total sample is 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of ±3 percentage points. Results are of registered voters.)

Letters From: the "Peoria Pundit"

This from Bill Dennis over at www.peoriapundit.com/blogpeoria/:

• Woodford County keeps trying to shoehorn long-time rural residents into a zoning system designed for new suburbanites. It won’t work.

Speaking Of Woodford County Revenues

From the Illinois Dept. of Revenue -
their 2004 "Payments to Local Governments" publication:

Woodford County

Charitable Games $ 0
Pull Tabs 5,073
Income Tax 878,257
Motor Fuel 652,246
Replacement Taxes 114,082
1% County Share 309,856
1/4% Countywide Share 574,288
Local Use Tax 143,521
Automobile Renting 0
County Motor Fuel 0
County Public Safety 1,326,200

Totals: $ 4,003,523

Get Some Coffee and Take A Moment

Just step back for a few moments and watch THIS.

Then remember these working folks as you go about your day, and maybe even say a little prayer.

(not responsible for lumps developing in throats)

"Real World" Property Taxes

When this year's tax assessments arrive in the mail, we will update the following and additionally, be adding several more "real world" Property Tax case studies. Often when talk turns to equalized assessment rates, abatements, TIFs, and levy rates, what is missed is the real world impact of these arcane tools. Therefore, for your perusal, one Woodford County family's bill:

(The chart was too big to post; still trying to work out the graphic bugs in the system.)

You may view it here. Use your "back button" to return.

The numbers for taxable year 2001 were unavailable and so no rates of increase for those two years were possible. The averages are for 2003-2004.

If you would be willing to anonymously share your tax data, please contact us at info@woodfordtaxfacts.com.

Woodford County Campaign "Lies"?

The following is from the PJS "letters" page of 4/11/06:

Thank you to voters in Woodford County District 2 for your support in the recent primary election. The only regret I have is the lies that were told about Arden Baldwin and me.
Voters were led to believe that Arden and I voted to raise overall taxes by 44 percent. That is simply not true. We voted to raise only the county portion of our taxes, which is a very small portion of our tax bill.
The reason for the increase is the county operating fund, which was soon to be in deficit due to large increases in workman's compensation and insurance costs, as well as an increase in wages for county employees. To vote against that raise would have been irresponsible.
In reality, taxes are increased or decreased by several taxing bodies over which the County Board has no control. Schools are responsible for approximately 76 percent of the tax bill. Other taxing bodies include the fire districts, townships and libraries.
- - -Ron Call,Spring Bay

Mr. Call seems to be playing a little fast and loose with his terms. We're not aware of any campaign claim that the Board was responsible for raising "overall taxes" by 44%. We believe what was stated or implied was that the levy was increased by 44%, which it was. Mr. Call knows this. Board and ex-Board members have no problem boasting that Woodford County taxes were "discounted" (lowered) this year, but if you look at your tax bill, you will see this is not true. They just decrease the levy a bit when they realized they'd over reacted the year before. We say take credit for one - take blame for the other. By the way, our own personal County portion of the property tax increased nearly 168% last year.

(When this year's bills arrive, we will post several 4-year case studies of real homeowners' property tax assessments.)

Mr. Call also implies that the increase was somehow a dedicated raise to go specifically for insurance, workers' comp, and "increase in wages". Of course, that is not the case. We don't know about your family's "operating fund", but most families when faced with increased expenses in one area, make CUTS in other areas. It's called fiscal responsibility. That is the larger point. There are those that vote for tax increases and those that don't. Mr. Call and Mr. Baldwin sided with the former.

We do agree with Mr. Call's last paragraph. That is why we need a PTELL referendum in Woodford County.

Yeah, we "got your back"

We just returned from our local School Board meeting. There was a student/teacher presentation on a program in which the kids participated in Springfield at the Statehouse. Fine. The kids were pretty articulate; but here's the deal. (I've noticed this at other "public" meetings as well - perhaps most noticably at the County Board meetings.) The meeting room was set up so that the presentation was made to the Board, so the kids and the teachers had their backs to we peasants (the "audience"). The public is always referred to as "the audience". We find that interesting in and of itself - but we digress. At the end, the teacher expressed profuse thanks to the School Board, the Administration, the Superintendent, the kids, everyone in sight for the opportunity the program represented - everyone except the taxpayers, that is. Then again, we weren't in sight. We were behind them.

All of these Boards need to set up their rooms so that they at least give the appearance of the Board and the "audience" being on the same side. It's a psychological thing. We are on the same side, aren't we?

Letters From: Citizens For Reasonable And Fair Taxes

04-06-06
Threats, threats and more threats

This past election we saw one of the greatest numbers of school referenda pass in recent history. On March 21st 66% of referenda passed statewide. Typically at least 60% fail statewide; sometimes as many as 80% fail. What was different about this election? The level of threats from the very people entrusted to protect and educate our children while not in parental care made the difference.D-300 superintendent Arndt stated he did not use threats, that he was going to follow through with cutting programs and going to split shifts. Seems like he did not use a dictionary much when he earned his Ph.D. A threat is a threat whether you follow through or not. One definition of threat - "A statement of intention to inflict pain, injury, damage or other hostile action on someone in retribution for something done or not done."D - 158 in Huntley took the lead in using threats to pass referenda.Paid pro-referendum activist Cheryl Meyer contributed to these despicable acts to pass referenda in both D-158 and D-300. Schools network through school boards, associations, teacher unions and administrator associations. You can bet they well be sharing the idea of using threats to pass referenda. These same tactics will be used in November.Referenda passed because of fear. Ordinary citizens are now afraid of their own government. This is the turning point for the Illinois public education system.Our government run schools a.k.a. our public education system has now become even more powerful. Until the people are willing to stand up to our government run schools and the very people charged with educating and protecting our children, property and income taxes will continue to rise.The level of waste and corruption in our government run schools will continue to rise. Government schools refuse to be accountable with our tax dollars or the education of our children. With every referenda and tax increases that passes, government school employees hold more power over our legislators in the form of lobbyist funds, campaign funds and threats to their legislative seats.

- - - Jim and Cathy Peschke; http://citizensforreasonableandfairtaxes.blogspot.com/

Getting Less Stupid With Stossel

Watch "Stupid in America":

20/20 News VIDEO #1: Stupid in America

20/20 News VIDEO #2: Unhelpful Unions?

20/20 News VIDEO #3: Making the Grade

We Have An Illegal Immigration Plan . . .

Here's an idea -

Let's go ahead and make the "11 million" illegal immigrants legal. They would become legal after 5 years of service in a new "Border Security Force" under the auspices of the military, and be stationed along our borders to prevent future illegal immigration.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Letters From: Illinois Review's Fran Eaton

April 05, 2006
Running low on funds isn't always a bad thing

Voices for Illinois Children and Ounce of Prevention want $2 million more dollars from this year's state Department of Human Services budget to screen more children (ages birth to 18 years) for mental health issues. They also want $6 million from the State Board of Education's budget to determine whether our children have social and emotional hangups.

Mind you with $8 million from you and me, more
newborns, more toddlers, more preschoolers, more children, more teens, and more young adults will be exposed to busybody psychological questionnaires. And if that's not offensive enough, Illinois law does not require parents know their children are being psychologically interrogated.

Indeed, the vast majority of parents will not know their children have been psychologically screened until they get a note from their local school recommending their child see a psychiatrist or get professional help. All this session and last, Eagle Forum of Illinois and Concerned Women for America of Illinois have been pleading with the Illinois General Assembly to force schools and public agencies to notify parents or guardians before their children are screened for mental health issues.

The bill, HB 3130, is laying dormat in the Senate Rules Committee today. Its Senate sponsor is a Democrat -- a legislator who grabbed up State Rep. Patty Bellock's HB 3130 as soon as it passed the House unanimously last spring. But Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Chicago) has decided that HB 3130 will not become law this session.

Parents will not be notified or allowed a chance to say no to their children being screened by public school staff. Children simply don't have a natural way to gauge for themselves whether questions being asked of them are inappropriate. In general, most children innocently trust adults and try to please them. Screening for mental health issues and determining a child's social and emotional development is an intimate relationship between humans -- one that can be easily misused. Misdiagnosis by well-meaning but misguided minimally-trained mental health screeners can result in undeserved lifelong stigmatizations for otherwise healthy children.

Our only hope is that the state's budget is too tight for the funds Voices and Ounce of Prevention are demanding to expand this intrusive program. In this case, running low on funds isn't always a bad thing.

Noooo Meddling Now . . .

With the recent election to the Woodford County Board of a few "new" voices, our prediction that "PTELL ain't dead yet" seems likely to prove correct. We already have a sense of the opposition girding their loins. This, along with the virtual torrent of speakers from the public sector spouting their "talking points" from their lobbying organizations' respective websites at the last Board Vote on putting PTELL to a public vote, we wish to remind citizens of something. School districts are prohibited by law from allowing any public expenditure (including personnel time) to be used in support of a particular candidate or referendum choice. They are allowed to provide "information" but cannot make a specific endorsement or ask for a certain vote. Obviously, the distinction between "information" and an endorsement is a slippery one, so one an eye must be kept on these kinds of activities. Here is the section of the Illinois code that applies:

(10 ILCS 5/9-25.1) Sec. 9-25.1. Election interference.

(a) As used in this Section, "public funds" means any funds appropriated by the Illinois General Assembly or by any political subdivision of the State of Illinois.

(b) No public funds shall be used to urge any elector to vote for or against any candidate or proposition, or be appropriated for political or campaign purposes to any candidate or political organization. This Section shall not prohibit the use of public funds for dissemination of factual information relative to any
proposition appearing on an election ballot, or for dissemination of information and arguments published and distributed under law in connection with a proposition to amend the Constitution of the State of Illinois.(c) The first
time any person violates any provision of this Section, that person shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Upon the second or any subsequent violation of any provision of this Section, the person violating any provision of this Section shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

Illinois Tax Facts

From Rich Miller over at thecapitolfaxblog.com:

Tax stuff Monday, Apr 3, 2006

From the AP:
The U.S. Census Bureau says Illinois residents paid $2,060 in state taxes per capita in 2005, the 29th highest amount in the country.
The Census Bureau says the national average last year was just over $2,192.That puts us just $20 higher than Indiana, $130 higher than Iowa, $361 lower than Wisconsin, $429 higher than Missouri and $336 lower than Michigan, to name a few neighbors. (Quick math, may be some minor errors.)

Also from the Census Bureau:
State government tax collections reached nearly $649 billion in fiscal year 2005, a $57 billion (9.7 percent) increase from 2004, the Census Bureau reported today.
According to data from the 2005 Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections, taxes on individual income were $221 billion, up 12.6 percent; and general sales taxes were $212 billion, up 7.2 percent. These taxes made up more than two-thirds of all state tax collections.- posted by Rich Miller

District 150 Follies

We were dismayed and somewhat amused by District 150 and the Peoria Park District "announcing" their (done) deal for the new school adjoining Glen Oak Park, with a nod to "new urbanism". Needless to say, the homeowners and businesses which would need to sell their property to enable completion of this "vision" were a little surprised.

Whatever happened to the "Open Meetings Act"? If they're hanging their hat on the clause which allows closed meetings when discussing selling prices, one must ask WHAT prices. If there were prices to discuss, it would imply that a decision had already been made in a CLOSED meeting! If there were no prices to discuss, it would imply the decision was being made in a CLOSED meeting!

Now, "co-incidentally", we see State Senator Shadid's idea for school construction funding taking the form of a bill introduced by a CHICAGO legislator - a Democrat - which would give the Public Building Commission of Peoria the authority to issue bonds. No messy voter referenda required. We're no longer amused.

There isn't a shred of transparency in sight here, folks. It's a voter end-run, pure and simple; and it's not right. Perhaps the need is there and the plan is right. Fine - make the case and ask the voters for their money. That's the way it works.