Inverness has a culture and heritage that you only truly admire when you live here. Our village is a community of families and neighborhoods, not commercial developments, we operate our budget every year with a surplus and prioritize our taxpayers. Our public safety remains one of the best in Cook County. Serving and leading our residents for the past 27 years is a privilege I don’t take lightly and this is why I’m so committed to preserving what we’ve built.

I’ve learned the best tool to leading is listening and one of the biggest topics I’ve had conversations with residents regarding is maintaining our residential charm. That’s been a major focus during my tenure and we’ve protected disruptions to the tranquility our residents have come to expect from living in our community. That is why people want to reside and raise their families here. Whether it’s meeting with residents at Village Hall where I’m at daily, attending a village meeting, something I’ve never missed since being elected in 1997, or calling me on my cell phone at home, I am always available and communicating with our residents.

While we continue to protect our village’s unique heritage, we must also build on our positive trajectory. Every year we complete new infrastructure projects as part of our annual roads program to help improve our residents’ quality of life. This year bonds are expiring so we are able to triple the roads we will pave without any additional cost to taxpayers. Our village knows how to build on what we’ve started and get the most out of it without asking our residents for more.

This also falls in line with continuing our long commitment to fiscal responsibility. I operate on the belief that taxpayer dollars should be stewarded with complete transparency and that we shouldn’t spend money that it doesn’t have.  This has earned Village a AAA Bond rating year after year. While we don’t assess or collect utility taxes, electric taxes, or real estate transfer taxes and make little on sales tax, we still operate debt-free and have had a budget surplus every year. Last year, we preserved $350,000, allowing us to add to our reserves. We’ve done this by running the village like a business, tightening our belts, and increasing efficiency without sacrificing quality services.

We’ve also maintained a flat tax levy, and have not introduced any new taxes, fees, or fines. With our village only receiving 7% of property taxes, we continue to look for creative and innovative ways to fund projects that minimize the need for spending taxpayer dollars. When our village’s iconic silos needed extensive restoration, we worked to secure grants of one million dollars to refurbish the silos at the village hall. As combat veteran myself, and when community members expressed their desire to establish a local veteran’s memorial, we worked to leverage private funding so taxpayers could simply enjoy and pay their respects without being asked to pay more in taxes.

Our community has also come to expect exceptional public safety service. One of our village’s biggest achievements was establishing our own police department in 2009. This has not only saved the village nearly $6 million from contracting police service from other villages, but it has also allowed us to create a department tailored to meet the needs of our unique community. As mayor, I’ve introduced innovative public safety tools, including flock cameras, to ensure that our police department is fully equipped to keep Inverness the safest community in the area. We’ve introduced the “Vacation Watch” service where residents can request daily monitoring of their homes by our police officers while they are away, providing additional peace of mind. And we were instrumental in locating and building the Inverness Rural Fire Station in the center of our village to increase response times and save on costs.

Our work isn’t done, but I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish to make Inverness into the community it is today. Please re-elect me, Jack Tatooles, as your Inverness Village President so we can continue the momentum that makes Inverness the best community in Illinois to own a home and raise a family while preserving our unique heritage.