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Crystal Lake South beats McHenry in pivotal division match in front of raucous crowd / C1
HERALD
NWHerald.com
The annual stream of people leaving Illinois for other states hit a new six-figure milestone last year, according to U.S. Census records. For the first time, the annual loss of Illinois residents to outmigration exceeded 100,000 people, according to census data. About 105,200 more people left Illinois than arrived, according to census data released for the period between July 2014 and July 2015. While an influx of 37,600 residents through international migration, and a natural population growth of 52,207 pared the Land of Lincoln’s total population loss to 22,194 people, Illinois still led all 50 states in population loss. At the same time, every other state in the Midwest showed a net population increase. Census data from the previous 2013-2014 collection period also showed Illinois as the only Midwestern state to lose population, and was the first time since the 1980s that Illinois showed a net population loss, according to an analysis by the Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University. Only four other states lost population, according to census data, but Illinois’ loss was almost five times that of the first runner-up of West Virginia, which lost 4,623 during the same period. New York was the only other state last year besides Illinois to show a six-digit population loss through outmigration. However, its natural population growth and international migration more than compensated for it, and the state
105,217 The number of Illinois residents
who moved out of state between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2015
22,194
The state’s total population loss when births and international migration are factored
1
Illinois places first when it comes to net population loss Source: U.S. Census Bureau
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showed a 46,933 net population increase. A mix of factors are to blame, said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. While Illinois’ terrible finances and politics are surely playing a role, so does weather and shifting demographic trends. “I think it all works as kind of a package,” Yepsen said. “People don’t feel good about Illinois right now. They see the state as being on the wrong track. Maybe there’s a job opportunity somewhere else, or maybe the grandkids are someplace
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Park district considers new property for project By EMILY K. COLEMAN
ecoleman@shawmedia.com
Number of people fleeing state each year hits six digits BY THE NUMBERS
32 22
Plans for rec center examined
OUTMIGRATION By KEVIN P. CRAVER
LOW
Complete forecast on page A10
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else.” The ongoing seven-month budget stalemate in Springfield between Democratic lawmakers and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who is trying to leverage Democratic budget wishes with significant political and economic reforms, is only one small part of the state’s deep financial trouble. Illinois has at least $111 billion in unfunded pension liability, not counting liability for health costs – about one dollar in four collected by the state is paying for public-sector pensions. The state also has the worst credit rating of all 50 states, and is hovering several notches above junk status. Illinois’ ongoing plight is further spelled out by two Gallup polls released in early 2014. The polls, which were conducted months before the terrible “polar vortex” winter, revealed that one resident in four believes that Illinois is the worst state to live in, and that half of residents would leave if given the opportunity. And last year’s analysis by NIU casts a healthy skepticism on putting too much blame on the weather – most people moving out of Illinois are in fact settling in its neighboring states. Census numbers are not the only ones showing a continued exodus from Illinois. Yet again, the annual survey from United Van Lines, the nation’s largest mover of household items, put Illinois near the top for more people moving out than moving in. The Missouri-based company’s 39th annual survey released earlier
See ILLINOIS, page A4
CRYSTAL LAKE – Eight months after the sale fell through on a property the Crystal Lake Park District hoped to make the home of its proposed recreation center, a new property is being looked at. A planning committee made up of the park commissioners that oversee the Crystal Lake Park District gave a thumbs-up to investigating the feasibility of the Sunset Meadows property, a parcel owned by the district and located off Route 176 and Briarwood Road on the northwest side of town. The property comes with its challenges, Executive Director Jason Herbster said. Located in the watershed, the cost to build there could be very high, which is why the district is reaching out to engineers and city staff to get an idea of how much more it could cost before taking any more steps, he said, adding he doesn’t see the project moving at a rapid pace and any improvements would be a few years out. “You want people to be able to make an informed decision,” Herbster said. “There’s going to be those people who are going to say yes no matter what, and there’s going to be those who say no, no matter what. But there are those who
“If someone’s going to build on the watershed, who better than us?” Jason Herbster
Crystal Lake Park District executive director are undecided.” The benefit of developing the property, which is currently leased for farming, is that the district could improve the quality of the water being filtered through the area as it heads to Crystal Lake’s namesake lake, said Ann Viger, the district’s director of planning and development. “If someone’s going to build on the watershed, who better than us?” Herbster said, adding the park district is responsible for the quality of the lake. The 136-acre property was purchased – along with 44 acres of wetland property at Ackman and Huntley roads – after a 1999 referendum that financed $2.5 million worth of land acquisition, according to the park district website. At the time, conceptual plans were drawn up to show what the property could be used for, one showing more passive park uses and the other with a building and swimming pool on the western edge, Herbster said.
See PROJECT, page A4
County OKs abating property taxes of deputy’s widow By KEVIN P. CRAVER
kcraver@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – The McHenry County Board raised daily rates for the handful of private-pay beds at Valley Hi Nursing Home and abated its share of the property tax bill of the widow of a sheriff’s deputy who died 11 months after being shot on
the job. It abated the county government property tax for the widow of fallen Deputy Dwight Maness on a 22-0 vote. Members raised the private-pay rates at Valley Hi by $5 a day effective in April, with member John Hammerand, R-Wonder Lake, casting the sole “no” vote. Although the vote to abate the
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taxes on the McHenry home of Susan Maness was unanimous, member Donna Kurtz at first said she could not support it, weighing sensitivity for the issue against sensitivity for county taxpayers. “I think that we as a community have done a very good job of ensuring that we’re doing the right thing for this surviving spouse, and at the
LOCAL NEWS
Cost-cutting vs. revenue
MCC’s board of trustees mulls tuition raise; decision has to be made by February / A3 SPORTS
Postcard pretty, but painful
Storm slams Eastern U.S. with wet snow, strong gales; authorities urge residents to stay off icy, snow-covered roads / A7
same time, I don’t feel comfortable with asking our taxpayers to continue to take on more and more responsibility,” Kurtz, R-Crystal Lake, said. However, an abatement does not get spread around for other taxpayers to pick up the same way that the reduction of one’s assessment does – it simply means the county chooses
not to collect the money. “It’s what we’re giving up, not what we’re pushing on to others,” Finance and Audit Committee Chairman Mike Skala, R-Huntley, said. Maness and fellow Deputy Khalia Satkiewicz were shot in October 2014 after responding in the early-morning
See COUNTY, page A4
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