Forces duel over what the PSB referendum means

 

Below is the advertising/information bulletin supplied to voters for the Public Safety Building referendum. The two opinion articles from the Rockford Register Star which follow give contracting opinions from Mr. Bob Walberg and Mrs. Cathy Ward as to what should happen to the .5 cent sales tax.

The ad very clearly  answered the question regarding “will the tax end?”.  Not a mere “yes” but three “yes’s”

Any also states excess money from the referendum shortens sunset.  But this did not happen.

 

 

 

 

My View: 2018 Boone County Board will decide future of tax - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By Bob Walberg
Boone County Board chairman

Posted Mar. 28, 2015 at 3:02 PM
Updated at 3:46 PM

The Boone County Board of 2018 will still have the decision to stop or continue collecting the Public Safety Tax. An ordinance to abate property taxes used to guarantee the bond payments was on the board agenda and was properly published. One of the “whereas” statements was the pledge to demand that the board in 2018 will stop collecting the tax. One member pointed this out and remarked that we promised to only use the money for the jail and stop collecting it when the jail bonds are paid. Discussion during the meeting led to amending the ordinance and removing the “whereas” pledge to stop collecting the tax in 2018.

Who are the people who promised to stop collecting the Boone County Public Safety Tax when the jail bonds are paid in 2018?

They made a promise with no authority to back them up. The ballot made no mention of a sunset to this referendum that created the Public Safety Sales Tax. No one can promise and obligate a board 20 years down the road. The board of 2018 will have that difficult decision to make regarding the future of this tax.

That group promised to only use the money to pay for the jail building. In 2003 the board decided to also pay jailor salaries with the money. Since then, the money has also been used for Public Safety Capital Improvements. Every year the board voted for the budget with this spending included.

All the talk of removing this is a distraction and publicity stunt. I believe the real reasons most people supported the referendum is because they saw the need for public safety as the ballot stated. They believed that it was better to pay for this need with sales taxes instead of real estate taxes. The Public Safety Sales Tax does not tax food, medicine or titled property. If the board of 2018 stops collecting the sales tax, their next decision will be on how to replace those revenues or stop paying those expenses.

It was foolish to think that when the jail bonds were paid we would close the jail because there was no money to operate it.

Every year the Boone County Board makes cuts because our revenues are increasing much less than the increase in our costs. The state is making very large reductions to county revenues. Some of the proposed reductions include freezing property taxes and cutting the county’s share of the income tax by 50 percent.

The Boone County Board will need level-headed, responsible members to deal with the apparent overwhelming challenges that appear to be facing them.

A similar problem happened to the District 100 School Board. Rapid growth was impacting the district. The plan was to build schools to accommodate the future growth. They planned to pay for the schools with the larger population that would generate property tax dollars. That would require a smaller share of the cost of the new buildings for each taxpayer. Again, unforeseen events took place, and a declining population faced very large bond payments for the schools.

Page 2 of 2 - The community clearly saw the problem and passed a referendum for a sales tax to give relief to the property tax obligation of the school district.

In 20 years the situation can change. We can’t expect board members to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the responsibility of providing public safety for the county. Our present board only removed the demand being placed on the board of 2018. The decision to stop collection of the tax will still be the 2018 board's challenge.

Bob Walberg is chairman of the Boone County Board

Above is from:  My View: 2018 Boone County Board will decide future of tax - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

 

My View: Boone County Board breaks promise to taxpayers with sales tax vote - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

by Cathy Ward
Boone County Board

Posted Mar. 28, 2015 at 2:11 PM

BELVIDERE — The Boone County Board, with strong encouragement from Chairman Bob Walberg, voted last week to extend Public Safety Sales tax essentially forever, totally disregarding the promise made to taxpayers to end the tax in 2018 when the jail bonds will be completely paid.

The board voted 8-4 to extend the tax forever despite the fact that the proposal to extend the tax was not even on the agenda to be discussed.

The motion was made by board vice chair Paul Larson and quickly seconded by new board member Sherry Giesckie. Board members voting to ignore the promise were Jeff Carlisle, Denny Ellingson, Sherry Giesckie, Karl Johnson, Paul Larson, Ray Larson, Craig Schutz, and Walberg.

Those opposed were Sherry Branson, Ken Freeman, Brad Stark and Ward.

When the tax was approved by voters in 1999, the supporters promised voters, “The proposed one-half percent increase is projected to generate enough additional revenue to finance bond payments only. Other costs related to the jail expansion will be financed by county general fund operating funds, and/or grants. The statue allows the county to sunset (end) the tax when the bonds are paid. ” (2018)

Those who campaigned for the new jail, including former Sheriff Duane Wirth, always told me that was the promise was definitely made.

Debate over the use of public safety sales tax has gone on for years, especially when finances started to get tight in the recession. Some board members always objected, but it was expected by most of us that the tax would end as promised in 2018. Since 2004, more than $6 million has been siphoned off for other general fund expenses. Therefore, the total bill for the jail could  have been paid years ago.

Last February, Larson started his campaign to ignore the wishes of the voters and asked that the 2018 date be eliminated. Walberg had supported this same plan for years, but the majority of board members, even though we, at times, agreed that safety needs should be financed and agreed to pay them, always stated emphatically that the tax must end in 2018 as promised.

When questioned about voting last week on an important issue that was not on the agenda for the public to review, Walberg said the matter could be included with a related public safety sales tax issue.

I totally disagree. This is an important public trust issue — this is an important Open Meetings Act issue. This is an issue of being transparent.

Walberg and Larson have always argued that the county needs the money. If we don't use this source of revenue, they say, cuts will have to be in county government.

So be it.

I believe we should let our taxpayers decide in a referendum to extend the tax. They should decide if we should make cuts or increase taxes. I trust our taxpayers. Even in the recession, they agreed to a property tax three years ago to help our veterans and another property tax last year to help our animals with a new shelter.

It's no wonder with Walberg's attitude that the taxpayers don't trust government.

It's kind of interesting that Walberg recently wanted a slice of any revenue coming from a proposed gambling casino in Rockford because he seemed sure Boone County people would go.

Following that same logic since half the people in Boone Countv reside in Belvidere, half of the millions collected from the public safety sales tax should be repaid to the city of Belvidere because it can be assumed that about half of the crime in the county happens in the city.

Only seems fair with Walberg's logic.

Cathy Ward is a member of the Boone County Board.

Above is from:  My View: Boone County Board breaks promise to taxpayers with sales tax vote - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL