McHenry County Board District 6 candidates favor spending Valley Hi surplus

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story should have read a fourth candidate, Democrat Cathy Johnson, who served as a Riley Township trustee and a member of the Marengo-Union library board, refused to participate in the Daily Herald's interview process. A retired teacher from Marengo, Johnson was slated by the Democratic Party of McHenry County to replace candidate Allison Barnard, who moved out of state.

Three of four candidates vying to represent McHenry County Board District 6 differ on what to do with a roughly $40 million surplus from the county's Valley Hi Nursing Home in Woodstock.

Incumbent Republican Mary McCann, 71, Republican James Kearns, 54, Democrat Andrew Georgi, 53, and Democrat Cathy Johnson, are running for two, two-year term seats on Nov. 8.

McCann, who has served three terms on the county board, said the county is looking into borrowing money from the Valley Hi surplus and paying interest on those funds, which would be cheaper than borrowing on the open market.

"It's allowable," McCann said. "If we borrow against that ... we then pay ourselves back and it goes into Valley Hi funds and it grows that fund, then we can reduce that levy way down. It is a very practical idea and it won't cost the taxpayers any additional dollars because we will be paying it with the dollars that we get now."

McCann said the county has $20 million worth of needed repairs or upgrades on existing assets.

"We have not been doing a good job of managing our assets and keeping them going the way we should have," she said. "Things are wearing out at the same time. From what I have seen, we can still keep the levy flat for a few more years and not take the CPI (Consumer Price Index increase) and carry this out."

The nursing home - established through a voter-backed referendum - operates on a roughly $11 million annual budget and a $700,000 deficit for the 2015-16 fiscal year. This year, the county kept the levy flat not collecting $3 million in taxes for the nursing home, saving taxpayers about $24 annually.

Kearns, Grafton Township supervisor, said he believes legally the county cannot use the surplus for anything except the running of Valley Hi.

"They should abolish the levy," said Kearns, adding the surplus should last a while. "Now is the time for them to be managers. If they can't make $40 million last over a very long time, something is wrong with their management style. With that big of a surplus, they can run it as a top-notch operation."

Kearns said the county could return to taxpayers in 15 years and seek to levy again when funds are needed, though he acknowledged getting voter approval for a new levy would be difficult.

He said he wouldn't object to privatizing the nursing home, but believes it's unlikely the county could find a viable private industry operator to take it over. Kearns is against borrowing from the surplus for other county expenses, which didn't work for the state.

"You are robbing Peter to pay Paul. I don't like playing games with funds," he said. "You shouldn't spend money just because it's there."

Georgi, a Hebron village trustee, said the county's tax levies are not based on true needs, which has led to the huge surplus at Valley Hi.

"I say only levy what we need," he said. Georgi advocates taking a closer look at the nursing home's budget and exactly how much is needed for operations and maintenance.

He agrees with spending a portion of the surplus, but doesn't recommend spending it down entirely because eventually the nursing home will need repairs and replacement equipment, which could eat up reserves fast.

Georgi also does not support borrowing from the surplus to fund capital projects, which he doesn't believe would be legal anyway.

"That money was levied for Valley Hi straight up and it shouldn't be used for anything else," he said.

Johnson, who served as a Riley Township trustee and a member of the Marengo-Union library board, refused to participate in the Daily Herald's interview process. A retired teacher from Marengo, Johnson was slated by the Democratic Party of McHenry County to replace candidate Allison Barnard, who moved out of state.

District 6 includes portions of Huntley, Lake in the Hills, and extends all the way to the Wisconsin border to the north, and Marengo and Harvard to the west.