Cary officials plan to move forward despite home rule referendum rejection

Cary village officials will carry on after residents voted against the village becoming a home rule community in last week’s primary election; but it may not be gone for good as there could be more attempts in the future.

Mayor Mark Kownick said the results aren’t what he had hoped for, but plans to move forward with capital improvement projects without the 1% home rule sales tax the village was hoping to get.

“It’s business as usual here. We will figure this out. That’s what we do,” Kownick said.

There were just fewer than 3,500 ballots in Cary with 76% of them against home rule, according to unofficial results from the McHenry County Clerk’s Office.

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.

Cary officials wanted to try for home rule status to “level the playing field” with other home rule communities in McHenry County, Kownick said. “We thought that we would have an opportunity to show that we can be as progressive as these other communities are.”

But the village could attempt another referendum for a non-home rule sales tax. Kownick sees that as an option for the future, but “not anytime soon” as he waits for the community to “settle down,” he said. The village also could try for another home rule referendum in the future. Barrington passed its referendum last year after multiple attempts.

“It took them three tries to get their home rule passed,” Kownick said. “It’s something new, and people are afraid, and we understand that.”

Nearby villages Richton Park and Roselle both narrowly passed their home rule referendums in last week’s primary election. It was Roselle’s second attempt at becoming home rule, 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.

Kownick said he thinks the referendum failed because the “billion-dollar industry” of the National Association of Realtors and residents’ distaste for increased government authority. Flyers, signs and even TV commercials were funded by the organization aiming to dissuade voters from supporting home rule. Many opposition groups are based in real estate, since home rule can mean higher property taxes.

“That’s where the problem came in because they were misleading our municipality,” he said.

With a future home rule sales tax removed as a possibility, the village could lose about $400,000 if the state ends up removing the 1% grocery tax that usually funds local municipalities, as Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed.

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and the McHenry County Council of Mayors are “really ramping up to really fight this,” Kownick said.

“This is a big slap in the face, in my opinion, to municipalities,” Kownick said. “This is money the state never sees, never budgets for and it goes directly to the municipalities.”

Crystal Lake recently passed an ordinance to increase its home rule sales tax by 0.5%, in order to prepare for the possible loss in the grocery tax revenue.

Cary plans to continue with infrastructure improvements based on their five-year Capital Improvement Program, Village Administrator Erik Morimoto said. Those projects have been planned out as finances currently are, without considering the future of home rule, Village Administrator Courtney Sage said.

The Capital Improvement Program for 2025-2029 is expected to be voted on for final approval by the Village Board on April 2, according to village documents. Projects on the to-do list include adding sidewalks in the Hilltop subdivision, creating the Maplewood Access Road and a new bike path at Rawson Bridge.

Despite the home rule loss, Cary will move forward with another balanced budget for the year, Kownick said.

“We will continue to move forward as we normally do. We will pivot. This village has always been able to keep its head above water.”