Tired of High Property Taxes? - Who to Vote For This Election

Maybe you've already made up your mind on the Presidential election. Maybe your a life-long Democrat who believes in his/her's party's presidential candidate. I have a few of those as friends and neighbors and yet we still get along (probably because we don't choose to talk politics during our gatherings).

Yet, many times over a nice cocktail, I will hear complaints about the rise in local property taxes, or the state income tax increase that was passed just after the 2010 election. I will normally listen passively, not wanting to ruin the evening by reminding my friends that the people who normally support tax increases are Democrats and those who oppose them are Republicans. I will just sit there passively, nod my head and ask for more peanuts or another beer.

But now its election time and people need to understand who is behind the things they complain about. Take some of our local candidates for example - the people who have a direct bearing on how high your taxes will be - the ones who actually vote or affect the local tax levy, which directly calculates out to how much you pay for your property taxes.

Let's look first at Cory Singer, running for County Executive. Cory is President of the Will County Forest Preserve District. Back when the recession first hit, Cory could have kept everything on auto pilot and raked in the cash through an increased tax levy and made the Forest Preserve District employees happy by raising their salaries. Instead, Cory recognized what was going on: there was a recession, property values were going down, people were out of work and losing their homes. Should the people who directly depend on these taxes ride along with no impact, or should they, like the rest of the community they serve, have to tighten their belt? Cory chose the latter case and acted by not allowing any salary increases during the recession. His opponent Mr. Lawrence Walsh, is infamous for saying he wanted to tax Will County Residents "to the max." Mr. Walsh's approach is to seek ways to raise your taxes, despite your struggles and he will keep on doing so if he is reelected. Cory has the proven track record when it comes to making choices between what is best for taxpayers versus government employees.  Taxpayers will be the winners under Cory Singer.

Next let's consider Chuck Lyons, running for Will County Coroner. Chuck often jokes that he is the "last person anyone wants to talk to" but he is very serious about his sought after job. Chuck believes that the job of Coroner is an extremely important one and that the people he serves are those who have no voice to speak for themselves. Looking at the mess his opponent made of the Drew Peterson trial - where his opponent, Patrick O'Neil, declared the death of Peterson's second wife "accidental" - one can begin to see his point. The Coroner's job is to make sure that the dead get a fair shake. If the Coroner cannot do the job, he/she is accountable to the public by virtue of the ballot box. Although the Coroner doesn't have much say in his yearly budget, Chuck's opponent apparently thinks paying Lawrence Walsh's sister $90K a year as his secretary is a good use of County funds. Its time to show Mr. O'Neil the door.

Marlene Carlson, running for the mundane office of Circuit Clerk actually has some fresh ideas to modernize this office and have it better serve the taxpayers of Will County. Say you have some business with the court downtown. Today, you would have to take the time to drive from your home to the Will County Circuit Clerk's office to pay your court fees, etc. Not only do you owe money, but you have to pay it during regular business hours, potentially costing you double in lost employment pay. Under Marlene's plan, you would be able to pay for your court fees online from the comfort of your home. Plus the costs of her office would either not grow or would grow slowly over time, since less staff would be needed to process payments. Marlene's opponent, Ms. McGuire, wants to keep things as they are. Presumably to pay for all of her family members and campaign contributors presently working for her in the clerk's office. Between her and Mr. Walsh above, the tab for taxpayers comes to a whopping $750,000 per year for Will County taxpayers. Time to rethink Ms. McGuire.

Laurie McPhillips is a real estate professional and small business owner who started much needed reforms during her first term in office. First elected in 2004, Laurie began a series of modernization efforts to ensure that previous problems in the office such as lost or incomplete property transaction records, and lost proof of complete mortgage repayment records were eliminated. Imagine paying your mortgage for 30 years, only to find that the Recorder of Deeds had lost your proof of final payment. Something that occasionally took place. Laurie implemented a state-of-the-art land records system and she reduced expenses by voluntarily cutting personnel costs. She also opened the first satellite office in Bolingbrook to better serve Will County taxpayers. The current incumbent stopped her reforms while taking credit for what she started. Keeping an accurate accounting of who owns what property and how much that property is sold for is key to maintaining a fair and equitable property tax system in our County. Laurie will ensure that the reforms she started will be completed if she is elected. Additionally, Laurie has been endorsed by the public employees who work in the Recorder of Deeds office, despite their current employment under her opponent Karen Stukel.

Please consider Margo McDermed and Tom Weigel both running for Will County Board in the 12th District. Margo represents a strong, conservative voice for common sense in county government. Margo is an attorney who oversaw the legal department in BP Amoco's world headquarters, supervising a staff of over 30 employees. Margo's corporate experience plus her austere approach to government finance is needed on the County Board to ensure that our taxes aren't raised. Her Democrat opponents have it in with the Cook County Democrats who would like nothing better than to have a chance to transfer our tax dollars to Cook County to prop up failed Democrat programs. In Cook County each household is $32,000 in debt. In Will County, each household is $12 in debt. You do the math. Tom Weigel has been a County Board member for 8 years and advocated the new Silver Cross Hospital construction, a gem for Will County Residents. Tom is fiscally conservative and represents another vote on the County Board against the redistributive policies favored by Cook County Democrats and their allies in Will County.

Edgar Montalvo, running for State Senator from the 19th District, represents hard work, selflessness and an infinite sense of community service. Edgar served two tours and three years in Iraq rebuilding that torn nation and he wants to use his skills to "rebuild Illinois."  Edgar has a wealth of experience in finance and management and is a small business owner. Edgar will vote to change the disincentives that Illinois erects to chase away or discourage business from settling in Illinois. Edgar will vote to repeal the 67% tax increase passed in 2010 and obsolete worker compensation laws. Edgar wants to eliminate the current fraud and abuse in the state pension system.  Unlike his opponent, who is in the pocket of the teachers unions and is opposed to teacher performance measures, merit pay and charter schools; Edgar believes in school reform, real pension reform and in all cases, keeping taxes low and expectations high.  Probably highest on the list of reasons to vote for Edgar is his history as a taxpayer. Edgar has lived in the 19th Senate District for over 20 years and has dutifully paid his property taxes. He knows how much of a burden property taxes can be on a family's finances. His opponent does not own a home and as a sitting member of the Sandburg High School District Board, has shown his true colors. Instead of being responsible, he opted to extend his high school glory days as a football player by voting to spend $3M on artificial turf for Sandburg's football fields. This despite his district having one of the highest pension liabilities in the state.

Folks, if we want to keep our taxes low we have to elect fiscally responsible people to represent us. The people I have presented above all want to increase the efficiencies of the services they will provide or will work to prevent reckless spending by County and State governments. It is up to you to decide if you want more of the same in the form of high taxes for questionable results; or lower or at least stable taxes and improved services. If you vote for the people listed above, it will be a good start.