Sales tax is wrong for mental health services
The McHenry County Board seems more concerned about getting taxpayers to accept a new 0.25% sales tax for mental health funding rather than any serious concern for how the mental health funds address issues that impact local governments and U.S. taxpayers. Beware. The county promises only to remove the Mental Health Board portion of taxes from the county property tax bill, not lower property taxes generally.
Given that mental health issues heavily impact all public services, why is the county board trying to suggest that a 55-year-old system cannot support future funding?
They want U.S. to believe the retail sales tax base, which fluctuates with the economy, is a consistent funding source for an important health and safety issue.
Vote no on the Mental Health Board tax referendum on the primary ballot. Keep a stable, secure funding source to support the valuable services the MHB funds. Keep in mind, your property taxes will likely not go down, but you will be paying more sales tax.
The change simply provides a $10 million opportunity for the county to spend money on needs for which they should have been planning.
We’ve already had one new sales tax this year Beginning January 2024, the county added 3.3 cents sales tax per gallon to gasoline. We don’t need another tax.
Mary T. McCann
Woodstock