Avon Township is another Lake County Township that is Fiscally Irresponsible.

I had an opportunity to attend the monthly board meeting for Avon Township on 12/9/2008. The meeting also included a Levy Hearing for 2009. Surprisingly, both meetings were conducted at 2:45 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. respectively. When questioned why board meeting were conducted at 3:00, the official party-line given to those attending is that in the winter months, the board moves the meetings to the afternoons to encourage the elderly to show up because of the potential of inclement weather in the evenings. Fair enough, but when I looked at the Avon Township Website, it reflects that afternoon meeting are held six months a year. I know we have tough winters here, but six months worth! In my view, afternoon meetings are a deterrent from constituents showing up.

As noted above, there was a Public Hearing for a Levy increase for Avon Township. The Avon Township Board is asking for an 8.9% Levy increase. They told those attending the board meeting the Levy increase would come from “new construction” and would not increase the property taxes of those currently living in the township. In 2008, Avon Township asked a 7.9% increase and received a 7.4% increase.

During the Monthly Board meeting, the board was asked by an individual sitting in the audience if they had voted themselves a pay-raise for 2009. The answer was yes and no further questions were asked. Trustee Tim Powell got on his soapbox, and in a condescending manner, began to pontificate on how responsible the board was in executing their fiduciary responsibilities. Well if you weren’t a well informed constituent, you might buy Powell’s line of bull and think that our tax-dollars are thoughtfully and frugally spent by Avon Township.

Here are some Avon Township tidbits you might want to chew on:

Pay-raises for 2009

• The Assessor is getting a whopping 15% pay increase
• The Trustee and Clerks are getting a 3% pay raise
• The Supervisor is getting a 4% pay raise

Under the Freedom of Information Act, anyone can ask for a copy of the expenditures our elected officials execute in their day to day duties. I was quite surprised given that Trustee Powell made it a point to say that Avon Township is a responsible steward of the tax-payers to find some unusual expenditure for 2008. How about $161.25 for a hammer on 7/16/2008 or $429.79 for a ladder on 6/9/2008? Every month, multiple cell phone bills in excess of hundreds of dollar are spent by the township. Why isn’t there a single plan? Looking at the amounts spent on cell phones, are we being charged for non-official calls? Is there a $600 toilet seat hiding somewhere in the expenditures?

I challenge Trustee Powell to debate his comment about being good stewards of the Avon Township Tax-Payers. I think not!

More on Township pay raises

Back in October Wauconda Township officials gave themselves a nice pay raise...

"The Wauconda Township Board Wednesday night approved pay raises across the board for nearly all elected officials of more than 12 percent after several residents spoke up against an initial proposal for more than 25 percent salary increases during a four-year term of office."

Many of these Boards know that hardly anyone pays attention to what they're doing. Many will claim that they don't want Chicago style politics in our communities. The difference between Chicago and here is that Chicago has more TV stations, radion stations and newspapers than we have. The lack of oversite by the press makes it easy to hide what you're doing. So one should not act so surprised when a long time Mayor or Clerk is brought up on charges. Their public persona is far different from their private one.

Wauconda Twp. OKs hefty raises for some officials

More Self-Appointed Pay-Raises

Following Lake Co Board members' self-appointed raises a few months ago, officials of Grant Township of Lake County have assured themselves whopping raises, too. The 3 officials standing to gain the most are:

Walter Kubalanza Tax Assessor (going from $59K -> $70K in '09 - '13)

Kim Kiesgen Highway Commissioner (going from $64K ->$70K in '09, -> $72K in '10, $74K in '11, and $76K in '12)

Kay Starostovic (going from $61,500 -> $70K in '09 - '13)

ONLY STAROSTOVIC VOTED AGAINST THE RAISES and the motion to provide raises beginning next year passed a few weeks ago.

Given the economic down-turn, do these large raises seem appropriate right now? Public officials keep getting more money off the tax payers when everyone knows tax payers throughout Lake County including in Grant are already overburdened with enormous property taxes in a less than stagnate economy.

http://www.granttownshipcenter.org/Meeting_Adendas_&_Minutes/Minutes/2008/November52008BoardMeetingMinutes.doc.pdf

If you get this far, I too, will be a frequent poster to the "Keeping and Eye on Lake County Illinois. My blogging name is DMAC57. I am a fifty something male whose political alliance has been all over the spectrum in my few decades on earth. As a 30 year Vet, I had a very right/middle view on life until I took the uniform off. Then my political mind woke up and my ideologies shifted to more left/central. We are a country built on diversity and hard work. While I don't believe government should be in our back pockets, I do believe we all need government to assist us in our pursuit of liberty and happiness. I am a staunch believer in the mantra of government for the people by the people.