Tiny McHenry County town where mayor fills the potholes is asking to levy its 1st property tax

In the nearly 30 years since Greenwood voted to incorporate in 1995, the village has not filed an annual budget with the McHenry County Clerk’s office.

Greenwood, population 320, has never had a tax levy, so it has never had to legally file a budget, as every other incorporated municipality must.

But that could change on Nov. 5. The village board has placed a question on the general election ballot, seeking approval of a .25% property tax levy. If approved by voters, the levy would bring the village about $5,000 a year for its roads, said Jim Kelly, the village attorney.

Even if the village board were to raise that hypothetical levy in the future “it would take us 10 years to get to what Wonder Lake taxes at,” Village Trustee Brian Spiro said at the board’s Monday night meeting.

For Greenwood, not having Wonder Lake’s tax rate is kind of its point. Avoiding annexation into Wonder Lake is the reason the village was created, Village President John Ferris said.

According to the book “McHenry County in the Twentieth Century, 1968-1994,” published by the McHenry County Historical Society, Greenwood and Ringwood were both incorporated in the 1990s.

A 1994 Illinois law, called the “Ringwood Law,” temporarily waived a previous requirement that an area could incorporate only if it had at least 2,500 residents and a footprint of 2 square miles. It allowed, in counties with a population between 150,000 to 185,000, for a 2-square-mile area with a population of at least 200 people within 10 miles of a state border to incorporate.

At the time, Wonder Lake “was in the news ... for its expansion and development attempts,” according to the historical society book. “It tried to annex a thin chain of properties extending to Galt Airport, annex about 260 acres at Galt and approve construction of a major development ... on that land.”

Wonder Lake and a Chicago developer Madison Realty challenged Greenwood’s incorporation vote in court but ultimately failed, according to Northwest Herald stories at the time.

“Our primary goal is to allow you to live the way you want to live as long as you are not hurting anybody.”

—  Heather Ferris, Greenwood Village Clerk

Since incorporation, Greenwood has not had a municipal tax, Ferris said. Instead, the village gets sales tax, state Motor Fuel Taxes and a utilities tax. Those come out to $60,000 to $65,000 a year.

“Of that, we pay $30,000 to the township for snow plowing,” Ferris said.

What an additional $5,000 via a tax levy would bring is extra money for “the sole purpose of road and bridge repair/grant applications,” according to village documents.

However, if residents of Greenwood or neighboring towns would like to see village documents, they are going to need to call Ferris.

The village does not have a website or even a Facebook page. There is a village hall, at 4314 Greenwood Road. But there is no village staff or regular hours, and its mostly used for storage, John Ferris said. The board holds its meetings elsewhere, at the Greenwood Township Hall, 5211 Miller Road.

Neither does Greenwood have police and it’s something that Ferris believes the village might have to address in the future.

“That is another thing. We are going to have to start paying the sheriff” to patrol village roads for speeders and overweight trucks, Ferris said. “We have survived so far, but Wonder Lake is expanding, and we have an expressway in our downtown.”

Construction traffic on West Wonder Lake Road, which Greenwood owns, has deteriorated the road. Other roads in the village – a total of 12 lane miles – are also in bad shape. With the additional tax levy, the village may be able to apply for the grants that require 20% of the funding to come from the municipality, he said.

“We need help with our roads because Wonder Lake sends construction traffic down or roads,” Ferris said.

Ferris is on his third term as village president. His wife, Heather Ferris, is the Greenwood village clerk, and was previously the village treasurer.

“I call the village of Greenwood ... my husband’s mistress,” Heather Ferris said. Because his phone is the only one most people have for the village – there are no employees – he is the one that people call for emergencies. A former Illinois Department of Transportation employee, he’s also the one doing most of the road maintenance since getting on the board in 2000.

Greenwood has three village board members up for election on April 1, and one seat that has been open for six months after the previous trustee resigned. John Ferris has been unable to find someone willing to take on the role and hopes more residents will run for those open seats.

“I don’t think we have ever had a contested race” for the village board, he said.

For the Ferrises, the important part is protecting Greenwood.

“We have to protect our village from being taken over by Wonder Lake,” Heather Ferris said.

“If we dissolve, we feel that we would be opened up to forced annexation to Wonder Lake,” John Ferris said.

Dan Dycus, Wonder Lake’s village president, said, “No, absolutely not,” when asked if the village would annex Greenwood if given the opportunity.

”Most of their roads are a liability and anyone taking them on would be leveraging ... their own tax dollars from other residents to pay for their roads that have not been maintained properly for many, many years,” Dycus said.

Wonder Lake did recently ask if Greenwood would allow Wonder Lake to take over the intersection of Thompson and West Wonder Lake Road. Although it sits in Greenwood, the intersection is adjacent to Wonder Lake Village Hall. Greenwood denied that request.

The Nov. 5 referendum question is the third time a tax levy question has gone before Greenwood voters in recent years. If residents realize it is for road maintenance, they may be more willing to vote for it, Heather Ferris said.

But more than anything, what she wants is for Greenwood to keep the rural feel it now has. Residents are allowed to keep chickens and goats, and to live without interference.

“That is the whole point of what we are,” Heather Ferris said. “Our primary goal is to allow you to live the way you want to live as long as you are not hurting anybody.”

If regulations and taxes start piling up, that isn’t what Greenwood wants, she added. “The next thing you know, you are Sun City.”