Please, please just let us go own way

As a resident of the Moraines of Campton, one of the many areas that has petitioned to disconnect from the new village of Campton Hills,

I attended the morning session of the Dec. 12 hearing on our petition and felt confident that the loss to the village of 0.5 percent of village revenue that would accompany our disconnection was insignificant enough that the village would simply let us go.

After hearing about the afternoon testimony from the village president and village clerk and reading quotes from that testimony in the Dec. 13 newspaper, I am even more convinced that my neighbors and I correctly chose to pursue disconnection.

In court, both parties agreed that disconnection of the Moraines would cost the village approximately $11,000

in revenue next year.

Patsy Smith, the appointed village president, testified that loss of this money would cause the village "irreparable financial harm."

And the appointed village treasurer testified the village was in dire financial straits because it had not yet received revenue from the

state and was deficit spending.

Clearly, she must not understand this state money is not lost, only deferred. The village officials also indicated they do not know how much their legal expenses will be, although they expect a bill for $50,000 for services up through August.

However, it is now December, and the village has gone to court many, many times since then to challenge disconnection petitions as well as challenge other issues.

If it is concerned about the village's "dire financial straits," I'd think they'd be concerned enough about these costs to at least ask how much they'd be.

Clearly, if they would let those of us who want out disconnect, they could save considerable money in legal fees.

If our current village leadership is this naive about other aspects of municipal financing, I am truly skeptical about the village's financial future.

Susan B. Strasser

Elburn