On Tuesday, December 15, 2009, the county board heard from a couple of citizens who were unhappy about proposed changes in county taxes and fees.
Maureen O’Phelan, who with her husband Michael owns both Solbakken Resort and Cascade Lodge, will be paying $4,662 more in property tax for Solbakken next year than they did this year, an increase of 94.4%. Taxes on the property next to Solbakken, which they also own, are going up 42.4%. Because the family moved off the premises into a single family home, they could no longer homestead the resort property.
In an email to the Cook County
News-Herald,
O’Phelan wrote, “… This is the second time in two years that we have had to absorb astronomical increases in our taxes in Cook County. …I do not know of anyone who has had an increase in pay in 2009, …a year of decreased lodging taxes, numerous layoffs, numerous pay reductions, and so on. Our businesses had to take some hard cuts in our budgets just to stay in business.”
“I’m very angry,” O’Phelan told commissioners at the county board meeting. “I really need you to hear where I’m coming from.” O’Phelan said she feels like the board has not gone to bat with the state legislature to keep property taxes down or taken a stand to support small businesses and keep them viable. “I’d really like some support from our county board,” she said.
O’Phelan asked commissioners if businesses they own or operate could absorb that kind of cost increase. She cannot continue to do business if her taxes keep going up, she said. If she raised her rates to cover the tax increase, she
” might lose business. Other businesses have been affected as well.
“If you don’t want us here,” O’Phelan said, “this is a good way to kick us out of Cook County.”
O’Phelan said she was “livid” when she found out the county’s preliminary budget had an increase of over 7%. Her business had no increase this year, she said. Thecounty needs to cut its expenditures.
Commissioner Bob Fenwick was the first to respond. They all want legislation that would support the tourist industry in Cook County, he said. He doesn’t want to see the county’s resorts and lodges turned into condos and timeshares in which multiple owners share the tax burden, but that is happening.
“People don’t see what goes on behind the scenes,” said Commissioner Bruce Martinson. He said the commissioners have been advocating for the county. The proposed 7.2% budget increase is “way too high,” he said, although, he added, State Representative Tom Rukavina (who is running for governor) has said Cook County’s property taxes should be higher.
“We can try, and we keep trying,” said Commissioner Fritz Sobanja.
County Assessor Mary Black said that farmers on agricultural homesteads are able to get homestead credits for parcels not adjacent to their homes. That credit is not extended to “ma and pa” resorts.
Regarding the inconsistencies, Fenwick said, “We’ll work on that.”
New licensing fees
Daycare provider Debbie Beckwith also expressed dissatisfaction with the county. The Public Health & Human Services Department has proposed charging a fee of $150 for new child care licensing (good for one year), $200 for renewals (good for two years), and $250 for adult foster care licensing. The childcare renewal fee will affect about 10 licensed daycare providers.
Why is the county going from no charge to a $200 charge for existing daycares? Beckwith asked. Her business incurs a lot of expenses, she said, such as for eight hours of continuing education annually and related travel. Her license comes due around Christmas, a time when her child count is down.
Revenue for the Public Health & Human Services Department has been lost in some areas, Social Work Supervisor Grace Bouchard said. Thenew fees are a way to capture some revenue, and the amounts proposed are less than statutes allow them to charge.
Daycare is a business, department director Sue Futterer said, and businesses often have training and licensing costs. Thefees help offset losses that took place through unallotments and help the department continue to provide services. In setting the fees, they looked at what other counties were charging.
Beckwith said she knows at least one daycare provider who will not continue to provide daycare as a result of the new fee.
No fee was proposed for child foster care licensing.
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