Board votes to waive property taxes
It's not often politicians pass regulations and laws they hope they never have to use.
But that's likely to be the case Tuesday when the McHenry County Board takes up a measure that would waive county property taxes for the widow or widower of a police officer, firefighter or rescue worker killed while on the job.
The waiver, approved unanimously last week by the board's Finance and Audit Review Committee, will last as long as the surviving spouse remains unmarried and on average save those families about $580 a year.
"It certainly isn't a huge amount, but it's enough to make a difference," County Treasurer Bill LeFew said.
The action is made possible by a public act passed by the Illinois legislature last year that allows county and municipal governments to give a tax break.
After the board votes on the measure Tuesday, LeFew said he plans to travel the county visiting city councils and village boards to encourage them to enact similar measures in their communities.
In the meantime, county officials said they might look into whether they can extend the same kind of benefit to the survivors of any military members killed in the line of duty.
Records dispute: McHenry County's largest provider of healing could be in for some harm of the legal variety, courtesy of a county judge.
Judge Joseph Condon last week ordered representatives of Centegra Health Systems to appear before him next month to explain why they have not complied with a six-week-old subpoena for the medical records of two beating victims.
If Condon does not like the explanation he receives, he could hold the health-care provider in contempt of court.
The action is the result of a legal dispute between Centegra and the McHenry County State's Attorney's office over the records of two men hospitalized at Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry last year after being beaten by two other men.
In preparation for a trial against the beating suspects, county prosecutors on April 11 sent the hospital's parent company, Centegra, a subpoena for records of injuries and treatment the two men received as a result of the July 2007 incident.
But instead of responding to the subpoena, a hospital official sent the court a letter about two weeks later saying it could not comply without violating the physician-patient privilege. Centegra attorney Joanne Joyce reiterated that stance in court last week.
"We do not have the power to waive that privilege, and the state's attorney's office does not have the authority to force us to waive that privilege," she said. Centegra, Joyce added, would be willing to work with the prosecutors' office to obtain waivers from the victims.
Prosecutors, however, say the company legally is obligated to at least provide the records to the judge so he can review them in chambers and determine whether they are relevant and should be turned over.
Condon is scheduled to hear arguments June 9 on whether to hold Centegra in contempt.