Cary schedules info sessions in advance of March home rule vote

The village of Cary is trying to get resident awareness on the home rule status referendum that will be on the March 19 primary election ballot.

The village created a website to provide home rule information for residents. Village staff scheduled multiple public information meetings; the next one is at 5 p.m. on Jan. 18 at the Cary Municipal Center.

“Our goal is to stay ahead of it. To make sure that people have the right information,” Mayor Mark Kownick said. “There’s a lot of misconceptions out there about what it is.”

The Cary Board of Trustees approved the referendum last month. Village trustees have discussed the topic at multiple meetings since September, with the hopes that home rule status will allow the village to increase sales taxes and fund public infrastructure. This is the first time the village has pursued home rule status, according to a news release.

“The village will provide our residents information regarding home rule and the reasons why the Village Board feels home rule is in the best interest of our community; however, it is ultimately up to our residents to make this decision after evaluating the facts,” Kownick said in the release.

If the home rule status passes, the village is aiming to implement a 1% retail sales tax. The village estimates the 1% tax could bring in an extra $500,000 to $600,000 each year, Cary Assistant Village Administrator Courtney Sage said.

“All of our surrounding communities have that tax,” Kownick said. “It levels the playing field.”

The home rule retail tax would exclude essential items such as groceries and pharmaceutical prescriptions, Sage said.

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

Cary’s most recent resident survey showed that a top concern is keeping infrastructure and roads safe, Kownick said. The village has a survey on its website for residents to give feedback for the current budget process.

“We want to make sure we stay ahead of it, we don’t want to be in a position where our road network has failed,” Cary Village Administrator Erik Morimoto said.

The board also passed an ordinance that prevents the village from going against the property tax cap ordinance that home rule communities can dismiss. Under the voluntary ordinance, the village still would adhere to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law, which caps taxes at a 5% increase from the preceding year.

“It is understood one of the potential disadvantages regarding home rule to Cary voters is the ability to levy additional property taxes beyond the current non-home rule limitations,” the ordinance says. “The mayor and board of trustees hereby commit not to utilize home rule powers to levy additional property taxes beyond non-home rule limitations.”

Home rule status allows the village to make decisions that are not bound to the Illinois municipal code. Woodstock and McHenry have taken advantage of their home rule statuses and passed ordinances to fine buses up to $10,000 that leave riders without notice. State code only allows a maximum of $750 in fines.

“The political climate that’s going on in the state of Illinois, to have the self-awareness and the self-determination is critical to the success of communities,” Kownick said. “We are responsible for ourselves.”

Home rule status also would allow the village to create rental housing regulations, enter into multi-year contracts, create debt flexibility, designate new revenue streams and adopt other police personnel procedures that differ from state statutes. Any home rule ordinances would need to be passed by the village board and allow for public comment, Sage said.

So far, Kownick said, he has not heard much pushback against the idea, but he has heard reservations against local government overstepping.

“They don’t want big government. I don’t want big government,” Kownick said.

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.

There currently are 221 home rule communities in Illinois, and 133 were voted into effect, Sage said.

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

The home rule proposition will be on the March 19 general primary election ballot with the “yes” or “no” question of “shall the Village of Cary become a home rule unit under Article VII, Section 6, of the Illinois Constitution?”

Voting in a home rule status is not permanent, according to village staff.

“The community always retains the option to seek a referendum to return to non-home rule status,” according to village documents.