COVID-19 lockdown devastating county economy




MCHENRY COUNTY, Il – The coronavirus has caused the deaths of at least 114 people in McHenry County this year, while business restrictions designed to contain it have laid waste to the local economy, county board members were told Wednesday.

In a special session called by Board Chairman Jack Franks, board members heard “stories from the trenches,” as Franks put it. The most shocking story may have come from Jim McConoughey, president of the McHenry County Economic Development Commission.

“About 26.5% of our small businesses in the county are closed,” McConoughey said, citing a survey of business banking activity conducted by Womply, a software and data firm specializing in small businesses. That drastic decline compares with a 2% per year growth rate posted in January, prior to arrival of the virus.

Even the small businesses able to remain open are feeling the negative impact of the virus, showing a 39% decline in revenue compared with January, he said.

The closing of small businesses in the county means many entrepreneurs have gone back to work for someone else to care for their families, he said.

“But they’re still entrepreneurs. Some way we’re going to have to come up with programs that allow them to rebound when this pandemic is over and when they can get back into their normal small business environment.”

The county’s main areas of concern center on restaurants and entertainment. Revenue in restaurants is down about 42% from January, the study showed. Entertainment venues, which include movie theaters that have been closed for months, are down 54%.

“Revenue streams in those particular areas are in the greatest harm’s way in our communities,” he said. “And many of those won’t be able to reopen or re-establish themselves,” until after a vaccine would be administered and the disease was gone.

Two county restaurateurs, Ed Wolowiec of Port Edwards in Algonquin and Bill Linardos of Billy’s Beef and The Grove in Spring Grove, recounted “the punch in the gut,” as Linardos recalled, that they felt when Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered restaurants to close their doors.

“March, April, May were just really devastating,” he said. “It was really, really hard. We had to lay off a lot of employees, and those that we were able to keep on staff, we had to reduce their hours significantly. So it was not just myself and my wife who felt this but all of the employees we had.” Since reopening outdoors, servers have been rehired but inside dining is very limited.

Restaurant owners now fear any spike in coronavirus infections that could force the state to again close their doors, and are worried how they will function during the winter months when weather would prohibit outside dining.

“Over the past couple, three months, I’ve talked with many restaurateurs, friends, community icons,” Linardos said, “and they’ve said, ‘God, I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I’m just ready to throw in the towel and call it a career, and move on and retire.’”

The state gave restaurant owners a break by delaying payment of sales tax to later months, Linardos said, but the delay was just “kicking the can down the road.”

Wolowiec said owners have the greatest concerns about keeping their employees safe and protecting their guests from the virus. Franks noted that Will County restaurants are now limited to 25% capacity after the virus numbers grew in that county. He stressed the importance of keeping the numbers in check in McHenry County to keep restaurants open.

“Port Edward’s is a 12,000-square-foot building,” Wolowiec said. “With 25%, we will be able to have 100 people in the building. My property tax is $78,000 a year. How can I pay the $78,000 a year with 100 people in the restaurant?”

Figures presented by McConoughey showed 28% of the county’s workforce is still working from home, more than five months after the lockdown was declared.

Andrew Hass, a sales executive, is still working out of his Algonquin home after March brought him a 20% reduction in pay and his wife losing her job in the hospitality industry.
“Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, we were slammed with our property tax bill…which was nearly a 12% increase versus 2018.” He said it represented 12 to 15 weeks of groceries to feed his family of four. That was followed by a notice of a 2.1% increase in the assessed value of his property, indicating that his next tax bill would show another increase.

“When residents get burdened down with too much taxes, they can no longer enjoy the small pleasantries and help and support small businesses,” he said. High taxes are “not sustainable,” Hass said.

Kristen Siefken of Lake in the Hills, is another resident hit hard by the economic impact of the virus and lockdown. Her husband lost his job, and she is also at home and not working, she said. Their college-age daughter didn’t start her summer job until July, meaning more of her expenses would need to be covered by her parents.

“I know we’re not the only ones in the county in this position,” she said. “…I was grateful when the due date for the first installment of our property taxes was extended to September 15. However, now with both installments due by the 15th, I’m worried how we will pay.” She encouraged the board to push back the due date to give taxpayers more time.

One bright spot in the economic figures cited by to McConoughey, manufacturing is on the rise in the county, up 2% over last year. He speculated that repressed buying has brought increased demand to the marketplace, requiring the increased manufacture of goods.

“The challenge, of course, is people willing to work (in manufacturing)” and the need for retraining of workers laid off in other sectors of the economy, he said.