Friday, February 17, 2006
Part 2 - District 300 Vendors Major Contributors to Tax Hike Committees; Pay to Play?
Yesterday’s article outlined the payments made by District 300 to vendors who did not brag about their work for the school district on their web site. Payment information appears today on companies not shy about their business relationship.
Here’s how much the companies who actively promoted their work for District 300 on their web sites were paid over the five and a half year period:
Burnidge Cassell & Associates, Inc., Elgin (Click here and here.) 1/30/02 - $10,000, 2/14/02 - $1,613, 1/21/03 - $5,000. The school district’s architect was paid substantial sums in each of the fiscal years back to 2001. The totals range from $200,000 so far this year up to $2.3 million in 2003.
Lamp Inc., Elgin (Click here and here.) 4/29/02 -$725, 4/29/02 - $5,642.56, 4/2/03 - $5,000. Lamp was the biggest winner. Many millions every year, except in 2001, when its take of District 300 tax dollars was only $620,500. Besides that, the least was $4.3 million this year. The most was almost $29 million in 2003.
Tessendorf Mechanical Industries, Inc., Gilberts 3/21/02 - $1,000. Tessendorf received from $14,000 (2003) to $337,500 in 2001.
The Trane Company, Willowbrook 3/12/02 - $1,000. Trane got paid by District 300 in each of the six fiscal years. They ranged from a piddling $94.71 in 2001, but rose to $214,500 in 2002, peaking at $2.5 million in 2003.
Turner Construction, Arlington Heights 4/2/03 - $4,000. (Click here.) I didn’t include Turner in my first Freedom of Information request on January 25th, but did in my second. The FOI folks at District 300 say they did not get my faxed January 30th letter, so I have re-sent it. You’ll get the information on payments made to Turner the day I receive it.
It appears some of the links advertising these companies prior work for District 300 have been taken down from the internet. Guess that partly explains in the increase in readership of McHenry County Blog.
Here’s how much the companies who actively promoted their work for District 300 on their web sites were paid over the five and a half year period:
Burnidge Cassell & Associates, Inc., Elgin (Click here and here.) 1/30/02 - $10,000, 2/14/02 - $1,613, 1/21/03 - $5,000. The school district’s architect was paid substantial sums in each of the fiscal years back to 2001. The totals range from $200,000 so far this year up to $2.3 million in 2003.
Lamp Inc., Elgin (Click here and here.) 4/29/02 -$725, 4/29/02 - $5,642.56, 4/2/03 - $5,000. Lamp was the biggest winner. Many millions every year, except in 2001, when its take of District 300 tax dollars was only $620,500. Besides that, the least was $4.3 million this year. The most was almost $29 million in 2003.
Tessendorf Mechanical Industries, Inc., Gilberts 3/21/02 - $1,000. Tessendorf received from $14,000 (2003) to $337,500 in 2001.
The Trane Company, Willowbrook 3/12/02 - $1,000. Trane got paid by District 300 in each of the six fiscal years. They ranged from a piddling $94.71 in 2001, but rose to $214,500 in 2002, peaking at $2.5 million in 2003.
Turner Construction, Arlington Heights 4/2/03 - $4,000. (Click here.) I didn’t include Turner in my first Freedom of Information request on January 25th, but did in my second. The FOI folks at District 300 say they did not get my faxed January 30th letter, so I have re-sent it. You’ll get the information on payments made to Turner the day I receive it.
It appears some of the links advertising these companies prior work for District 300 have been taken down from the internet. Guess that partly explains in the increase in readership of McHenry County Blog.
