I attended a Lake County Commissioners’ meeting where Ms. McNamee, a Laketran Board member, stated that the 1/4% sales tax repealed in 2024, must be reinstated for the benefit of Laketran. We thought it was appropriate to determine the financial strength of Laketran to see if reinstating the sales tax is warranted.
We sent a records request to Mr. Ben Cappelle, General Manager of Laketran, asking for financial information on Laketran.
Here is the annual compensation and benefits for the top 32 wage earners at Laketran:
Here is their Statement of Net Position (Balance Sheet) comparing November 2024 with November 2023. Please note their CASH BALANCE as of November 30, 2024:
$61,112,752
Here is their Statement for Revenue and Expense:
Mr. Ben Capelle stated in an email to me: “As far as the sales tax reinstatement, I believe Ms. McNamee feels strongly that the levy should resume collection after the 1 year suspension, however that is my interpretation. She may wish to articulate it differently.”
“The Board has not officially discussed anything as whole, so at this point all I could offer would speculation and I don’t think it would be appropriate.”
LFC’s editorial opinion: With their extremely strong financial position, the thought of Laketran reinstating the 1/4% sales tax is totally wrong. The Lake County Commissioners must exercise their influence to protect the financial interests of the taxpayers of Lake County.
Lake County government is outgrowing the private sector’s ability to pay for the services.
Categories: Community Activism, Lake County - General