Yesterday afternoon, McHenry County Administrator Scott Hartman sent an email to Board members that made the Tax Fighters happy.
Good afternoon, McHenry County Board –
Attached please find a revised Tax Levy Ordinance that will be considered by Finance & Audit Committee tomorrow.
The version posted agenda packet included the lookback option and proposed a total levy of $73,802,726 and a general corporate fund levy of $46,172,726.
However, the State’s Attorney’s Office found that per the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/18-185), the look back is not available to the County anymore.
This is contrary to the guidance provided by the Illinois County Clerk’s Official Property Tax Manual which indicated otherwise and was the basis of the deliberations thus far.
As a result, the revised ordinance is based on CPI & New Growth and proposes a total levy of $70,489,989, of which $42,859,989 is for general county purposes.
All other tax levies remain the same.
Attached please find an excerpt of the relevant portion of the Property Tax Code for your reference.
Essentially, the lookback option is only available in the tax year immediately following a tax levy reduction in the preceding year.
It was available last year since Tax Year 2024 was a reduced levy.
However, since 2025 was not a reduced levy compared to TY 2024, it is not an option for this tax year.
Without the lookback as an option, an additional $3.3M needs to be accounted for in the budget.
In addition to the revised tax levy ordinance, a corresponding revised appropriations ordinance will need to be considered as well to reflect other funding sources.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either Kerri Wisz or me.
The revised tax levy ordinance presented to the Finance Committee for today’s meeting:
O R D I N A N C E
An Ordinance Providing for the Levy of Taxes for McHenry County, Illinois for the Fiscal Year December 1, A.D., 2026 through November 30, A.D., 2027 (18)
BE IT ORDAINED, by this County Board of McHenry County, Illinois as follows:
SECTION 1. That the Annual Appropriation Ordinance of McHenry County, Illinois for the fiscal year December 1, 2026, through November 30, 2027, has been approved and adopted in accordance with Illinois law and, by reference, is made a part hereof.
SECTION 2. That $73,802,726 (crossed out) 70,489,989 is the difference between the total amount of money heretofore legally appropriated for all County purposes and the amount of money estimated as received from other sources or on hand, therefore, $46,172,726 (crossed out) 642,859,989 for general county purposes, and $27,630,000 for other purposes, as required by law, be and the same are hereby levied on all property subject to taxation within the County of McHenry, State of Illinois, as the same is assessed and equalized for tax purposes,
SECTION 3. That the purposes for which said amount of $73,802,72670,489,989 is hereby levied shall be as follows:
We have apportioned the estimated other income and use of cash reserves to various items of the budget and would, therefore, recommend that the sum of $46,172,726 (criossed out) 42,859,989 (being the difference between the amount appropriated for the GENERAL CORPORATE FUND and the amount estimated as received from other income and use of cash reserves) be levied on all taxable property in said County as assessed for the year 2026 and that the County Clerk be shown above for the calendar year 2026 as all provided by law, for GENERAL COUNTY PURPOSES; and
We further recommend that there be levied the sum of $1,200,000 for the VETERAN’S ASSISTANCE FUND; and
We further recommend that there be levied the sum of $9,000,000 for the HIGHWAY FUND; and
We further recommend that there be levied the sum of $10,000 for the COUNTY BRIDGE FUND; and
We further recommend that there be levied the sum of $10,000 for the MATCHING FUND; and
We further recommend that there be levied the sum of $6,600,000 for the ILLINOIS MUNICIPAL RETIREMENT FUND; and
We further recommend that there be levied the sum of $5,550,000 for the FEDERAL INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS ACT FUND; and
We further recommend that there be levied the sum of $3,500,000 for the LOSS PREVENTION AND PROTECTION FUND; and
We further recommend that there be levied the sum of $10,000 for the VALLEY HI NURSING HOME ENTERPRISE FUND; and
We further recommend that there be levied the sum of $1,750,000 for the SENIOR SERVICES FUND.
SECTION 4. That aggregate sum of said taxes to be levied is, and shall be in conformance with,all relevant provisions of the Property Tax Extension Limitations Act as validated by the County Clerk.
DATED at Woodstock, Illinois, this 17
th day of November, A.D., 2026.
