Election 2024: Cary residents reject home rule status

Voting results show Cary residents have rejected the village’s referendum to become a home rule community, according to unofficial McHenry County election results.

Just over 76% of votes were against the referendum, according to unofficial results. Some mail-in votes still needed to be counted, but the gap appeared difficult to bridge.

Home rule is a classification that allows a local government to govern as it sees fit as long as it’s not in conflict with state laws. That includes more leeway to impose fees, restrictions and taxes. This is the first time the village has pursued home-rule status, village officials said.

The village aimed to implement a 1% home rule retail sales tax. Home rule would mean there is no maximum limit to a local sales tax, which can be increased in 0.25% increments, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue. “All of our surrounding communities have that tax,” Mayor Mark Kownick said. “It levels the playing field.”

The village estimated that the 1% tax could bring in an extra $500,000 to $600,000 each year, Cary Assistant Village Administrator Courtney Sage said. The home-rule retail tax would exclude essential items such as groceries and pharmaceutical prescriptions, Sage said.

With the extra revenue, Cary aimed to fund services such as road infrastructure maintenance, plowing, wastewater treatment, community events, public safety and improvements to Cary Lake at Rotary Park.

The village can try again for a 1% non-home rule sales tax, which would need to go to referendum again, village officials said.

Cary village officials reached out to the community with over a dozen informational meetings to cover details and answer questions on home rule.

The Illinois Realtors organization also gave its best effort to defeat the referendum. Flyers, signs and even TV commercials were all funded by the organization aiming to dissuade persuading voters from supporting home rule. Many opposition groups are based in real estate, since home rule can mean higher property taxes. Other opposing views include too much government oversight and concerns about maintaining accountability for public officials.

“We believe property owners should retain their control over taxes and regulations,” Illinois Realtors Government Affairs Director Neeley Erickson said.

Kownick asserted that “there is no downside” for Cary to be a home-rule village and said more local government control would be better going forward.

“We don’t want the state to tell us what to do anymore,” he said.

Village trustees have discussed the topic at multiple meetings since September with the hopes that home-rule status will allow the municipality to increase sales taxes and fund public infrastructure.

In preparation for the possibility of being home rule, the Village Board passed an ordinance requiring the village to limit any property tax levy increases to what is allowed under the Property Tax Extension Limitation law, known as the tax cap. That law caps yearly levy increases to the rate of inflation or 5%, whichever is lower, but home-rule communities are exempt.

Home-rule status allows a village or city to enact laws that are not bound by the Illinois municipal code. Home-rule status also would allow the village to create rental housing regulations, enter into multiyear contracts, create debt flexibility, designate new revenue streams and adopt other police personnel procedures that differ from state statutes.

Home-rule status automatically applies to municipalities with populations of more than 25,000. Cary’s population is less than 18,000, and village staff expects the population to remain “stabilized” at that number through 2050.

Many surrounding McHenry County municipalities have home-rule status, including Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Crystal Lake and McHenry. Woodstock and Huntley reached home-rule status after each conducted a special census in 2016.

Home rule became an issue late last year and into early 2024 when some busloads of migrants were dropped off in the suburbs. That prompted communities including Crystal Lake, McHenry and Woodstock to pass ordinances to discourage busing companies from abandoning migrants in the suburbs by imposing fines.

Home-rule communities had the ability to set much larger fines than other municipalities.