Hometown Real Estate

Hawthorn Woods is a village in the Fremont and Ela Townships of Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,002 at the 2000 census and estimated to have grown to over 8,000 by 2008. The village is located approximately 40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. It was officially incorporated in 1958. Major transportation arteries include Midlothian Road, OldMcHenry Road, Gilmer Road, and the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway. The new Hawthorn Woods Country Club, whose golf course was designed by golf professional Arnold Palmer, is located within the village's perimeter.Hawthorn Woods is also known to its residents to have aggressive fees in excess of neighboring villages. A review of neighboring Lake Zurich village codes (http://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/codebook/index.php?book_id=373) and comparison to Hawthorn Woods shows higher costs in Hawthorn Woods. In addition, the articles above about utility taxes fail to mention that Lake Zurich (and other neighboring villages) adopted the utility fees as a substitute for vehicle registration fees. As Hawthorn Woods adopts both methods of taxation, the village again exceeds neighboring village tax burdens. A review of the mayor's outlook on how to manage the budget and get the city financially stable can be reviewed at http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs047/1102673403676/archive/1102933579813.htmlPolice Officers within Hawthorn Woods have been verbally briefed to increase ticket writing efforts to enhance revenue. A 2010 Chicago Sun-Times article summarized how this is done within Chicago: http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2606072,CST-NWS-tickets17.article To date, Hawthorn Woods has avoided similar publication of its government efforts. However, a review of citations shows a rapidly increased rate of resident sticker violations on parked vehicles - not traffic stops. This is interesting because the ticket writing officer would have to verify that the vehicle was registered in a Hawthron Woods city domicile to write the ticket. The same registration check would verify that the village registration fee had been paid - even if the sticker was not displayed. The reader is left to make his or her own conclusions on motivations given the facts.In 2010, parks and recreation fees for youth sports team use of community fields was increased to the point that many teams moved practices and games to other villages. The full impact of those fees and lost revenue is still under investigation as calls to the village parks department from a local reporter have not been returned.Information on why and how city officials are pursuing additional revenue at http://www.vhw.org/documents/AgendaFinanceCommitteeJuly14_000.pdf and at the following: http://www.vhw.org/documents/WhydoestheVillageofHawthornWoodsneedtoimposeautilitytaxonelectricityandnaturalgas.pdfFurther resident perspective on management practices within the village can be found at http://athornyissue.blogspot.com/