Residents tell Lake Bluff board Shields Township levy changes reduced local road distributions, urge action

At the start of the meeting, resident Kathy Blahanka told the Village Board that Shields Township lowered its road levy in December 2022 by $167,000 and moved the money into the township's corporate fund. "The money was not returned to the taxpayers, but rather moved to the corporate fund," Blahanka said, adding that the township did not apply CPI increases to the road fund for the next two years while applying CPI increases to the corporate fund.

Blahanka said the cumulative loss to the road fund over three years is about $600,000 and provided estimates of how the reduced distributions affected local jurisdictions: approximately $318,000 lost to unincorporated areas, $173,000 to the City of Lake Forest, $93,000 to the Village of Lake Bluff, and $15,000 to the City of North Chicago. She also said that corporate-fund balances were used, in part, to purchase road equipment worth about $174,000 (two trucks and a golf cart), and said she believes "it is illegal to purchase road equipment from the corporate fund, but I can't be sure." Blahanka asked the village and residents to urge Shields Township trustees to correct the levy treatment or return funds to road accounts.

Mike Perrette, a Lake Forest resident, said he and others have been attending Shields Township meetings and would continue to ask the township to adjust the levy; he asked for any help the Village might provide in urging the township to "do the right thing." Village trustees did not take formal action on the matter at the meeting but were briefed by speakers and encouraged to refer questions to township meetings and staff for follow-up.