See the story of the fair and politics and the great picture the reporter took by click on the following: http://www.belvideredailyrepublican.net/news/local-politics-has-a-presence-at-annual-boone-county-fair/
And where is the county currently with the mulch fire issue? Go see, click on the following: http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2012/07/rockford-register-star-boone-county.html
For those of you interested in the history of this sales tax go to: http://www.boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2012/07/boone-countys-half-cent-sales-tax-for.html
Most interesting is the county’s 1999 Fact Sheet’s fourth paragraph. “The statute allows the county to sunset (end) the tax when the bonds are paid”. The question is will this happen?
All Boone County Board seats will be contested this November.
With three Democratic candidates running for three separate districts, every seat on the Boone County Board is up for grabs. The Boone County Board consists of three districts with four board members representing each district. Read below to see how each race stacks up.
District 1: Democrat Bill Pysson announced that he will be challenging Republican incumbents Bob Walberg, Brad Fidder and Kenneth Grzybowski II and newcomer Dennis Ellingson.
District 2: After a hotly contested primary, voters selected former state Rep. Ron Wait, Cathy Ward, Paul Larson and Karl Johnson for the Republican ticket. Democrat Francis Egan will also be running for the seat.
District 3: Former Belvidere City Council alderman and Democrat Craig Schultz has decided to run for the Boone County Board. He will be challenging Republican incumbents Mike Schultz, Kenneth Freeman, Patrick Mattison and newcomer Marion Thornberry.
The Boone County coroner position is also being challenged. Republican Rebecca Wigget will face Democrat Kevin Wes Swezey in the election.
The following was Bill’s Letter to the Editor in March 30, 2011, when the Board of Education could have petitioned the legislature for a change in the law:
Editor:
The front page story of last week’s Journal reported that
District 100 and Boone County schools are talking about
putting a referendum on the ballot in November seeking
taxpayer approval of up to a one percent additional sales
tax. Taxpayers should be aware from the beginning that this
sales tax has no sunset clause, will never end, and can be
used for practically anything.
Think about the $23 million “backdoor referendum”
that District 100 tried to sneak by the taxpayers in 2007-08
to build additions to the middle schools. If this sales tax had
existed at that time, District 100 could have borrowed the
money with future sales taxes as a funding source and put
the taxpayers even deeper into debt with no opportunity for
the taxpayers to have a vote.
District 100 wants to use this new sales tax revenue
to pay for the increasing costs of its debt for the new high
school and other buildings. If voters pass this referendum,
the school board has authority to use the sales tax revenue
for any capital expenditure, including building even more
new schools and any additional buildings they wish (including
a new swimming pool) without having to go to referendum
for taxpayer approval.
District 100 is borrowing money to service its debt and
needs to do something, but this sales tax referendum, without
a change in the law to insure that the sale taxes are used
“only as taxpayers intend” and with very specific sunset provisions
to end the tax, is not a solution. It gives District 100
a “blank check” to do whatever they want to do and denies
the taxpayers the right to control and to decide by referendum
substantive issues of how their tax dollars should be
spent.
Without a change in the law, taxpayers should vote “NO”
if this referendum is on the ballot in November.
Bill Pysson
The above is taken from page 2 of this Friday’s Boone County Journal which is available free of cost at merchants across the county and on line at: http://www.boonecountyjournal.com/news/2012/Boone-County-News-03-30-12.pdf#page=1
Bill Pysson to run for Boone County Board
By Jennifer Wheeler
Bill Pysson announced his intentions to run for the Boone County Board last week with the hope of offering voters a Democratic choice and increasing transparency.
He is running for a District 1 seat.
Pysson said the board needs to take a more pro-active approach to holding elected officials accountable, especially when dealing with taxpayer’s dollars. Additionally, he said there needs to be a Democratic voice on the board.
“The unfortunate is with the majority currently held by (Board Chairman Bob) Walberg, it’s going to be very difficult. If we get a few more Democrats in there I think that would help,” he added.
He said he intends to provide more information to other local governments so everyone understands the issue. During meetings, he hopes to limit the amount of topics discussed in closed session.
Pysson attempted to run for the Belvidere School Board in 2009 but the district’s election official determined that his petition did not meet the requirements to be certified. The district’s election official, Pam Wallace, said he failed to properly indicate whether he was seeking a two- or four-year term.
Though Pysson believes Wallace erred in her decision, he said he is making sure all of his requirements have been met this year.
For more information on Pysson, visit his website at Boonecountywatch.blogspot.com.
If you wish to read more about the ordeal in 2009 with the District 100 School Board click on the citation which follows. (At the bottom of that district100watchdog posting is a full listing of 2009 postings regarding my school board candidacy)
http://district100watchdog.blogspot.com/2012/07/bill-pysson-to-run-for-boone-county.html
The word I hear is that representatives from the fire protection districts and Poplar Grove may be present to answer questions. This Health Subcommitte meeting is 6:00 PM at the County Administrative Center on Logan Avenue. FOR OTHER DETAILS CL:ICK ON the following:
http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2012/07/update-on-thursday-7-5-2012-health.html
