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Name: Todd Milliron
Party: The Kendall County Party, an Established Political Party in the County of Kendall
What in your professional experience best qualifies you for a seat on the Kendall County Board?
I have been a Licensed Independent Insurance Agent since March, 1987 and I have been a student of local government for the last 20+ years. Presently, there is no one on the Kendall County Board that has a background in Insurance. Insurance related expenditures are the 3rd most expensive line item in the County Budget. Most recently I sued the Kendall County Board for passing and implementing an Illegal Kendall County Election Ordinance that pertained to Terms of Office. I have no problem holding Staff or other elected County Officials accountable and have done so on many occasions due to their questionable Official Decisions.
There are only three seats open for this district. What makes you one of the top candidates in the race?
I have been an active Citizen Participant in KCB Meetings since 2007. I have set thru 5 Budget Cycles, I understand the County Budget and the needs of Kendall County Elected Officials and County Depts. During this 17-year period of being an active and engaged Citizen, I have watched the County of Kendall evolve and grow in a positive manner. Over this period of time, I also have raised that Flag of Concern when needed, brought much needed Public Scrutiny and/or Sunlight to certain Local Issues or the questionable behavior of certain County Elected Officials and Employees by publicly expressing those concerns when warranted to our County Board and the Local Press.
What do you think are the three biggest challenges Kendall County will face during the next term and what solutions would you propose?
(1) Presently, the County of Kendall is proposing a 5.33 percent Increase in County Property Taxes, which requires a Public Hearing in Nov. (See https://www.kendallcountyil.gov/home/showdocument?id=31422&t=638647671978776216) The Federal Consumer Price Index COLA for a Social Security Beneficiary, an increase in one’s monthly Social Security payment, was 3.2 percent in 2024 and is projected to be an increase of just 2.4 percent in 2025. The wife and I are now Senior Citizens and one of us is on a fixed income, we feel the burden of increasing property taxes. A Property Tax increase of this magnitude is unjustified.
(2) Weening the County off Federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Money; the COVID Related Rescue Funding has allowed the County to fund several New Permanent County Employee Positions. This federal funding source will be depleted and is due to run out in 2026, if not sooner. I will assist in Defining “Essential” County needs over County Elected Official wants or pet projects. I will ask: How many recently added permanent county employee positions are actually an essential County Job?
(3) Get the City of Yorkville Elected Officials and it’s appointed YV Plan Commission Board Members with the Kendall County Board to ALL Agree on the specific land use designation for Eldamain Road Corridor, South of the Fox River to High Point Road. Presently Yorkville’s Municipal Comprehensive
Land Use Plan has this area zoned as Residential - Large Estate. The County of Kendall has expressed an Industrial or Manufacturing Land use along the Eldamain Road Corridor, South of the Fox River. Already since the completion of the Eldamain Bridge, my neighbors have already fended off the initial County of Kendall’s attempt to change the (dormant) High Point Meadows Residential Estates Sub-Division, which is just north of the new Eldamain Road Light on Rt. 71 into an Industrial Park. An Industrial Park would pollute the Middle Fork of the pristine Aux Sable Creek (“Class A” waterway, one of only 5 left in the State of Illinois) which flows through my Large Estate Cotswold Fen Residential Sub-division and would have made Cotswold Drive, presently an unincorporated county-township “Residential Street”, a new access point to this County proposed Industrial Park. This immediate area for designated Land Use concerns the nearby Silver Springs State Park, 3 nearby Kendall County Forest Preserves and several completed Large Estate Residential Sub-divisions. I feel that the County of Kendall’s Vision for future Land Use as Industrial Park with M-3 Zoning is incompatible in this pristine Environmental Area and nearby residential estate sub-divisions. I would like to preserve the South Side of the River and the adjoining Western side of Yorkville for an estate lot, resident owned - citizen friendly, non-invasive land use. The Current 10-year (2015) City of Yorkville Comprehensive Land Use Plan will be up for Review and Revision in Early 2025. The current YV Comprehensive Plan presently envisions Residential Homes in this immediate area. If I am elected to the Kendall County Board, I vow to keep this Area Resident Friendly, preserve this cherished local environment and have it continued to be zoned for Residential Estate lots. One way or the other, I promise you, “I will be in the Room where it Happens” next year, when the Yorkville Comprehensive Land Use Plan is to be adopted for the next 10 years. Next year, I hope all concerned will join me to provide your Citizen Input for the next 10 years.
Why do you want a seat on the board? What goals would you like to accomplish during your term?
For the better part of 20 years, I have been requesting that the County Check Book be put on the county website. In doing so, we can avoid many FOIA requests by providing those Semi-Monthly expenditures in more detail with an emphasis for reviewing any County Credit Card Bills.
Do you believe you can serve your constituents in a bipartisan manner? Why or why not?
Yes, to serving in a Bipartisan manner, the Kendall County Party’s (an Established Political Party within the County of Kendall) Platform only pertains to Local Government, we only focus on Local Issues within the County of Kendall, while promoting the efficient operations and transparent conduct of Local Government Business at the County, Municipal, Township and School Board Levels. The Kendall County Party is not interested in a National Cultural War and will not engage in such.
As Kendall County continues to grow in population, what is the best way to address the additional traffic caused by the growth? How can the Kendall County Board prepare the county’s infrastructure and help municipalities do the same?
We need to Work with the State of Illinois IDOT and Lobby our State Legislators to fund and prioritize to speed up the widening of our State Roads to 4-lanes, especially IL Route 47 North of Yorkville to Sugar Grove and South to Caton Farm Road. We are one of the only Counties in the State of Illinois with pressing transportation needs, due to our continual residential growth, something that is not occurring in a vast majority of the other 101 Counties in the State of Illinois. Many fellow citizens have chosen and continue to choose to reside in a very safe local environment in which to live and raise our children and grandchildren. The County of Kendall’s future is bright, but it must also remain affordable for all concerned, especially for long term residents, who choose to stay and call themselves, officially, an Illinoisan.