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After 8-year fight, judge says Barrington Hills horse boarding law is constitutional

Posted in Animal Welfare, Barrington Hills Polo Club, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, FRVPC, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Politics, Public Safety, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Unions, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Village President, Your Barrington Hills, Zoning Board on April 28, 2023| 1 Comment »

oakwood

A Cook County judge has ruled a Barrington Hills ordinance allowing commercial horse boarding at Oakwood Farms and other places to be constitutional, rejecting arguments that conspiracy and corruption were the basis of its adoption. (Daily Herald file photo, 2011)

A Cook County judge has called constitutional a Barrington Hills ordinance permitting commercial horse boarding as a home-occupation business in the historically equestrian-friendly village, rejecting claims of corruption.

The 8-year-old litigation that resulted in a 21-day trial was born of a neighbor dispute that dominated local politics in Barrington Hills for a time about a dozen years ago.

“I believe it vindicates a number of people,” said attorney James Kelly, who represented a party of intervenors in plaintiff Jim Drury’s lawsuit against the village. “I think it was a good decision.”

Drury — who lives next door to Benjamin and Cathleen LeCompte’s Oakwood Farms, where a 60-horse commercial boarding operation existed — argued the facility’s imposition on his residential peace and quiet clearly was forbidden by existing village code regulating home-occupation businesses in 2011.

Drury tried through lawsuits, newspaper advertisements and official testimony to suggest village officials at that time were refusing to acknowledge this and instead were pandering to the Riding Club of Barrington Hills and other equestrian interests.

While Drury conceded the LeComptes had the right to keep 60 of their own horses on the 130-acre property, he said the number of employees and clients that visited his residential neighborhood most days clearly marked Oakwood Farms as a commercial enterprise.

In claiming political motivations in the village, Drury pointed to $5,000 donations LeCompte made to each of the trustee candidates then-Village President Robert Abboud supported in the 2011 election — Joe Messer, Karen Selman and Patty Meroni.

That money was returned to LeCompte when the State Board of Elections determined he had not been properly identified by the candidates as the original source of the funding.

Read more here.

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The Illinois exodus continues. New IRS data shows the Prairie State is nation’s 3rd-biggest loser of people and wealth to other states – Wirepoints

Posted in Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Springfield, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Unions on April 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

leaving-illinois-v2

A Wirepoints analysis of the Internal Revenue Service’s just-released 2020-2021 taxpayer migration data shows Illinois lost, on net, 105,000 residents to other states in 2020. A total of 166,000 people moved into Illinois from other states in 2020, while 271,000 moved out of Illinois, resulting in that 105,000 net loss. The state ranked third-worst nationally for net resident losses.

The latest IRS state-by-state migration data is based on tax returns filed in 2020 and 2021, covering taxpayers and their dependents who moved from one state to another between 2019 and 2020 (see appendix for changes in our reporting methodology).

Illinois’ tax base also took a hit as a result of those residents leaving, losing a record net $10.9 billion in taxable income (AGI) to other states in 2020 – a new record. That, too, was the third-worst performance in the country.

In all, Illinois lost residents on a net basis to 45 other states in 2020.

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The exodus continues

The IRS migration report provides hard, indisputable data on the movement of Americans between states. The department reviews tax returns annually to track when and where tax filers and their dependents move. It also aggregates the ages, income brackets and adjusted gross incomes of filers.

That data shows Illinois continued to be a national outlier in 2020 when it comes to losing people and the money they earn. Only California and New York lost more residents – 332,000 and 262,000, respectively.

Read more here.

Related: “LGBTQ residents moving to Illinois from states with conservative agendas: ‘I don’t want to be ashamed of where I live’”

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LGBTQ residents moving to Illinois from states with conservative agendas: ‘I don’t want to be ashamed of where I live’

Posted in BHBB, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Real Estate on April 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Loafers

Philip Maziarz steadies his husband, Kevin Romero, as he changes batteries for a fire alarm on April 15, 2023, in a home they’re renovating in Uptown. (Shanna Madison / Chicago Tribune)

Mark Niehaus-Rincon, 67, has lived in Omaha, Nebraska, for 12 years but says “life is too short” to stay there.

He and his husband, Alex, a native of Omaha, have faced the silent treatment from others at their gym for 10 years. They’ve also dealt with uncomfortable and hostile workplace environments and homophobic slurs.

That treatment, combined with Nebraska’s current legislative agenda — which includes restricting women’s access to reproductive health care and limiting the rights of the LGBTQ community — helped push Niehaus-Rincon and his husband to relocate to Chicago. He said they are done compromising and hiding their true identities.

“We are just over it,” Niehaus-Rincon said. “We aren’t welcome here. … I am ashamed to say I live in Nebraska … and I don’t want to be ashamed of where I live.”

Niehaus-Rincon is not the only one relocating to Illinois from a state with a conservative legislative agenda and what he describes as an unwelcome environment.

Although there is no data cataloging these moves, real estate experts said a number of households have relocated to Illinois, or are preparing to relocate, in search of a safer and more welcoming environment for the LGBTQ community.

Roman Patzner, a real estate agent with Fulton Grace Realty in Chicago, said relocation activity picked up after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, ending the constitutional right to an abortion and leaving many in the LGBTQ community worried about whether their same-sex marriage rights would continue to be protected.

More here.

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Village Board of Trustees meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, Barrington Hills Park District, Board of Health, Building Department, Conflict of interest, Contests, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Finance Committee, Financial Reports, Horizon Farm, Mad Cows, Organizations, Pension Funding, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Public Safety Committee, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club Commission, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, TMI, Topics Of Interest, Transparency, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Village Treasurer, Zoning Board on April 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

April 2023 Adg

Our Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting beginning this evening at 6:30 PM. Topics on their agenda include:

  • [Vote] Amended Village Budget FY 2023
  • [Vote] Resolution Authorizing the Issuance of Notice of Award for the 2023 Road Program Project by the Village of Barrington Hills, Illinois Resolution 23 –
  • [Vote] Ordinance Amending Escrow Requirements for Tree Removal Permits as Set Forth in Title 4, Chapter 6 in the Village Code Ordinance 23 –
  • [Vote] Resolution of Proclamation Appreciating Trustee Bryan C. Croll for 8 Years of Dedicated Service Resolution 23 –
  • [Vote] Resolution of Proclamation Appreciating Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan for 10 Years of Dedicated Service Resolution 23 –

In addition, nominations for new or renewal appointments to Boards and Commissions will be voted on.  Four member of the Equestrian Commission is on the list of renewals, however there is a problem with the renomination of one of those members.

That member ran for and won a seat on the Barrington Hills Park District Board earlier this month, and now this represents a conflict. Therefore, an alternate should be considered at a subsequent Board of Trustees meeting.

A copy of this evening’s agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.

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13 Illinois counties among the top 50 property markets nationwide most ‘at-risk’ of a downturn

Posted in Cook, County, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Real Estate on April 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

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Illinois is home to 13 of the nation’s 50 housing markets that are most at-risk of a downturn. That’s according to a recent report by ATTOM Data Solutions, a company that provides comprehensive data on property values and taxes across the nation.

The Chicagoland area is, collectively, among the most “vulnerable to decline” property markets in the nation. Property in Kane County is the 6th most at-risk of a decline. Will County is 8th. McHenry is 13th and Cook County is the nation’s 20th most at-risk.

A look at a county-by-county graphic shows that no counties in Illinois’ neighboring states made the top-50 list. On the contrary, Wisconsin had six of the least at-risk counties in the nation (Brown County, Dane County, Eau Claire County, La Crosse County, Washington County and Winnebago County).

Other very at-risk U.S. locations include inland California, New Jersey, Delaware and New York City.

ATTOMs’ analysis was based on a variety of metrics, including an area’s general property costs, amount of underwater loans and foreclosures, and its unemployment rate.

More here.

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Barrington police tried to avoid ‘hysteria … and panic’ after bogus bomb threat called in to high school

Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Deception, Goat Rodeo, Public Safety, Real Estate, School Districts on April 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

BHS Rodeo

Two Barrington Police officers accompany high school students out of the building as they evacuate Barrington High School following a second bomb threat at the school on Monday, April 17, 2023, in Barrington. Barrington 220 School District sent out alerts saying, ”Out of an abundance of caution, BHS is evacuating the building after receiving a second bomb threat… Students who walk or drive to school have been dismissed for the day… BHS students who rely on district transportation should make their way to the normal bus loading area and will begin to board buses to be transported home. Students who are picked up by parents should make their own way to the west lot for normal parent pick-up.” (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Police in Barrington are still investigating after multiple “computerized bomb threats” made to Barrington High School on Monday at first led to no lockdown but then prompted an evacuation of the school.

The initial alleged bomb threat phoned in to the school that morning was quickly identified by Barrington police and other authorities as textbook hoaxes, the police deputy chief told Pioneer Press.

“When the phone call came in, it was a digital, computerized voice. It came in from a six-digit phone number that didn’t come back to anything,” police Deputy Chief John Burke said about the first call BHS received Monday. “Right away, those were the cues we’d read about for the past two years and that [don’t] hold a lot of credibility.”

Burke said the department has not made any arrests in connection with the incident Monday, but is aware of videos circulating online that appear to show a threat being made to the school.

Burke said whomever made the threat used a “digital, computerized voice,” presumably to avoid being identified.

Pioneer Press obtained one of the alleged videos circulating but has not been able to independently confirm its authenticity. Police would not comment on the specific video Pioneer Press obtained.

“There’s some different videos floating around, (and Barrington police are) looking at all of them,” Burke said.

He said the Barrington Police Department and Barrington School District 220, which BHS is part of, have been holding regular security meetings where they have been preparing for the possibility of a swatting call — where fake threats are phoned in, leading to a large emergency response — and were able to determine quickly on Monday that the threat was not credible.

More here.

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Barrington Countryside Fire District Board meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, BCFPD, Deception, Ethics, Jewel-Osco, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Unions on March 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

BCFPD Hummer

The Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District (BCFPD) Board of Trustees meets tonight at 6:30 PM at 22222 N. Pepper Road in Lake Barrington.  A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.

Tonight’s meeting agenda was posted sometime after noon today, which is a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act which requires regular meeting agendas be posted at least 48 hours in advance of meetings. That will not stop the meeting from going forward since the Board doesn’t care, but we wanted to make note that fact.

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2023 Consolidated Elections early voting begins tomorrow

Posted in 220, Barrington Area Library, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Cook, County, Deception, Elections, Ethics, Harper College, Illinois State Board of Elections, Kane, Lake, McHenry, One Barrington Hills, Pension Funding, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, School Districts, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Unions, Village Board, Village Government, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on March 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

PAC

Early voting will be available to voter starting tomorrow. For locations and times, visit your county’s information at:

To obtain expanded information, visit Cook County, Kane County, Lake County or McHenry County early voting sites.

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Roads & Bridges Committee meets today

Posted in Agenda, Audio Recordings, Cuba Rd Bridge, Cuba Township Road District, Ethics, FUBAR, Mac's Property Management, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Roads & Bridges Committee, TMI, Transparency, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President on March 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

3.23 RB

The Roads & Bridges Committee meets today at 4:00 PM at Village Hall. This will be the first time the Committee has met November 8 (See, “Special Election Day Roads & Bridges meeting today”).

A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.

Related: “Some perspectives on the proposed 2023 Appropriations Ordinance”

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22 states, including every Illinois neighbor, cut income taxes permanently. But not Illinois.

Posted in Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on March 14, 2023| 1 Comment »

All alone

State lawmakers across the country have given their residents permanent tax relief over the last two years. In all, 22 states have cut individual tax rates since 2021 as a result of booming state-government revenues. Michigan is the latest state to cut its income tax, triggered by overflowing coffers. That means every single one of Illinois’ neighbors have cut taxes within the last few years.

Instead of tax cuts for Illinoisans, Sen. Robert Martwick, an ally and surrogate for Gov. J.B. Pritzker, recently filed new legislation calling for a progressive tax scheme – never mind most of the country is moving away from progressive taxes and toward flat structures, and that Illinoisans rejected a similar proposal in a 2020 referendum.

A renewed call for a progressive tax hike is bad news for Illinois in the nationwide competition for people and businesses. We’ve documented in detail how Illinois continues to lose population and businesses to other states. Illinois’ lack of competitiveness is made all the worse as other states make themselves even more attractive through permanent tax cuts.

All of Illinois’ neighbors have made and are making significant moves to lower taxes:

  • Iowa passed laws in 2021 and 2022 to accelerate the state’s already-planned move from a progressive tax to a flat tax. The state’s top income tax rate was dropped from 8.53 percent to 6.0 percent in 2023 and Iowa will fully transition to a flat tax rate of just 3.9 percent by 2026.
  • Missouri passed a law in 2022 to accelerate the state’s already-planned drop in its income tax rates. The state’s top income tax rate decreased from 5.3 percent to 4.95 percent in 2023. Missouri’s top tax rate is on income above just $8,968 a year, so it’s effectively a flat tax state.
  • Indiana passed a law in 2022 that dropped the state’s flat rate from 3.23 percent to 3.15 percent in 2023. The law also requires the rate to fall to 2.9 percent by 2029 if specified financial conditions are met.
  • Kentucky passed a law in 2022 that dropped the state’s flat 5.0 percent rate to 4.5 percent in 2023. The law also requires the rate to fall to 4.0 percent in 2024 if specific financial conditions are met.
  • Wisconsin passed a law in 2022 that dropped the rate of the state’s 2nd-highest income bracket (income between $24,250 and $266,930) from 6.27 to 5.3 percent.
  • Lastly, Michigan’s flat rate of 4.25% is set to fall to 4.05% next month, the result of a 2015 law that requires tax cuts when specific financial conditions are met.

Read more here.

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