Huntley home rule through census or referendum?

Could Huntley become a home-rule community by 2012?

During a recent Daily Herald editorial board interview, all six candidates running for village trustee said they’d pursue home-rule status if elected.

Home-rule communities have the power to raise property taxes and to create new taxes — all without a referendum. They also have the prerogative to formulate their own laws that address local issues.

“Basically, a home-rule community has all the authority that the General Assembly has to make laws, except in those specific areas where the General Assembly has said that the home-rule municipalities are pre-empted,” said James Bateman, a Barrington-based municipal attorney.

Huntley, for example, could devise laws that regulate vicious dogs or impose fines on landlords who fail to maintain their property. Both have become recent issues in Huntley, and the village now relies on McHenry and Kane counties to look after them. Huntley could also, for example, establish an entertainment tax on a future movie theater, levy a real estate transfer tax on people moving out of the village and institute a local sales tax. All of these are ideas Trustee Harry Leopold suggested could be up for consideration.

“There is no question that home rule is good for Huntley, and we want it,” Leopold said.

But how Huntley becomes a home-rule community is another matter.

There are two ways obtain home-rule status. The first is through a referendum that would give residents an opportunity to vote on the matter. The second is by a special census. Once a town hits 25,000 people, it becomes a home-rule community automatically.

Figures released two weeks ago from the U.S. Census Bureau show the rapidly growing village’s population in 2010 was 24,291, a 324 percent change from 2000, but 709 shy of the 25,000 residents required for home rule.

Trustees Jay Kadakia and Leopold agree that running a special census in 2012 is the way to go.

“That’s the best thing to do,” Kadakia said.

Locally, East Dundee and Batavia became home-rule towns via referendum.

Leopold would rather not put the question to voters, because Huntley could reach 25,000 people before the question ever surfaces on the ballot. He is also concerned people wouldn’t give it a chance in the voting booth.

“There is an enigma in the fact that a lot of people equate home rule with just the ability of the local municipality to put taxes up, and that would not be the intent,” Leopold said.

Leopold and Village President Chuck Sass have both said they do not plan to raise taxes on residents. Leopold cautions his stance could change if the state doesn’t pay its bills on time.

But while Sass supports running a special census, he isn’t sure 2012 would be the year in which to hold one, pointing to ongoing foreclosures. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Huntley had 606 vacant units in 2010, a 242 percent increase from 2000.

“When we do it, I want to make sure we get over 25,000 (people),” Sass said. “I don’t know if we’ll have that by 2012 or not, but I sure ... don’t want to do it and we come up short.”

A special census would measure population gains in select growth areas, rather than the entire village. Huntley, which ran three special tallies between 2000 and 2010, spent $165,000 in the last one it held in 2008, said Jennifer Chernak, the village’s director of finance and human resources.

It found Huntley’s population had grown from 16,719 to 22,229 people, and the state subsequently paid $506,920 in income tax to the village, or $92 for every new head counted. The money went right into the village’s general fund, Chernak said.

The money aspect of the special census also appeals to Sass.

“By doing a special census, that brings more money into us too,” Sass said. “I’m not doing it just to get to home rule, I’m doing it to get more income from the state.”

Meanwhile, roughly 10,000 people live in Huntley’s Sun City, a subdivision for active seniors. Bill Ziletti, president of the Sun City Community Association of Huntley, declined to comment on whether he favored voting over a special census, because he didn’t have enough information.