Verner Tepe: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: ElginWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Twitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Elgin Township Board Age: 75Family: My wife Judith, our sons Glen Tepe Scott Tepe (deceased), our daughter Sarah Schmitz and son Daniel Kessler. Our nine grandchildren(by age): Brianna (22), Kyle (21), Emily (18), Lauren (16), Cassandra (15), Melissa (15), Jacob (13), Mason (12), and Carter (10). All live in the Greater Chicago area.Occupation: I am semi-retired but do Computer Consulting Real Estate investingEducation: BS in Mathematics from University of Cincinnati.Civic involvement: Volunteer at AID (Association for Individual Development)Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers Name the three most important goals or objectives this board should tackle in the coming term. Prioritize them, and briefly discuss why you believe each to be critical, and how the board should go about addressing them.1. The Township needs to work for all of us. Very few people know what a Township does or even where the offices are located. We currently pay about $150/year per household and receive little to nothing from the Township.2. The Township currently maintains about 20 miles of roads at a cost exceeding $60,000 per mile per year. Although not an easy process, I will work toward eliminating the road portion of the Township and moving the responsibility to the State, City, or County. Any of those bodies can do the work at a cost of close to 50% of the current expense. Saving Township Taxpayers about $500,000 per year.3. I will endeavor to have the Township do a mailing "â#128;œ at least 2 times each year "â#128;œ to the Township residents, so they have a better understanding of what the Township does and the resources available to them. No such mailing has been done for 16 years.What should be the primary responsibility of township government?Townships are responsible for 3 things:1. Assessment. The assessor is an elected official and his office resides in the Township.2. Roads. The Township is responsible for roads that are not taken care of by the city, state, or county.3. Public Assistance. The Township is responsible for providing public assistance.It is this 3rd area that has been implemented by townships in various ways. Elgin Township provides assistance by primarily providing supplemental funding to other organizations (non-profits) that provide services in the Elgin area. Hanover Park Township directly provides a myriad of services to their community. I believe that this is a model that should apply to various services in Elgin.In the 21st Century, with municipalities gobbling up vacant land, why are townships needed? Should they be serving a new role? If so, what?Townships are still needed in rural areas, but due to urbanization Elgin Township is responsible for only 20 miles of roads. That makes this specific responsibility a candidate for elimination. Assessment is still a necessary function, but could be handled more economically on a County basis.That leaves Public Assistance, which Elgin Township does primarily by funding other agencies.So I believe that the services provided by Elgin Township could be more efficiently structured to better service the community and substantially reduce costs.Are there any township offices that should be eliminated or consolidated?Yes. First I would move to eliminate the Road Commissioner. We don't need a full-time Road Commissioner for 20 miles of roads.Second, I would move to replace the Township Clerk. This responsibility can be handled by the Township Supervisor and staff.Can you identify some township expenses/programs that could be trimmed or eliminated to reduce the tax burden?As I have referred to in my earlier responses the largest savings can be accomplished by eliminating the Road Commissioner and Clerk.Additionally, centralizing the assessor responsibility at the County level makes more sense. Then we can have a set of rules for that area that is more consistent.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?I believe there are several areas that need to be addressed:1. The Township grants about $750,000 to various organizations that provide services in Elgin. I would expand that process so that there is more oversight and participation in the selection process for those grants and the way that our money is spent. 2. I will work to bring federal grants to the township to reduce the burden on taxpayers.3. There is a referendum on the April 2017 ballot to create an additional tax levy of approximately $425,000 per year. It will cost us between $15-25 per year per household. The money collected will be controlled by the Township, but it is to be dedicated to Senior Services.This new tax levy was created hastily (in less than 2 months) at the request of a key agency that provides senior services in Elgin and surrounding areas. They need the money because the state will be reducing their funding.I am definitely in favor of providing services to seniors. The Township currently directs about 1% of their budget to seniors "â#128;œ far too little when over 50% of the Township revenues goes to pay the employees.BUT "â#128;œ I am definitely not in favor of a tax this large that is collected and then "Ëœfunneled' to a third party.If this referendum succeeds, I would work toward having the Township directly provide these services similar to the way it has been done in other Townships like Hanover Township.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Barak Obama. He thinks things through before he acts!What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Tell the truth. If I lied, the punishment was always much harsher.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would volunteer more time and include my family in that endeavor.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Math/Logic was my favorite subject. Critical thinking made me a better person.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Follow your passion and get involved. Don't let life pass you by.