‘Villager’ gotten to be propaganda tool
I recently received a copy of the Elk Grove Villager, a quarterly newsletter that Elk Grove Village mails to all residents. While this newsletter typically has some valuable information about construction projects and other general information, over the last 14 years it has become a forum for propaganda to advance the agenda and re-election of the mayor and village board.
The spring 2011 Villager issue contains a misleading article on the cover page touting the low combined property tax rate of Elk Grove Village. As an educated Elk Grove Village taxpayer is aware, there are 16 or more taxing bodies for Elk Grove Village properties for which the Village of Elk Grove has only control of one of these.
The tax rates that are bragged about in the article are the combined rates of all of the taxing bodies such as Cook County, the township, library and several others for which Elk Grove Village has no control. Making this article even more misleading, the 5.909 current combined tax rate that is published represents only the Elk Grove Township side of Elk Grove Village which has a much lower combined tax rate than the Schaumburg Township side of the village.
I researched how my Elk Grove Village (non-combined) property taxes have changed over the last 12 years: 1998, $214.44; in 2010, $299.86. This translates to a 3.4 percent annual increase, not exactly what I would call keeping taxes stable. This is especially sad considering the additional properties added to the tax rolls during that time.
This brings me to the conclusion that all of the unnecessary capital projects like the clock tower, fountains and new executive office municipal building have had an effect of raising our taxes at a higher rate than is necessary to maintain basic services.
I urge all residents to vote for change. Please vote for Tim Burns for Elk Grove Village trustee. Tim will listen and act in your best interests; he is interested in a more transparent village government and is not afraid to challenge the mayor on the issues!
Jeffrey Snyder
Elk Grove Village