Daily Herald | Kane County, Illinois--Batavia: Subdivision residents may be taxed for maintenance
I've been hamstrung in blogging recently because of my office being renovated...v-e-r-r-r-r-y s-l-o-o-o-ow-l-y--and only today, I am told, will my new office computer be hooked up and ready to use.

Here's an Illinois story sent by Fred Pilot. An HOA is not functioning like it should, so the city says--fine, we'll create a special service area and tax you HOA residents for it. As I keep saying, HOAs are rapidly becoming an extension of local government.

For years, Batavia officials have complained no one has taken full responsibility for mowing the grass around the wetlands, keeping the algae out of the ponds and maintaining the entryways at the Davey Farm subdivision. If no one pledges in the next few months to keep up those areas, as well as the half-acre park and other pockets of green space, city officials say residents will pay the price. The city is ready to invoke a special service area drawn up in the 1997 annexation agreement and levy a tax against the homeowners. “The association hasn’t quite gotten its act together,” Alderman Jim Volk said. “They are not keeping up with maintenance.”