April 06, 2013
Editor:
Dave Uphoff
Minonk area voters will be asked to vote on important items in the election next Tuesday. The first item is a measure that would transfer the tax collection revenue from the City of Minonk to the Minonk Fire Protection District for the purposes of funding the Minonk Emergency Service Department or EMS. This transition must be approved by the voters to satisfy the legal mandate that requires the funding of the EMS department be collected by the Fire Protection District tax revenues. This measure would mean each homeowner in the City of Minonk would see a decrease of approximately 1/4% in the City property tax levy with a corresponding increase of 1/4% on the Minonk Fire Protection District tax levy. This transition would take place in 2014 with the payments of the 2013 property tax bill. The City of Minonk would continue to operate the existing Emergency Services Department with the funding for this service being provided through revenues collected throughout the entire Minonk Fire Protection District geographical boundaries. The result is that property owners in Minonk will not see any change in their property tax due to this transition as the tax will be levied from the Fire Protection District rather than the City of Minonk. Rural residents will see an increase in their property taxes as they currently do not pay any taxes towards the funding of the EMS department. The net result will be an increase in tax revenue collected for the EMS department since the tax will be spread over the entire Minonk area - city and rural.
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Voters are urged to approve this item on the ballot. It will increase the funding of the Minonk EMS department and also result in a more equitable tax collection. The rural area of Minonk is protected by the Minonk Fire Protection District and should be taxed for that service the same as residents of Minonk. Voters will also be asked to approve a 1% sales tax in Woodford County . The tax would be used to fund school maintenance and building projects. Other counties in Illinois have passed a similar tax and Woodford County voters should also approve this tax. The tax is more equitable since everyone buys things. This is much preferable to increasing property taxes on property owners who are already taxed enough. Our country is falling behind in its education system and we must do whatever we can to help keep our education system competitive with the rest of the world.
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