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Hogge Confirms Higher Taxes Willard Hogge, McHenry county supervisor of assessments, has confirmed what many residents an­ ticipated - real estate taxes to be paid in 1979 will be highter than their taxes a year ago. He explained inflation is a contributing factor Hogge said tax bills will be delayed about 30 days because the Illinois Department of Local Government has directed the McHenry County Board of Review to apply a multiplier as needed to equalize assessments of farm property He said the multiplier will range from 1.35 percent to 0 percent, depending on the township, and that the formula is based on produc­ tivity, soil type and other factors. He said the farmland assessment law has not been implemented in McHenry county for 1978 taxes but will be put into effect in all townships for 1979 taxes, payable in 1980. The formula used by the Board of Review follows the farmland assessment law guidelines. The directive from the Department of Local Government told the Board of Review to base their figuring with the best farmland at an assessed value of $358. Other land would be corrected in value with an equalizer. Hogge made two important points: 1. Taxes on farmland are not increased as much as they would be had not the farmland assessment law been adopted because a higher assessment value would have been inevitable since the market value of the land would be higher insofar as tax purposes are concerned. He estimated taxes on far­ mland to be paid in 1980 will be 15-20 percent higher than current taxes. 2, Urban dwellers will find taxes increased, too, because a multiplier of 1.3153 is being applied over basic assessments. Last year the multiplier was 1.2080. The law requires that a multiplier be used to bring the level of assessments to thirtv-three and one- th i rd percent of the i r ac­ tua l va lue Ask Various Uses For More Than 700 Acres A petition has been filed for hearing before the McHenry county zoning board of appeals by American National Bank and Trust company of Chicago, and A Lee Haydary. Hushnag Javid and Hassen N'ajafi for an amendment to the McHenry county zoning ordinance from "F" Farming district to "B 1" Business district and "R l" Residential district and a Condi t ional I ' se or Var ia t ion The proper ty i s loca ted in Nunda township . Parce l I cons is ts of approximate! ) 2.Y acres and is loca ted on the nor th s ide of Crys ta l Spr ings road near the in tersec t ion ot Crys ta l Spr ings and Walkup roads Parce l I I cons is ts of approximate ly 690 acres and i s located a t the southeas t corner (Cont inued on page 20) Cert i fy Final Mul t ip l ier The I l l inois Depar tment ot loca l Government At ta ins has cer t i f ied a 1978 f ina l mul t ip l ie r of 1 ,315:< to McHenry county , according to . ! Thomas Johnson, d i rec tor Announcement was made May 11 The mul t ip l ie r must be appl ied to the assessed valuat ion of a l l loca l ly assessed non-farm proper ty in the county before taxes can be extended The mul t ip l ie r i s de termined by compar ing ac tual assessment levels observed in the depar tment ' s annual assessment to sa les pr ice ra t io s tudy to the level requi red by law The purpose of the mul t ip l ie r i s to equal ize the average assessment levels among count ies Assessment uni formi ty i s a legal requi rement as in ter -county equal iza t ion is necessary i f the tax burden in tax ing d is t r ic ts which er lap county l ines i s to be d is t r ibuted fa i r ly among the taxpayers , and if s ta te a id to schools i s to be a l located proper ly . t 'nder Publ ic Act 79 703. passed in 1975. p roper ty in I l l inois should be assessed a t one- th i rd of i t s market va lue Al though increases in assessed valuat ions , e i ther through local reassessment or through a h igher mul t ip l ie r , may be requi red to mainta in the s ta tu tory assessment level , such increase* do not rausean increase in tax bi l l s I f ; ax ing d is t r ic ts do not increase the i r spending, tax ra tes w i l l g o d p w n a n d t a x b i l l s w i l l n o t i n c r e a s e . . . Recent legis la t ion provides for an annual homestead exempt ion for proper t ies owned and used exclus ive ly for res ident ia l purposes The county c lerk wi l l compare the 1977 equal ized va lue to the lvtTH assessed valuat ion af ter appl ica t ion of the mul t ip l ie r ; an increase of up to $1.f>0<> wi l l be exempt f rom taxes Farm proper ty i s to be assessed in accordance" wi th the recent ly enacted legis la t ion es tabl i sh ing a formula va lue for fa rm land based on product iv i ty as wel l as market va lue Usually unseen by the motorist, the police car makes a speedy exit, a short pursuit, and... McHenry area drivers travelling Route 120. either east or west, between River road and Lily Lake road can expect a dramatic increase in police scrutiny in the near future. This small segment of high­ way. 2.8 miles, is what is known in the Sheriff's department as a "hign accident area " In 1977. there were 99 accidents along this small stretch of roadway, which translates into a little more than two and-a-half accidents a week - not an im­ pressive average. The most common traffic violations along Route 120 are: improper passing on the right, speeding, travelling too fast for conditions and failure to yield right of way. The Sheriff's department is concerned with all of these, but is stressing the first, for now. According to state law. it is illegal for one car to pass another on the right side if the tires either leave the roadway proper, or. if they cross those white lines that delineate the roadway. In the case of Route 120. those paved shoulders with the white slashes painted across them, with the signs indicating not to drive on them, are off limits to drivers who want to pass (Continued on page 20) VOLUME 103 NUMBER 83 WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 1979 1 SECTION 22 PAGES 20* The light-colored Chevy, in the center of the picture, is illegally passing on the right as the Ford makes a lef t turn. Voluntary Safety Effort. . . or else. . . STAFF PHOTOS/ WAYNE GAYIORO THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER 3uiar& Winning ilfUispaprr 19781 __ . l lmois Press Associa t ion SERVING THE CHAIN-O-IAKES REGION SINCE 1875 w,*,,,, Crash Victim This i s Smal l Business week. I t i s a l so a t ime des ignated for pos tponed Arbor day ac t iv i t ies Both a re fea tured in o ther par ts of th is i ssue and there would seem to be no way to regard bus iness and beaut i f i ca t ion in opposi t ion However , in a genera l way th is has become the case Vis i tors to our country have long been amazed a t the over commercia l ia t ion of American h ighways , which of ten ru ins what would o therwise be the country ' s scenic , na tura l beauty Back in the s ix t ies , Mrs Lyndon Johnson made an a l l - out e f for t . to check the spread of th is k ind of commercia l i sm, and as a resul t , the Highway Beaut i f ica t ion ac t was passed The ef for t was marked by success for a t ime, unt i l corros ion came about through congress ional amendments and bureacra t ic connivance . Now. even some suppor ters be l ieve i t would be bes t to le t i t d ie a na tura l dea th But an amendment tha t came in to be ing quie t 1> l as t year requi res tha t s ta tes and the federa l government pay for b i l lboards removed, even thousands tha t have been put up s ince enactment of the law. in a reas where the \ a re not permi t ted Commercia l zones , or ig ina l ly l imi ted areas where s igns were permi t ted , have been extended in nar row s t r ips a long too many highways to p lease the ad­ ver t i s ing indus t ry Huge new s igns , beyond the or ig inal 600- foot l imi t , have mushroomed I t i s impor tant tha t the ad­ ver t i s ing indus t ry l ive , and so not a l l of these developments a re bad But unfor tunate ly , those who wish to keep cer ta in h ighways unclu t tered by junk yards and commercia l iza t ion wi l l have to do so wi th s ta te legis la tec ac t ion . One more federa l program seems to have fa i led because of a lack ot d isc ip l ine necessary to make i t work K A F 1978 MCHS Graduate Killed . . .GOTCHA! and released. Berg is in satisfactory condition. Lester W. Ayres was ticketed for improper lane usage. In the early evening of May 13, four people were taken to McHenry hospital after the pick-up they were riding in was totalled. Joseph L Martin, 504 Emerald drive; Chris and Cathy Szamlewski, both of 1306 Sunset drive, and Noreen M. Dewitt, 1304 Sunset, all of McHenry were taken to the hospital by the McHenry Rescue squad where they were treated and released. The driver of the pick-up, Steven P Koehler, 2916 Bull Valley road, McHenry, was not injured. He said he swerved to miss a camper that crossed into his lane. On May 12, Johnsburg Rescue squad took Eugene Weidcoliff, 5714 Fox Lake road, to McHenry hospital after his car went off the road, hit a utility pole and rolled over. Weidcol i f f sa id he was dis t rac ted for "an unknown reason" and went off the road. He was t rea ted and re leased Wil l iam .1 Burr i . 11603 N Richmond road. McHenry. was t icketed for improper lane usage and vio la t ion of vehic le c lass i f ica t ion af ter the f la tbed t ruck he was dr iv ing hi t another car dur ing a lane change. Henry Duar te . 918 Meadow lark dr ive , McHenry. the dr iver of the o ther car . sa id he saw the t ruck coming but could not avoid the acc ident Michele C Larsen d id an es t imated $300 damage to her car w hen she s l id in to the guard ra i l on the Route 120 br idge . She sa id the rear end ot her c i i i began to s l ide as she turned off River road and onto Route l , 'o And Cheryl I . Douglas . 1 .~>( i :5 W Cedar ; s t ree t . McHenry. d id minor damage to another car in the parking lo t of L i t t le John 's as she backed out wi th the passenger ' s door open Approve School Boundary Change The board of Elementary School District 15 approved an attendance boundary change and reaffirmed its age requirement for kindergarten attendance al last week's meeting A formal motion im plemented an earlier proposal by the superintendent, Dr. Richard Farmer, to shift a portion of the Valley View- Parkland attendance area to the Edgebrook Junior high area by extending the north-south boundary along the railroad track to the north edge of the district and including in the Edgebrook area all the land east to Riverside drive. Dr Farmer explained that there are no families, or few families with children in this area and would have minimum impact on attending students. He said that if they did catch somebody inadvertently in the change, they would be per­ mitted the option to continue in their present school or change He rationalized the change, noting that the projected growth in the district falls heaviest in the Vallev View area , and there a re two sub d iv is ions . Lake McHenry Esta tes and Falcon Bros , in the af fec ted area scheduled to develop. The Edgebrook area conta ins more mature res ident ia l sec t ions wi th decl in ing s tudent popula t ion and would more eas i ly ac­ commodate the incoming people The board successful ly res is ted a parent p lea for an except ion to the Dec 1 b i r th da te as cr i te r ion for k in dergar ten enrol lment The chi ld in ques t ion was born Dec. 6 and the f rus t ra ted fa ther asked. "What i s the compel l ing reason for th is da te ' ' Dr Farmer responded. I t could be an> da te , but th is i s the one tha t was se t Wil l i s Mar t in asked. ' I s th is an except ional case tha t we should overr ide d is t r ic t pol icy ' ' The parent conceded tha t i t was not Dr . Farmer noted tha t the concern should be m the pol icy ra ther than except ions Otherwise , admiss ions could be the resul t of ( school per (Cont inued on page - ' ( ) ) Reign Over Prom LISA JACKSON - SCOTT DIXON Probably the happiest couple a t the Johnsburg prom, held Fr iday night , May II , a t Hunter Country club, Richmond, were these smil ing seniors , Lisa Jackson and Scot t Dixon. By a vote of s tudents , Lisa and Scot t were crowned as f i rs t re igning pair over the school 's prom. Lisa is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James P. Jackson. Mr. and Mrs. Donald Dixon are Scot t ' s parents . DeWANE STUDIO PHOTO injuries received in a car- motorcycle collision in Rich­ mond. She was riding on a motor­ cycle driven by Roger Christie, Richmond, when the motorcycle struck a car tur­ ning left onto Bonnie Brae road in Richmond. Both Ms. Weintge and Christie were taken to McHenry hospital by the Rich­ mond Rescue squad. Christie, 18, died shortly after midnight on May 12. The driver of the car, Jack E. Pease, Richmond, was ticketed for failure to yield right of way. Pease was not injured. Near Spring Grove, a collision resulted in the death of Jeanette P. Ayres, Barrington. According to the Sheriff's department, a car driven by Lester W. Ayres failed to negotiate a turn and struck a car traveling in the opposite direction. The Johnsburg rescue squad took Lester, Jeanette and James Ayres to McHenry hospital. Lester and James were admitted but later discharged. The other car, driven by Walter A. Berg, Richmond, and William J. Hughes, Fox Lake, was driven to McHenry hospital where Berg was ad­ mitted and Hughes was treated ROGER , CHRISTIE In separate accidents this weekend, a local girl was seriously injured and a young Richmond man who was a 1978 graduate of McHenry high school, and a Barrington 111., woman were killed. Becky L. Weintge, 820 Black Partridge road. McHenry, is listed in serious condition at McHenry hospital because of