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The Kronenwetter Bad Budget Con frontation

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  Kronenwetter Village treasurer John Jacobs seems to be everywhere this weekend making post after post after post, in a blizzard of false and/or misrepresented information, misdirection, and personal attacks. There is an apparent reason for that, which I'll get to later, but for now, let's get straight to some of the fallacies he has been presenting. I will have a separate article detailing a number of questionable items within in the budget itself, called "The Return of the Bad News Budget Bloaters". Misrepresented Information "Low Mil Rates" Jacobs talks about a "dropping tax mil rates" below 3%; he is even quoted in a news article about it. However, his comments are "based on 100% full market valuation", which is merely a theoretical estimate by the state of current value. Why is this number even mentioned, other than for the psychological effect that they "sound good"?  The mil rates that he says are "dropping" ar...

Updated 10/28 - The Police and Fire Commission - Who Watches the Watchers?

  This is an Oct 28 follow up to the original article below, on the proposed special ordinance change to benefit one of President Dan Joling's buddies. Monday night the Kronenwetter Village Board voted to deny an ordinance change apparently presented at President Joling's request, to absolve and accommodate Alex Vedvik's 6-month run of unlawfully holding a position on the Police and Fire Commission. The first thing Joling said about it was "I think everyone knows the history here..." Why do they already "know the history here"? Because these things are apparently discussed among themselves prior to the meeting , which seems inappropriate if not a violation of open meetings law. The idea of "open meetings" is for the public to "know the history", as well as the insiders on the Board. The purpose of the packet report is to inform the public every bit as much as the Board members. So, there is that little observation f...