The McHenry County Board will consider whether to reset its property tax levy to what it was before voters signed off on a sales tax increase to fund the Mental Health Board.

County leaders pledged that if the sales tax referendum passed on the spring 2024 primary ballot, they would drop the share of the levy that funded the board. They followed through on that last year, although a small amount was added back to fund the hiring of three additional sheriff’s deputies.

A year later, facing increased budgetary pressures, the board is looking at a so-called “lookback” levy.

Under the state lookback law, a taxing body is permitted to reset its property tax levy to the highest level in the past three years. In the county’s case, doing that would bump the levy up to the $73.8 million it approved in 2023.

The levy was lowered to about $65 million last year after voters approved switching the Mental Health Board funding mechanism to a sales tax.

But while some on the board are supportive or open to the lookback option, that idea has gotten opposition from some County Board members who feel doing that would mean the board broke its pledge to the electorate.

The board theoretically can take an inflationary increase on top of the lookback, but county staff didn’t recommend doing that, and the current levy document reflects the lookback number.

County staff suggested that the board abate, or not charge the taxpayers, $1 million of the lookback amount. Some board members criticized that amount as too little.

The full County Board now is looking at the lookback, but moving that to the board did not get majority support from its finance committee. The lookback got a 2-2 tie at a recent committee meeting, but county leaders indicated that it still would be on the full board agenda.

With two members absent, finance committee member John Collins voted in favor of recommending the lookback levy, as did Chair Michael Skala. Committee members Terri Greeno and Eric Hendricks voted against it, and committee member Carolyn Campbell abstained.

Campbell said she wanted to move the levy forward to the whole board but noted the absent members and said only two nonfinance committee board members showed up and participated in the meeting.

The County Board could discuss the levy at a Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday, but it will have to vote to put something up for public review at its Oct. 21 voting meeting. The final budget and levy vote will take place in November, ahead of the county’s new fiscal year Dec. 1.