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" VOLUME 106 NUMBER 41 ' 1 the public, as state aid decreases when assessed valuation increases, under the resource equalizer formula. Fur­ thermore, cuts in federal funding and state special education funding create additional losses that balance against any increases provided by the tax levy. The board unanimously recom­ mended approval of the Certificate of Tax Levy for 1981. Revenue received from this levy will be received and used in the 1982-83 budget. They also adopted a resolution that, "...owing to in­ sufficient monies in the Education fund that a $103,000 levy be made on all taxable property in the district for a Working Cash Fund..." Greg Johnson, principal of West campus, had received a request from Carestoel to use West campus as a disaster receiving center in the event such a need should occur. The letter from Catherine H. (Betty) Smith, R.N., stated that for Carestoel to be in compliance with state and federal regulations, it was necessary to arrange for a disaster receiving center in the event of fire, tornado or complete boiler failure where the temperature could be below 55 degrees. It had been discussed with the district's insurance agent regarding any liability exposure, or any problem that would be created if such an agreement between Carestoel (now known as Royal Terrace), and District 156 should occur. It was reported there would be no problem as far as in­ surance was concerned, and the agreement would include a provision that Carestoel (Royal Terrace) would be responsible for all extra costs that might by incurred by District 156 during the use of West campus as a disaster receiving center. The board unanimously approved the motion. Approvals of East campus gym- (Continued on page 16) Take Action On Unemployment; Promote Industry, Commerce S E R V I N G T H E C H A I N - 0 - L . 4 K E S R E G I O N S I N C E 1 8 7 5 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1981 1 SECTION 18 PAGES 25' resent 11 Percent choof Levy Increase by Judith Irwin The board of High School District 156 will file a Certificate of Tax levy with the county clerk following its unanimous approval at Tuesday evening's meeting. Although a notice of public hearing had been published, only a few people were present. Since none of them had presented themselves as visitors to be recognized by the board, all discussion on the proposed levy was confined to the board. Mike Kelly, business manager for District 156, explained the reasoning behind the proposed tax levy. The projected 11 percent increase will maximize the dollars collected from the levy, and allow the district to receive the $1.32 maximum tax rate to which it is entitled. Supt. Robert Swartzloff pointed out that the increase may be misleading to , By Angela Burden SHAW MIDI A NCWS SERVICE A committee was established by the McHenry County board Tuesday to help reduce unemployment in the county and aid industry and commerce. A standing economic development committee was established on a unanimous vote of the board. In addition to supporting existing industry in the county, the committee will also encourage new industry to -localFhfcle. " - G. Bill Hubbard of Crystal Lake, James Powers of Marengo and William Fitzgerald of Wonder Lake are members of a special committee which has studied the economic development situation in the county and presented its findings to the board Tuesday. According to the special committee, the current unemployment rate for McHenry county is 7.5 percent, and likely to increase. "This mpans that out of a labor force of 76,260 persons, there are somewhat more than 5,700 unemployed people living in McHenry county at this time," Hubbard reported. The county's planning department staff compiled the following statistics for the committee: Job creation compared to population increase in McHenry county grew considerably less rapidly in the period between 1970 and 1978 than it did In the United States whole.. JL- increased less rapidly than di< State of Illinois and three out of the other five Chicago area counties as well. Growth in per capita personal income in the county lagged the nation, the state and every other county in the Chicago area in the period between 1974 and 1979. In every year, from 1974 through 1979, a progressively smaller fraction of the total personal income of McHenry county residents was actually being earned inside the county. Hubbard explained to the board that the special committee focused its studies on how to develop and promote industrial, commercial and economic growth in McHenry county in order to achieve a better-balanced tax base and to increase the range of job op­ portunities for residents. Hubbard proposed the management structure to oversee the county's committee (one board member from each of the three districts) aided by an advisory board of representatives of municipalities. Powers, Fitzgerald and Hubbard made presentations to the board on Tuesday explaining the broad goals the committee had set for the economic growth of the county. The same three men were appointed to serve on the new committee. SHAW MEDIA NEWS SERVICE Reduction of a $2 million bond was denied Tuesday morning in the Lake county division of 19th Judicial Circuit court for Charles M. Albanese, of Spring Grove, accused of the arsenic- poisoning murder of three relatives. Gene Armentrout, representing the 44-year-old Albanese, has said he will appeal the "oppressive" bonds set in the case to the state Appellate court. The $2.5 million bond set in McHenry county on two charges of murder and one of attempted murder, in addition to felony theft charges, was reduced last week by $1 million. Albanese has been held in McHenry county jail, Woodstock, since his Nov. 18 arrest on charges of murdering his 69-year-old father, M.J. Albanese, for the Aug. 6, 1980, murder of his wife's grandmother, 89-year-old Mary M. Lambert, and the attempted murder of his 34-year-old brother, Michael Jay Albanese. Lake county authorities charged him with the murder of the senior Albanese and the murder of Mrs. Lambert's daughter, 69-year-old Marian Mueller All the victims were residents of Leisure Village in Fox Lake. Albanese is accused of administering a compound of arsenic to each of the victims. The charges stemmed from lengthy investigations conducted by (Continued on page 16) County Issued 'Multiplier' McHenry county has been issued a tentative property assessment equalization factor of 1.8704, according to J. Thomas Johnson, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue. The equalization factor currently being assigned is for 1981 taxes, payable in 1982. Last year's equalization factor for the county was 1.6927. The property assessment equalization factor, often called the "niultiplier", is the method used to achieve uniform property assessments among counties, as required by law. This equalization is particularly im­ portant because some of the state's (>.600 local taxing districts overlap into two or more counties (e.g. school districts,, junior college districts, fire protection districts). If there was no equalization among counties, sub­ stantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result. Under a law passed in 1975, property in Illinois should be assessed at one- third of its market value. Farm property is assessed differently, with farm homesites and dwellings subject to regular assessing and equalization procedures, but with farmland and buildings assessed at one-third of their agricultural economic value (and are not subject to state equalization). The equalization factor is deter­ mined annually for each county by curriparing the price of individual properties sold over the past three years to the assessed value placed on those properties by the county assessor. If this three-year average level of assessment is one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be one. If the average level of assessment is greater than one-third of market (Continued on page 16) Tax Topics At County Board By Angela Burden SHAW MEDIA NEWS SERVICE McHenry County Treasurer Audrey Walgenbach presented her year-end report for the 1980-81 fiscal year to McHenry County board on Tuesday and Supervisor of Assessments Randall Woloski announced a 10 percent in­ crease in the tentative property assessment equalization factor, known as the "multiplier". Last year's equalization factor for the county was 1.6927. The tentative multiplyer assigned for 1981 taxes payable in 1982 is 1.8704. Woloski said the property assessments would be higher "but that doesn't necessarily mean a 10 percent tax hike." (Continued on page 16) * - Christmas is so filled with very nice ingredients, mingled with a few elements we would prefer to forget, that it is very often a confused group of people who arrive for celebration of the holiday. Gift buying is certainly one of the pleasures of the season, although that pleasure is tempered by the degree it reduces the contents of the pocketbook. Cards are another joy of Christmas, but here again, there is the conflict with the time it takes to write those welcome messages. Christmas parties, whether they are gatherings of family members, friends, organizations or businesses, have a very positive effect. Spirits run high, and in the rush of the pre-holiday season there is a comradery in the relief of tension that has the effect of bringing people closer together. Newspapers, like most other businesses, experience the strains of too much work in too little time. The Plaindealer is no exception. But a good meal in festive surroundings last Thursday evening provided just what the doctor ordered for a tired crew. It's back to reality after the celebration, and every now and then on a street corner we hear the familiar clanging of the Salvation Army worker's bell. Remembering our talks with representatives of Public Aid, FISH and Church Women United, we are prompted to be generous. This year, more thtfn at any other recent holiday, there are extremely needy people in our midst. Toys are a fun part of Christmas, yet three grim reminders from different sources lie on our desk, telling of the hazards relating to these treasures of childhood. There is general agreement that there are fewer hazardous toys on the market each year. Even so, while some are marked 'safety tested', there may be dangers, if only to the eyes. Some space type guns, toy machine guns and flying toys have been made child-safe -- except to the eyes. That's (Continued on page 16) Dedicated Debaters Harry Walk, center, works on his Eagle Scout service project with two younger Scouts, Carl Arnold, left, and Frank Good. The project, which was conducted last Saturday, consisted of marking 77 hydrants in the Pistakee Highlands subdivision with 4-foot poles to make them visible even in heavy snowfalls. The boys are members of Troop 455 at the Highlands, sponsored by the Johnsburg Community club. As a candidate for the Eagle award, Harry headed the project. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD No Albanese Bond Reduction WILES Excitement and tension were evident as these students, among representatives of 19 schools, debated at East campus last Saturday. They were participating in the third annual McHenry high school debate tournament. Jeff Gealow, East campus student, is shown working at table at left, while another McHenry East campus student, Debbie Wiles, a novice debater, makes her presentation. In back, at left, is the opposing team, and in center, rear, are Judges Bill Cloud, from York high school, and a timer. STAFF PHOTOS-WAYNE GAYLORD East campus high school was crowded Saturday, Dec. 12, with young people who had something to say and knew how to say it. Representing 19 schools in northern Illinois, they were debaters who came to McHenry to participate in the third annual debate tournament sponsored by MCHS. ^ High schools which entered teams in the tournament included the following: Libertyville, McHenry, Grayslake, Rockford Guilford, Downers Grove South, Downers Grove North, Freeport, York, Rockford Auburn, Dundee. Curie, Palatine Fremd, Hersey, Belvidere. Elk Grove, Buffalo Grove, Reavis, Leyden, and Wheeling. The intense competition was divided into three categories: Varsity, Junior Varsitv. and Novice foursomes. The varsity debater is the finest, most experienced debater. The junior varsity debater is one who is debating his-her second or third national topic; and the novice debater is one who is debating his-her first national topic. Each team must defend each side of the topic four times (rounds). Each speaker gives one constructive speech of eight minutes, is cross-examined by his opponent, and then gives a rebuttal speech of four minutes. The judges' decisions on each round of competition remain secret until ballots are counted to determine the winners. The topic for the debaters at the tournament was: Resolved: That the federal government should establish minimum educational standards tor elementary and secondary schools in the United States. The debaters Scouts Conduct Service Project i Nunda Library Plans Building Outl ine Procedures • V " Page 8 FREE TV Guide In Today's Edition KM2 *ss Eighth Grade Screening McHenry High School Page 17 v