The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

McHenry amdealer f ay Januar^ 4, 1984 Number, 43 Volume 108 "2 Sections 32 Pages 25' McHenry school districts pass levies for new year STAFF PHOTO-WAVHf GAVLOUP Water flowing over the small dam on the U T)_ A/VcHenry Country Club pond on John Street ± rozen OCcililV provides a typical winteivscene, brought to J lifo h\/ a nmim nf hn\/Q pn'tnvinn a damp nf irp 7' life by a group of boys enjoying a game of ice hockey on the pond. by Donna Bertulis and Marion Olsen Tax levies were passed in the waning days of December by both McHenry school districts. The school board of McHenry Elementary School District 15 has passed ^ts new tax levy, reflecting an 8.93 percent in- crease in taxes. According to William Landis, assistant superintendent for operational services, the actual increase expected in the school tax will be about 2.33 percent, but the overestimation is done as a safety valve. The Truth in Taxation Law requires any public body to hold a hearing if its levy of 1983 taxes is expected to exceed the previous year by five percent. Landis explained to the board that the public hearing "could have been avoided" if the district's assessed valuation does not increase by more than two or three percent, as is ex­ pected. "Our assessed valuation is now $178 million. It may go to $180 million, but *we show $190 million to cover ourselves." Using the maximum rates allowed by the state, the total of seven working funds equals $3,727,1*2. Tfie education fund will receive over two-thirds of the taxes, with an estimated $2.6 million. "This is where we need it," stated Landis. Other funds are: operations, building and maintenance, $475,000; tran­ sportation, $285,000; Illinois Municipal Retirement, $87,000; working cash, $95,000; fire prevention, safety and energy, - a loss of $138,000 to the education fund." "You alarm some people (with the exaggerated tax in­ crease) by protecting yourself, but for the little bit of trouble, it's worth it," commented Landis. The school board passed the levy unanimously. It was the first meeting of the newly- elected board members. "School tax levies are the" most misunderstood aspect of school financing," said Supt. Robert O. Swartzloff at the District 156 high school board meeting. So, although the Jjoard authorized a tax levy of $3,791,600 for its 1984-85 year, it does not expect to receive that amount. Based on the County Super­ visor of Assessment's projected revenues, the district will receive 1.3 percent less overall than last year and 8 percent less overall than the levied amount. However, the projections cannot be exact and an Continued on page 3 Charge drug delivery Five McHenry area men were arrested this weekend in con­ nection with a narcotics in­ vestigation conducted by the McHenry County Sheriff's Police. On Jan. 1, county police detectives executed a search warrant and made the arrests for delivery and possession of controlled substances cannabis. Prior to obtaining the warrant, two purchases -of cocaine were made from residents of 2602 Myang St., McHenry, just riiprth of the city. Arrested were\ -Andrew McK^n, 21, 26CE Myang, McHenry, was charged with delivery of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, possession of cannabis and possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owners Identification (FOI) card. -Kenneth Ledford, 18, 2602, Myang, McHenry, delivery of a controlled substance and possession of cannabis. / -Raymond J. Randall, 17, 3308 W. Elm St., McHenry, possession of c labis and residential burgl ::^Mark Embry, 21, 2913 Rich- id Road, McHenry, possession of a controlled substance. -Raymond Roach, 21, 2602 Myang, McHenry, possession of cannabis. A county police spokesman said police confiscated cocaine, marijuana, miscellaneous drugs and more than $2,500 in currency. The drugs hall a street value estimated at $5,100. Bonds and rourt dates for the charges were to be set early this week. $95, $30 Collect 99.37 percent of taxes Gary W. Verdung, McHenry County treasurer, has an­ nounced that the 1983 tax cycle is now completed. The total amount of 1982 real estate taxes collated amounted to $79,W2,571.46 or 99.37 percent of the $80,055,185.26 charged. This compares to last year's collection rate of 99.30 percent. "McHenry County taxpayers continue to do a fine job of paying their real estate taxes," Verdung stated. "While the taxes have risen through the years, we should remember that these taxes directly benefit our local taxing districts. This money does not go downstate at all and our fine communities, schools and service districts depend on our prompt and ef­ ficient payment of our taxes." Of the amount collected, McHenry County school districts received 70.27 percent of the total; municipalities, 8.6 percent; McHenry County government received 7.7 per­ cent; township governments, 5.8 percent; fire prevention districts, 3.6 percent; con­ servation and park districts received 2.8 percent, with the remaining 1.3 percent of the total collected going to libraries, hospitals, cemetery, sanitary and drainage districts. All late penalties and fees received are applied to general operating costs of McHenry Coynty and transferred directly to the general fund. Seneca Township led the seventeen townships in McHenry County in collection percentage with 99.96 percent of its real estate taxes collected. It was followed by Riley, 99.89 percent; Dunham, 99.86 per­ cent; Hebron, 99.83 percent; Hartland, 99.83 percent; Alden, 99.82 percent; Marengo, 99.81y percent; Coral, 99.80 percent; Greenwood, 99.76 percent; Chemung, 99.73 percent; Grafton, 99.52 percent; McHenry, 99.51 percent; Algonquin, 99.48 percent; Dorr, 99.25 percent; Nunda, 98.89 percent; Burton, 98.16 percent; and Richmond at 97.61 percent. and tort immunity, ctuality, the school district robably receive a total of 1,142, with a $180 million assessed valuation. I If the district, however, un­ derestimated its assessed valuation, it would throw off the tax formula, explained Landis. "If the assessed valuation did go to $190 million and we had estimated only $180,000, and extended $2,484,000 in the education fund, we would be getting only $1,307 (per $100 equalized assessed valuation) instead of (the maximum) $1.38 Hearing on rehab unit, scanner A public hearing concerning the need for Northern Illinois Medical Center to establish a 15- bed rehabilitation unit at a cost of $391,931 has been called by the Health Systems Agency for Kane, Lake and McHenry Counties. It will be held Monday, Jan. 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the HSA- KLM office, Cary. Under provisions of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act, any health care facility con­ struction or modification project involving a capital expenditure of $690,000, a substantial change in bed capacity, or a substantial change in the functional scope of the facility's operation must obtain a permit. This is in the form of a certificate of need obtained from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. Paul Laudick, NIMC's A. look inside,.. * >. Recycling Christmas Trees Energy Aid Regular features Crime of the,Week- Obituaries New Classified Number Page 10 , Page 2 Page 4 Page 9 '344-4800 associate director for corporate development, hopes for this approval by February. The purpose of the act is to ensure that such projects are needed to meet the health care needs of the community and are not an unnecessary duplication^ of services offered by other health care facilities. HSA-KLM, as the official health planning and resources development agency in the area, is responsible for assisting the state board in determining the need. Laudick said there is a definite need for additional rehabilitation beds serving multiple injury, amputee or stroke victims in the HSA - KLM area, and he estimated that a large number of patients using the;1 new unit would be stroke victims. The unit will be housed in space nrigijn9% designated as office space, but still will be on a patient floor in the new NIMC. It is expected to cost $391,931, with money going to construct the unit and buy equipment for physical, occupational and speech therapy. The beds alone cost more than $1,000 each, he said. Written or verbal testimony will be accepted at the hearing. Written testimony may also be mailed directly to the HSA-KLM office, 188 S. Northwest Hwy, Cary, lit., 60013 if not presented at the public hearing. It must be received no later than the day following that hearing. A complete copy of the ap­ plication for permit is available for inspection at the McHenry Public Libary. At the same time, a hearing will be held concerning the NIMC proposal to purchase a TCT whole body scanner at a cost of $1,089,316. The TCT scanner, Laudick said, "utilizes computers and will visualize soft and hard bony structure, whereas conventional x-ray does not visualize soft tissue." ; Despite its cost, which Laudick said has decreased in the past several years due to expanding technology, the scanner is a "piece of equipment every hospital should have," and is becoming a diagnostic "tool used on a daily basis in most hospitals. The TCT is capable of scan­ ning the entire body, including the head, while some machines are only capable of either body or head scans, he noted. J Both the rehabilitation unit and the TCT scan are expected to be in operation in June, pending final state approval, which could come at the Feb. 2 meeting of the Health Facilities Planning Board. K-dLiaH" STAFF PHOTp WAYNE GAYIORD FAST FREEZE-The intense cold of recent days resulted in this unusual scene as water leakage on the tower at Hansen AAarine froze immediately into a huge icicle.