By: Diane Benjamin

The 1% Sales Tax increase is on the April 1st election ballet because it has a better chance of passing when few people bother to vote.

If Tri-Valley really wanted your property taxes to go down, they wouldn’t propose a new bond for the exact amount of the one being paid off. The next bond issue is already planned, but voters will be told their taxes won’t go up if it passes. What they fail to mention is that not passing it would lower property taxes. A smaller bond for actual needs is never considered.

Add Tri-Valley to the list of schools sending mailers to potential voters. Instead of promising that one-third will be used for property tax relief, theirs claims it will eliminate the need for future property tax increases. However, it doesn’t say they won’t capture your assessed value increases—meaning that if the tax rate remains the same, they can claim they didn’t raise your property taxes.

The also changed to school sign:

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Illinois law: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/001000050K9-1.14.htm

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Do you think the full court press for more money qualifies as exempt under any of the above?

Another claim: Sales tax means people who don’t pay property taxes will contribute to schools. But rent includes property taxes—one of the reasons rent keeps going up! Schools have already collected plenty of money because property values have risen significantly. Deceptive advertising?

The claim that 35% of the tax burden will be paid by people who don’t live in McLean County makes about as much sense as the economic impact figures once published for the Coliseum. From 2014:

https://blnnews.com/2014/06/24/coliseums-economic-impact-cough-cough/

How do all the scheduled “informational” meetings school districts are holding not violate the law? Obviously they want the 1% Sales Tax to pass, therefore the meetings. The meetings aren’t informational, they are to convince voters to hand them more money. They will NEVER have enough.

If people commute to work in McLean County, where’s the proof they spend money here? Do people come here to shop? Where? The nearly empty mall? Seen Amazon vans everywhere? The internet tax goes to the state, which is supposed to distribute it. How much will the school district actually receive after it’s been laundered through bureaucracy? 35% of the windfall will be paid by them?

I don’t know who is behind this video, but it clearly violates the law mentioned above. The schools have tried and failed to pass this tax before.

This was probably created by the same people who made the website with illegal language—language that was only changed after it was pointed out.

Planning to vote?

Electioneering won’t be prosecuted because a prosecutor is required. There isn’t one.