| Forest Preserve District's acquisition upsets many Village residents- Over the years, the Lake County Forest Preserve District has purchased, constructed, and maintained some marvelous pieces of property for the benefit of hundreds of thousands of people, including Wadsworth residents. Many of these sites are outstanding models for other county governments to copy. Several of our elected officials frequently use and enjoy the parks. And it is hard to deny the beauty and functionality of the Des Plaines River Trail and Sterling Lake. As you know, these properties come at a cost because the Forest Preserve's money comes from your tax dollars. As an example, your editor's current tax bill is $5,852.12. Of that amount, the Village receives only $10.35. By comparison, the Forest Preserve will get a total of $123.14, more than ten times as much as the Village. This past spring, the Forest Preserve District purchased a 60-acre parcel of land across from the TA Truck Stop near Russell Road, which is located adjacent to the Village's border within Newport Township. This property has 2,000 feet of frontage on Old Route 41. It is significant to the Village because it is one of the few remaining parcels suitable for commercial development not close to any significant residential areas. This parcel is also a major component of the Village's Ten Year Comprehensive Plan, recently passed after more than a year of exhaustive efforts by residents and the Village alike. When this potential purchase came up for approval at a Forest Preserve District board meeting, the Forest Preserve District did not provide any notice to the Village or the Township, although their acquisition of this property would result in a) the loss of a key development parcel; and, b) a loss of the tax revenue that a developed parcel would generate.
The Forest Preserve District did not extend a single courtesy to Village in any attempt to get the perspective of the Village Board or the Village's residents about its seizure of this key parcel.
Fortunately, merely by happenstance, the Village administration and officials happened to see the advance agenda and gathered speakers for public comment. The Village had hoped for this frontage property to be left in private ownership so it could be available for future purchase by for-profit entities who could someday develop said property into property tax and sales tax producing entities - revenue sources needed for the long term sustainability of Village operations. The influx of that tax revenue would go a long way toward the Village Board's attempts to keep the property taxes of Village residents affordable. At the Forest Preserve District's hearing about this matter, Mayor Glenn Ryback, Trustee Jim Zegar, Village Administrator Moses Amidei, Fire Chief Mark Kirschhoffer, Newport Township Supervisor Randy Whitmore, and Newport Township Trustee Corey Kirschhoffer spoke on behalf of the Village and Township interests and against the purchase. In addition, resident Kristen Lamanna spoke against the project. A video of these efforts can be viewed here (it begins at the 31:3o mark). The Forest Preserve District Board members disregarded the issues that were presented, and justified the acquisition by essentially saying that, since the property owners were having trouble selling it themselves to commercial interests, it made sense for the Forest Preserve District to purchase it, basically to rescue the property owners. Furthermore, one Forest Preserve District board member uttered something like "We are interested in economic growth for Lake County," which seems odd since the Board's action took this parcel off the tax rolls. Since when are government entities funded by taxpayer dollars in the business of bailing out a property owner at the expense of the rest of the residents? You already know the obvious: When property is taken off the tax rolls, the total amount of assessed valuation decreases. Because of the fixed levy amounts from the various taxing authorities, your property tax bill goes up accordingly since the money has to come from somewhere. So, in summary, the Forest Preserve District used your tax dollars to acquire property which will likely have the result of causing your taxes to be higher in the future. To add salt to the wound, the price was not even a bargain; the purchase price of this 60 acre property amounted to $1.975 million. At that board meeting, the Forest Preserve District didn't even give lip service to the concerns of the Village or the Township, pretty much ignoring the speakers' points of view. To their credit, board members Diane Hewitt and Chuck Bartels voted in our favor. All the other board members voted against Wadsworth. Except one. Our own representative, Brent Paxton, didn't even have the courtesy to vote for us or even stay for the vote to see what happened. He left the meeting early. This is taxation with NO representation. The Village Board is generally supportive of the Forest Protection District and of open space. However, the Village did not, and does not, support this nonsensical acquisition. The Village Board believes it is important for Wadsworth residents to know that this action trampled the interests of our village, ignored well-reasoned pleas by the speakers, and showed utter disregard for the Comprehensive Plan that the Village was required to prepare with citizen input and guidance. The Forest Preserve District now owns approximately 22% of all the land in Newport Township, a higher percentage than in any other Lake County township. How much more does the Forest Preserve District intend to grab? |
