Vote-by-mail applications due March 14 for primary Registered voters in McHenry County who want to receive a vote-by-mail ballot for the March 19 presidential primary can now apply for one. Applications are available at bit.ly/3RRV5Cg, or by visiting the county clerk’s office at the county Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock. Voters don’t have to […]
Sheriff says jail deaths get outside investigation Deaths of four inmates who died while in the custody of the McHenry County jail this year are being investigated by an independent agency, Sheriff Rob Tadelman announced in a news release. Three inmates have died in the past month, one of whom was hospitalized. The other death […]
Two from sheriff’s office awarded Medal of Honor The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office had two Medal of Honor recipients – Sgt. Daniel Kramer and the late Deputy Jacob “Jake” Keltner – honored for acts of heroism, bravery, and sacrifice at the Law Enforcement Medal of Honor Ceremony in Springfield last week. They were among 136 […]
Tours offered this week at Old Courthouse Center Final public tours of remodeling at the Old Courthouse Center will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 13. The Friends of the Old Courthouse and the city of Woodstock will offer guided tours for two hours during the last Dusty Boots Tour, 101 N. Johnson St., before […]
“The highest property tax rate increase over the two-year period among the collar counties is the city of Woodstock, which increased by 8.3 percent to 3.51 percent, up from 3.24 percent in 2018.”* It hasn’t improved since then; in 2022, property tax rate in Woodstock is 3.6 percent. These numbers explain Woodstock’s relative property value disintegration […]
If preliminary numbers hold, the city of Woodstock’s portion of your tax bill next year will increase by 4.15 percent. That means a $150,000 home will pay $33.31 more than this year in city taxes after the $6,000 homestead exemption; the tax bill on a $200,000 home will increase $45.95; and a $250,000 home will […]
Again this year, no one showed up for a public hearing on the largest local government budget in Woodstock and the biggest spender of property tax revenue. The 2022-23 budget of $118.3 million for Woodstock School District 200 was approved last week by the Board of Education after a public hearing in which no one […]
How did Woodstock get so lucky, people might think. We get $57 million from the Build Illinois fund for the widening and improvement (upgraded lighting and landscaping) of more than 2 miles of Route 47 through the city, the first of a two-phase project that will make a better state highway through Woodstock from U.S. […]
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday that Illinois taxpayers would soon start receiving rebates of their income and property taxes, either in the mail or by direct bank deposits. Speaking at a news conference in Chicago where he was flanked by other state officials and Democratic leaders […]
Tour construction zone inside Old Courthouse Plan to get a little dirty at the Dusty Boots Tour at the Old Courthouse, 101 N. Johnson St., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 30. The building, along with the Sheriff’s House, is undergoing final stages of an $18 million restoration and renovation that is scheduled […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
