Tax Fighter Chris Jenner Earns Endorsement from TA in McHenry County College Board Race

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Chicago – Tax Accountability (TA), the political action arm of Taxpayers United of America (TUA) has endorsed Chris Jenner in his bid for McHenry County College Board.
“Known as a tax-fighter for his great work on the Cary District 26 School Board, we were happy to support Chris Jenner’s run for the MCCB. As required for our endorsement, candidates must answer our questionnaire and sign our pledge not to raise taxes,” stated Rae Ann McNeilly, executive director for TUA.
“Chris Jenner is the kind of candidate that every community needs. He is a principled tax-fighter who understands the importance of protecting constituents’ money like his own.”
“He certainly has ruffled the some feathers but survived a meritless attempt to knock him off of the ballot. His commitment to honest spending and minimal taxation are not what the status quo want to embrace.”
“He has won the first round by staying on the ballot, and we fully expect a victory at the ballot on April 9. Across the state we are finding that taxpayers are tired of the status quo tax and spenders who care only about securing lavish pay and gold-plated benefits for themselves and their cronies. Chris Jenner has the status quo on the run and that is exactly what voters will remember when they go to the ballot.”
“There is a real hunger for elected officials who have the political courage to do what’s best for the constituents rather than special interests. We hear from taxpayers across the state, the frustration they have with state of taxation and spending in Illinois. While some people may feel they have lost control at the state and federal levels, they clearly understand the control they have at the local level and they are voting their preference for spending cuts.”
“Chris Jenner is exactly what McHenry County College Board needs. He will be an advocate for the students and the taxpayers, not the big-government tax and spenders who see the MCCB as a means to grow their own empire.”
Jenner aptly identified the following issues with the current MCCB management:

  • A budget that forgot McHenry County is under the tax cap, with no apparent consequences or discipline for the mistake, and a proposal to make up the shortfall through a tuition hike instead of dipping into the college’s healthy cash reserves.
  • 22,000 taxpayer dollars spent to send 5 trustees, 2 administrators, and the student trustee to Boston to stay in $319 a night hotel rooms and eat lobster dinners as well as attend a conference.
  • Use of a so-called consultant with an obvious conflict of interest to justify a $45 million health sciences facility and health club.
  • A plan to issue $45 million in debt without asking for permission from the voters.

Jenner is running on a platform of responsible budget management and commitment to students and taxpayers.

Vote No on Golf School Dist. 67 Property Tax Increase Referendum – Again!

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CHICAGO—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) is working with taxpayers in Golf School Dist. 67 to oppose the district’s property-tax-increase referendum that will appear on the district’s February 26, 2013 ballot.
“This is the only property-tax-increase referendum on the February ballot in the entire State of Illinois,” said Jim Tobin, TUA president. “Homeowners in Dist. 67 twice before defeated such a referendum at the ballot box, but these greedy Dist. 67 government teachers and bureaucrats are back for a third try.”
“The average value of a home in Morton Grove is $347,800, so this referendum, if passed, would increase such a home’s annual real estate tax bill by about $327 – every year.”
“It’s amazing that even with the decline in property values, resulting in homeowners losing a significant portion of their assets, the Dist. 67 bureaucrats still want a sizeable increase in property taxes to pad their pocketbooks.”
“Eighty percent of government school revenues go to salaries and benefits of these government employees for their nine-months-a-year employment. An increase in property taxes would not help students, but it would make well-to-do teachers and administrators even more affluent.”
“Jamie Reilly, Dist. 67 administrator, pulls in an annual salary of $183,839. Maria Herzog, librarian, gets an annual salary of $137,861. Can anyone say, with a straight face, that they are underpaid?”
“Former Dist. 67 employee, Linda R. Marks, retired at age 59 and receives an annual pension of $156,115. Over a normal lifetime, her estimated total pension payments would reach an astounding $5,240,914, with her own employee contribution being only 3.9%.”
“Former Dist. 67 employee Harry C. Trumfio retired at age 52. His annual pension is $113,299, and his estimated total pension payout over a normal lifetime is $3,597,627. His employee contribution is 2.1%.”
“Dist. 67 doesn’t need any more money from homeowners to fund the hefty salaries of current teachers and administrators, most of whom, when they retire, will become pension millionaires.”
“Dist. 67 government bureaucrats think they can ram this property-tax-increase through by putting it on the ballot in the primary, when voter turnout is low, then flood the polls with government employees.”
“We urge Dist. 67 homeowners to turn out in force for the Feb. 26 election and vote No on the property-tax-increase referendum.”
Click here to download our ‘Vote No’! flyer and share with friends and neighbors in the district.

Wilmette School District 39 Continues to Mislead Public, Cover Up Illegal Ballot Language

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WILMETTE, IL – Despite a recent change to the property tax code that clarifies how property tax increases are calculated, Wilmette School District 39 is choosing to continue its campaign to mislead residents over the illegal ballot language they used in a recent referendum that underestimated tax increases by more than a factor of 3.
Monday, District 39 issued a media release that mischaracterized the effect of Public Act 97-1087, which modified the Illinois Property Tax Code to explicitly include the effect of the State Equalization Factor, by saying that it “…reinforced that the District’s ballot language correctly followed Illinois law as it existed at that time.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the Act itself refers to its purpose as “clarification” of the very same language that Sorock’s lawsuit challenged, and insists, as did Sorock, that the State Equalization Factor must be used for tax increase calculations.
Sorock, along with Taxpayers United of America (TUA), had sued the District to reverse tax increases that were a result of illegal ballot language in an April 2011 referendum election.
“The District has all along defended its ballot language by asserting that the State Equalization Factor was not to be used,” said Sorock. “Now we have clear-as-day proof that the state legislature agrees with our position, but the District is choosing once again to cover up its miscalculation.”
While TUA recently filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit given the reluctance of the courts to enforce clear requirements of Illinois law, Sorock is heartened by Public Act 97-1087’s clarification.
“Rather than vindication for the District, the changes made by Public Act 97-1087 demonstrate that TUA and I were absolutely correct in challenging the referendum ballot for its failure to conform to requirements of Illinois law. TUA and I knew the District’s ballot language was illegal eighteen months ago; that the District still claims otherwise defies common sense and strains credulity.”
For more information, please contact h.sorock@gmail.com.