Helping you understand the April referendums in Lake County
Ten government agencies in Lake County will ask voters to decide a variety of issues on April 7.
Topics include ambulance service, traffic circles, drinking water and the proposed extension of Route 53 into the county.
Here's a breakdown of some of those questions, including their potential impacts on tax rates.
First Antioch Township Fire Protection District
• The issue: District officials want to staff all three stations around the clock and add paramedic-firefighters to each station. This is the same plan brought to voters in November.
• Tax hike: Yes. The owner of a house valued at $100,000 would pay an additional $73.33 in property taxes to the district the first year.
Cary Elementary District
• The issue: Officials want to borrow $17 million for operations and facility improvements.
• Tax hike: There are two plans: one that would raise the tax rate by 5 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation, and another that would raise it by 9 cents. The 5-cent plan would mean the owner of a house valued at $300,000 would pay an additional $47 in taxes to the district the first year. The 9-cent plan would mean the same hypothetical homeowner would pay an additional $85 to the district the first year. The board will choose an option Feb. 17.
Grayslake Park District
• The issue: Park district officials want to raise taxes to pay for a proposed land purchase.
• Tax hike: Yes. The owner of a house valued at $100,000 would pay an additional $29.67 to the district the first year.
Village of Hawthorn Woods
• The issue: Village officials want to raise money through property taxes to boost the police pension fund.
• Tax hike: Yes. The owner of a house valued at $100,000 would pay an additional $11.67 the first year.
Lake County
• The issue: This is an advisory question to gauge whether Lake County residents think the long-planned highway extension should be built. It is not binding.
• Tax hike: No
Village of Long Grove
• The issue: This is a nonbinding, advisory question that asks residents if they want drinking water from Lake Michigan.
• Tax hike: No.
Village of Mettawa
• The issue: Whether the village should purchase farmland west of the I-94 Lake Forest Oasis and east of Bradley Road and turn it into parks or an open-space preserve. It's nonbinding.
• Tax hike: No
• The issue: It's an advisory question asking whether residents support a Lake County plan to build a roundabout traffic circle at the intersection of Everett and Riverwoods roads?
• Tax hike: No
• The issue: Another advisory question, this time asking whether the village should make completing the Mettawa Trail system a priority.
• Tax hike: No
Village of Round Lake Park
• The issue: Village officials want to borrow $1.5 million for public improvements - such as streetlights, sewer improvements and green spaces - in the business district along Route 134.
• Tax hike: No. The village has paid off an older loan, so the town's tax rate will decrease either way.
Wauconda Township
• The issue: Residents in unincorporated areas will decide if the township board should hire a garbage disposal firm for their neighborhoods. A vendor has not yet been chosen.
• Tax hike: No.