Candidates eager to ease taxes in county

In the contest to represent their party in the Lake County Board District 16 race, the four candidates put taxes -- and how to make them lower -- at the top of their issues lists.

Douglas Raul Williams, a Democrat from Hainesville, called tax relief "the most pressing issue for the board."

Williams said implementing a temporary cap on property tax assessments would be his first goal should he be elected.

"I'm not saying it's going to be a permanent solution," he said, adding it would be revisited in three years. But Williams said the current number of home foreclosures frightens him. "We need to send a message to families."

Terry Wilke, a Democrat from Round Lake Beach, said he wouldn't necessarily support a cap.

Instead, Wilke said, the state should step up to the plate when it comes to education expenses, instead of relying on property taxes.

"(Taxes) would be more a state issue," Wilke said. "There's very little argument that the state needs to take a larger role."

Wilke said he would advocate for change at the state level and added that with the access county officials have to Springfield lawmakers, he could lobby for the kind of change required.

"I would absolutely use that access," Wilke said.

Incumbent Bob Powers, a Republican from Round Lake Beach, agreed that Illinois relies far too much on property taxes to educate its children.

"I've always thought that property taxes aren't really the way to go to support schools," Powers said, suggesting that voters should have an eagle eye when picking school board candidates. "When you think about taxes, it's unfortunate that nobody pays attention to the school board elections."

Powers said education will be his strategy for combating high taxes.

He plans to sit down with mortgage companies and come up with ways to keep his residents out of foreclosure.

"There really is help out there for people who are in trouble," Powers said.

Powers' competition, Jeanne Goshgarian, a Republican from Round Lake, agrees government should be more accessible and more willing to help people find answers to their financial problems.

"Here in Lake County we really have a tough situation," she said. "You have to pay for the quality of your public schools, but then people get into this crunch."

Goshgarian said taxpayers in the county can use help when it comes to learning about senior citizen tax breaks and how to examine their assessments.

"Customer service starts with the people at the counter," she said. "They should not make it seem like it's some sort of obstacle course."

Goshgarian also said that if she's elected, she would apply a strategy from her time on the Round Lake Area Park District board.

"What we did on the park district was say, 'We're never going to referendum'," Goshgarian said. "We're not going to tap people who are stretched the way they are."