Palatine Township Republicans 2009

Township Candidates Website

Election Day --Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Our Record

Seven of the nine members of our team are currently serving in Township Office; we offer the voters a proven track record of interest, participation and accomplishments. Our team has:

Reduced the township deficit while maintaining the low tax rate.

After the 2005 election our group was handed a Town Fund budget from the previous administration that was out of balance with expenses exceeding revenues by nearly $400,000. In the fiscal year ending on February 28, 2009 revenues and expense in the Town Fund have been brought in line.

Saved township funds by cost effective maintenance of roads and bridges.

Maintenance costs are driven by the costs of paving, plowing, and salt. Harsh winters like the last two tend to require more salt and more labor hours for plowing. Our highway department team gets high praise for the quality of their work and their control of costs.
For example, cost savings have been achieved by careful in house maintenance of our facility and equipment, a rigorous safety program that has reduced accidents to almost zero, and frugal buying of supplies and equipment such as paying only $65 per ton for road salt while some surrounding communities are paying as much as $160 per ton.

FROZEN elected officials' salaries

Recently our team was required to set the salaries for the next four years of Township government. Even though elected official salaries have been the same for the last eight years, and federal, state and county government officials have raised their own salaries with regularity, we know the sacrifices and hardships that many citizens of Palatine Township are facing. Our team chose to freeze Township Board salaries for another four years. Our team is cautious with taxpayer funds!

Increased Volunteer Hours Dedicated to township services.

Many other units of government run strictly on paid employees. Palatine Township is blessed with many wonderful citizens who contribute their energy, their empathy and their treasure to their fellow citizens. Our Township provides an avenue for those many volunteers to contribute to a better life for their neighbors. Thanks, volunteers. You make it happen.

Modernized property tax appeals process.

The Assessor's office has put in place new software that helps citizens review similar homes for comparables, or "comps" to determine whether their assessment by Cook County is correct. Staff smoothes the way for citizens to appeal when their assessment is out of line. In this cycle we have assisted more township residents than any time in recent memory with both first level appeals filed with the County Assessor and second level appeals filed with the "Board of Review".

Improved the Township Website - Posting of Minutes

In addition to the improvements in the quarterly newsletter and the web site mentioned elsewhere, another enhancement is in place to upgrade communications with the residents.  Formerly, minutes of the Township Board meeting were available to anyone requesting them in person at the Township Hall upon paying a fee to cover cost of copying or by reading them on site at no charge. At the January 2009 meeting, at the urging of Trustee Lisa Moran, the board reconsidered a plan that had been rejected in the fall of 2008.  After Trustee Moran’s staff work in advance of the meeting, the board was convinced that the cost would be at the lower end of the range of previous estimates and decided to go ahead.  As of this writing, the January 2008 Township Board Meeting Minutes are available for viewing or download from the Township’s award winning website. (Click here) The minutes for the February meeting will be posted shortly after they are submitted by the clerk and formally approved by the Board.

Won the Governor's Hometown Cup working with the YHOP youth group.

We mentioned volunteers before. YHOP is a group of high school youth who raised over $100,000 for the Palatine Township food pantry. While we take modest pride in our contributions to this effort, the wonderful youth of Palatine township carried the ball and crossed the goal line. Nicely done, YHOP.

Improved Township programs and initiated successful new ones.

Improvements

- Newsletter improvements—open bid process for new graphic designer/printer and eliminated one mailing per year which saved approximately $12-15,000 annually.

- Our enhancements to the Township newsletter earned “Newsletter of the Year for 2006 award from the Township Officials of Illinois organization ("TOI").

- Our Website earned "Website of the Year for 2005", also awarded by TOI.

New Programs

- Honoring Our Heroes Program was started in collaboration with the Palatine American Legion Auxiliary Unit 690 and Salute, Inc. selling patriotic ornaments to raise funds for veterans currently hospitalized in area VA Hospitals

- Veterans/Military Family Outreach was created to reach out to veterans.  The Township has an IDVA (IL Department of Veterans Affairs) officer, Jim Lopez, serving at the Township office providing referrals for care and assistance.  The Township and IDVA hosted a Veterans Open House Benefits Fair in April 2007, which was well attended by our veterans.    We are currently working with a representative from NMFA (National Military Families Association) to see what other actions can be taken to assist military families in the area.

- Rabies Vaccine and Microchip Clinic for pets
- Child Safety and Abduction Program which provides safe ID kits & toothprinting for our children
- Internet Safety Program which alerts parents to the dangers of Internet browsing
- Girl Scout Programs designed to promote healthy self-esteem for young girls
- File of Life Card Program which provides important medical emergency contact information.