Way back in 1972 when I was running for State Representative for the first time, the campaign had as its backdrop my having helped people successfully appeal their real estate assessments.
I handed one homeowner in the back of Crystal Lake’s Coventry a $500 check.
Tht made the front page of the Elgin Daily Courier.
The reason appeals (mainly of pretty new homes) were successful was because Supervisor of Assessment Stanley CornUE had set the “official” level at 60% of market value at 60% of market value (ignoring the State Revenue Department’s suggestion of 50%).
Using Declarations of Value filed when property changed hands, the Involved Citizens Association headed by my high school classmate and Coventry resident Judy (Bathrick) Lawrence, we gathered data to conduct what is called a sales ratio study (in which assessments are compared to sale prices.)
We found the median average was 42.3%.
We had a second method, which reached the same conclusion. We mailed questionnaires to the address to which deeds were mailed. (The head of the newly-stablished credit bureau was quite disturbed that we knew where she lived.)
So, that’s ‘the background for what turned out to be my major Dundee Township State Rep. campaign.
Homes in Dundee Township, all of which was in my perspective district, were reassessed and people were furious with the results.
One of the attorneys in East Dundee (Ed Glazier, I think) lived on the top of a hill. His assessment skyrocketed.
He had just hired a young associate named Boyd Gates and tasked him to find out how I had done it.
So, there I was, a non-attorney, teaching an attorney how to appeal assessments.
I don’t know how things came together, but we connected with Bill Richardson, who had little newspapers throughout McHenry County printed with hot type printing.
His assessments had gone up a lot, too.
Bob Shields. a resident ot Sleepy Hollow was similarly outraged. (He rana ndwas elated Dundee Township Assessor.)
We composed and Richardson Publications printed a broadside called “The Aroused Citizen.”
It’s contents announced assessment appeal seminars over one week in January.
Enough people were recruited to cover distribution throughout the Dundee Township.
The first was in the Congregational Church.
The second is now called Liberty Hall.
I think it was a church back then.
People packed the balcony.
Saturday, January 15th, was the coldest day of the winter.
AI says the temperature 10 degrees, the wind chill making it seem colder.
The program was at St. Monica Catholic Church.
Saint Monica was packed with bundled up homeowners. Standing room only. Photo from Facebook.
So many people showed up that C’ville’s police were directing traffic on Route 25.
I figured that I had made contact with 25% of the households in Dundee Township.
Back then, there were three-member districts with proportional voting. On could cast one, two or three votes for a candidate, usually resulting in two members from the majority party and one from the minority. Marking a vote for only one candidate was called “bullet” voting.
R. Bruce Waddell was the incumbent from the very northern edge of Dundee Township. The other Republican incumbent running for re-election was Les Cunningham, a former Belvidere Mayor.
To win I had to knock one of them off.
The primary results follow:
Now for the inspiration for writing this article:
