Having a manager and administrator in the office certainly would be a major step in pointing Winnebago County in the right direction. From opposing a county half-percent sales tax to searching for new ways for cities, towns and villages within the county to work together and share resources, Lowe seems to understand that raising taxes each year should not be an automatic option. That's particularly true since annual growth in property values and new construction automatically gives the county a vehicle to increase spending without raising taxes. Van De Hey has used a sleight of hand on the tax issue by alluding to maintaining a stable tax rate. A stable tax rate is meaningless.
Residents pay property taxes based on the assessed valuation of their homes and businesses.
Van De Hey has been in office, despite growth in the county each year that outpaced inflation. Furthermore, she shares responsibility for approving the construction of a new racetrack that has failed to live up to expectations, delays in the construction of a new jail that increased the project's price tag and the slow progress at Wittman Regional Airport. The county has spent millions on a racetrack and covered horse barn but cannot seem to figure out how to pay for an essential new jail and administrative offices for the Sheriff's Department. Instead of cutting through the quagmire, the executive has contributed to the gridlock and mushy priority setting that cannot seem to separate wants from needs. Van De Hey's one, and only, veto over four years was to make a staff reduction in the office of a political opponent while millions in unnecessary spending went untouched.