Betrayal In Lake County

By Contributing Writer on June 26, 2026

June 26, 2026

By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall

We believe that honesty, integrity and transparency are essential for good governance. We promote those qualities by exposing the lies, deceptions and betrayals. Here is the latest betrayal in Lake County. One of the biggest votes taken in Lake County revealed a shocking betrayal of homeowners by Commissioner Morris Beverage and Commissioner Morgan McIntosh.

While we are not surprised at the Democrat turned Republican Beverage’s betrayal of the citizens, we were shocked that McIntosh would take such a callous attitude toward the homeowners. It is obvious that not providing a second motion to allow a vote on the owner occupancy credit was pre-planned by the two Commissioners.

For the record, McIntosh was appointed by the Republican Party to take the seat formerly occupied by the late Rich Regovich. He is on the November, 2026 ballot for the Commissioner’s term that ends on January 1, 2029. His Democratic opponent is Lisa Lewins. We will reach out to Ms. Lewins to get her position on this and other issues.

Here is the actual vote on the homestead exemption and the non-vote on the owner occupancy tax credit. The failure to obtain a second motion to put the resolution up for a vote meant that the owner occupancy credit would not be approved for the coming year. Beverage and McIntosh get to tell the citizens that they did not vote to raise your property taxes. This is a deception and betrayal that will be remembered by the citizens of Lake County. Unfortunately, we see the Lake County Republicans placating the Democrats, and not really supporting the citizens. The Uniparty is alive and well in Lake County. In our opinion, the Republican Party is in trouble throughout the State and the nation.

Here is Commissioner John Plecnik, the sole voice of reason among our current Commissioners, giiving his fact based reasons on why the homestead exemption and owner occupancy tax credit need to be continued for another year.

Here are videos of citizens speaking to the Commissioners during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Lake County Auditor Chris Galloway speaks to the Commissioners about property taxes and the new rules for the County Budget Commission.

Here I address the comments about the Budget Commission and request that the Commissioners approve both the Homestead Exemption and the Owner Occupancy Credits for another year.

We will try to get the Auditor to tell us how much each taxing authority will get because of the non-vote of Commissioners Beverage and McIntosh on the owner-occupancy credits. Stay tuned.