Election 2024: McHenry County Conservation District referendum narrowly passes

By a margin of only 850 votes, voters approved the McHenry County Conservation District’s referendum seeking to increase property taxes as it pays off its current debt, unofficial election results show.

The McHenry County Conservation District plans to improve and resurface bicycle trails, restore fens and take care of deferred maintenance, among other things, now that voters have given approval for the district to increase its tax cap.

Supporters of the referendums have emphasized that taxpayers still will see the part of their tax bill going to the conservation district decline due to debt being paid off.

The “yes” side led 50.28% to 49.72%, with a margin of about 850 votes with more than 154,000 votes cast on the referendum, according to the McHenry County Clerk’s Office’s unofficial results. The tallies include all Election Day, early voting and mail-in ballots, but have not been officially canvassed.

Before late-arriving mail-in and provisionally cast votes were added to the tally Tuesday, the “no” side held a narrow lead. Mail-in ballots had to be postmarked by Election Day and arrive at the clerk’s office by Tuesday to count.

After the polls had closed in early November, conservation district officials were cautiously optimistic the measure would pass. The additional funds that voters approved will go to improve access to facilities and protect water quality and wildlife habitats, according to the conservation district website.

Some of the items on the conservation district’s to-do list include resurfacing and improving bike trails, establishing a Kishwaukee Corridor Wetland Mitigation Bank, restoring a headwater stream as part of the Hackmatack-Nippersink Creek partnership, and other habitat restoration projects, conservation district officials said Wednesday.

The district also plans to address deferred maintenance and other infrastructure updates, restore a fen and wetland at Boger Bog Conservation Area, and create a 10-year comprehensive plan to guide the future of conservation in McHenry County, which will include resident input in the planning process, officials said.

“This is an exciting day for conservation in McHenry County, and we’re incredibly grateful to the voters for their trust and support,” conservation district Executive Director Elizabeth Kessler said in a statement. “Through their votes, residents have reaffirmed how important the protection of nature and access to the outdoors are to their lives and have chosen to reinvest in the vital work of the conservation district.”

Kessler noted that the increase will come as the district retires its general obligation bonds, allowing property owners to still see a 45% decrease in property taxes paid to the conservation district.

With the referendum’s apparent passage, a homeowner with a property worth $300,000 can expect to pay $209 in taxes to the conservation district next year and $115 in 2026. If the referendum had failed, the homeowner would have paid $88 in 2026.

The difference means about $3 million more for the conservation district’s general funds starting in 2026, climbing from about $9.25 million to about $12.27 million.

The McHenry County GOP had called the referendum seemingly harmless but was really a “bait and switch designed to permanently raise taxes by 33%.”

Unlike the referendum that approved the debt set to be paid off, the increase approved this year is permanent.

It was not “really a partisan issue at all,” but rather it was an issue of understanding how the numbers work, McHenry County GOP chair Jeff Thorsen said Wednesday.

The conservation district’s share of taxes is decreasing, but not as much as it should, Thorsen said. He said he didn’t think the conservation district made an argument for why it needed the increased funding, and if the conservation district wanted to use the funds for capital projects, it should have gone for a bond issuance instead.

Thorsen said the party took a stance, and although it didn’t win, they were able to “enlighten” voters.

“The ‘no’ endorsement made it closer,” Thorsen said.

The McHenry County Democratic Party did not take a stance on the referendum during the election, but it shared a post about the referendum’s passage on its Facebook page Wednesday, captioning it, “Good news for our conservation areas, water, trails, wildlife and access – the unofficial results are in, and EVERY VOTE MADE THE DIFFERENCE.”

An attempt to reach McHenry County Democratic Party chair Ruth Scifo on Wednesday was not successful.

The conservation district was the only item that flipped after the vote tallies were updated Tuesday.

In McHenry County Board District 2, the tightest of the nine County Board races, Democratic challenger John “Jack” Collins expanded his lead over Republican incumbent John Reinert. Collins was up by about 400 votes.

Reinert and two other incumbents, Theresa Meshes and Lou Ness, both Democrats, lost their bids for reelection, giving the Republican Party a 15-3 supermajority on the County Board. County Board Chairman Mike Buehler won reelection for his seat against Democrat Kelli Wegener.

In the other contested countywide race for coroner, incumbent Republican Michael Rein led Democratic challenger Chris Kalapodis by a 57.7% to 42.3% margin.