From an article out of the Chicago Tribune, the investigative reporter exposes loopholes that have forced tax increases on homeowners and businesses when mistakes are made about fiscal obligations and affordability.
Today's Chicago Tribune Watchdog. HEADLINE ARTICLE.
Much of this should sound familiar Island Lake. Weren't you all told that the village would not and could not raise your taxes to pay for this building. Well, this law exposes the opposite! It says if the village cannot pay its debt, they can and will be forced to raise your taxes without a tax referendum, without your consent. Loopholes are politicians Nirvana.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/ct-met-risky-borrowing-20130106,0,1377519.story
"Even in places where residents might expect tighter oversight, Illinois' borrowing rules let towns sidestep voters, make decisions that can backfire on taxpayers."
"the money is going to pay off a gleaming Village Hall - for which officials borrowed big to build, without seeking voter approval."
"The catch for residents: If towns' projections are wrong, taxes are automatically hiked to make loan payments."
".......residents never got a direct say on whether to take out millions of dollars to build the new Village Hall - but they are paying for it anyway."
"The loan helped boost the municipal portion of the property tax bills about 35 per cent higher that tax caps would normally have allowed."
"Taxpayers are left to largely fend for themselves."
"Even if lawsuits are filed, the irony is that taxpayers get hurt no matter the outcome."
Sunday, January 6, 2013
11 comments:
This website does not support libelous statements, personal attacks, or bullying. You do so at your own discretion, risk and risk of personal liability. This blog is not responsible for your comments. The Blog Admin reserves the right to remove any comment for any reason without notice or explanation. You are personally responsible for your statements, comments, etc... The Blog will cooperate with any complaint made against any commenter. Anonymity is not a basis for unaccountability for your comments.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
To the 24% who voted in favor of the municipal center please be aware that this the fate that awaits us. This is not the right time to build a palace when the village around it is falling apart. We need to get out of debt, we need our roads repaved. I could go on and on. Lets make sure we change the path that we're spiraling down on April 9. Please vote FOR THE PEOPLE.
ReplyDeleteHi Keith,
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see that another candidate has taken the time to comment on the issues presented here.
Your observations of village activities while raising a family in Island Lake is a great prerequisite in your goal of being a trustee.
Good Luck FOR THE PEOPLE slate.
Debbie does not care if she is mistaken about not raising taxes to pay for her ego driven building, after all, by the time it happens, she will be out of office! Building a great big sparkling village hall while downsizing the work force? Do you ever see that happen in the private sector? Of course not! In the private sector, they are spending their OWN MONEY!
ReplyDeleteWow! Great Trib article! I'm saving it for future reference!
ReplyDeleteThis was the loophole that Herrmann and The Herd didn't want us to know, but now it's "out there". And it explains the total lack of information on how we'd finance a new hall.
It was bad enough that they couldn't provide Budget cut numbers in other areas to show how they - no, scratch that - WE would be paying for it. It's bad enough they REFUSED to pledge not to raise fees and utility taxes so that WE could pay for it.
What is despicable is that Herrmann at least, knew all along about this loophole, or else why would the money guys have ever been talking with her in the first place?
So then Herrmann fibbed - that "this will not go on your property tax bill". I don't recall in the video if we could see her hands at the time - if she were crossing her fingers or not.
But apparently, IT CAN, AND IT WILL. The money is simply not there otherwise. Because if it were there, they'd be able to tell us where it's coming from.
NOW we know where the money will be coming from - from our PROPERTY TAXES.
Duh!
DeleteHerrmann didn't want to tell you The Herd would have to raise fees and utility taxes, even though they will have to. Herrmann didn't want to tell you The Herd would have to cut village services to the bone, even though they will have to.
ReplyDeleteAnd what Herrmann still will not say is that if their gambit fails, it we will be left with a village cut to the bone, yet we'll still end up paying even more on our PROPERTY TAXES to boot!
This is called GAMBLING - not governing.
ReplyDeleteAnd what happened with little Sauk Village, as described in the Trib article, is the perfect example of what's going to happen here. The last numbers tossed around for our new Village Hall cost was anywhere from $5.9M to $6.3M, with 8,000 or so residents. Sauk Village has 10,000+ residents, and spent $6.5M for theirs.
And when Sauk was forced to raise property tax bills to pay for their new hall, it forced an increase in the village's property tax bill almost 20%!
United for Progress?
ReplyDeleteWell, Herds ARE certainly "united", now aren't they, whether calmly mooing in the fields, or stampeding off a cliff.
United for Property Taxes, if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteHey dude by the River----
DeleteUnited for Propaganda.
Louie and Danny sittin in a tree,
S-K-E-M----I-N-G
Spring is comming we need to cleanup "Dictator Debbie" !
ReplyDelete