Why Does NSBAR Hate Home Rule?
First NSBAR opposed a fire suppression ordinance for new construction in Highland Park, and then it opposed an increase in Highland Park’s Tear Down tax and Inclusionary Zoning In-Lieu Fee (both aimed at increasing funding and units for Highland Park affordable housing initiatives.) Now the NSBAR is hampering the city of Highwood by actively opposing Highwood’s efforts to use a zero dollar transfer stamp as a way of facilitating public safety inspections when residential real estate is transferred.
Why is the NSBAR so vehemently apposed to municipalities governing themselves? Were the Highland Park and Highwood City Councilmen installed by a coup and NSBAR see
s itself as the righteous protector of the people? I don’t think so. The residents of Highland Park
and Highwood elect councilmen and a mayor to make decisions on how to best run the city. If residents are happy with the decisions that were made they re-elect the councilmen and the mayor, if not they elect new councilmen and a new mayor. It’s a pretty good system, good enough that NSBAR should leave it alone.
The constant meddling by NSBAR is bad enough, but it gets worse. The person behind this constant obstructionism, Howard Handler the Government Affairs Director for NSBAR, uses demagogic tactics and misinformation to try and drum up support for his misguided crusades.
In his recent email regarding the Highwood Transfer Stamp, Mr. Handler states that the Lake County Recorder of Deeds, Mary Ellen Vanderventer, agrees with NSBAR that the Zero Dollar Transfer Stamp is illegal. However, I spoke with a Highwood city official who says that is not a totally true statement. The city official told me the State’s Attorney has made his review and is not sure that the stamp without the fee is permissible. As such he has advised the Recorder to process deeds with or without the stamp. This concerns the city since a no fee stamp has been implemented elsewhere in the state and collar counties and makes me wonder if this would be an issue at all if not for the meddling of Howard Handler and the NSBAR.
And why doesn’t Highwood just initiate a referendum to tax the stamp and take the air out of Mr. Handlers blustering? According to the city official, Highwood doesn’t want to burden its citizens with another tax at this time, but does want a way to monitor the sale of real estate so it can efficiently monitor ordinance compliance and ensure public safety.
So… why does NSBAR hate home rule?
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