Village Trustee, Village of Lakewood, IL, 2015-present

No caucus information on file.

No professional experience on file.

No organizational membership information on file.

Reason for Seeking Public Office:

A founding member of the McHenry County Citizens for Better Government and VotersInAction.com, Paul has long been a voice, and a force, for holding government accountable.

in late 2014, Paul answered the pleas of Lakewood village residents and stepped up to fight when the village board approved plans to create a $66 MILLION DOLLAR TIF District that put tax payers at risk. This, coupled with a dismal record of more than a decade of annual property tax hikes, compelled Paul to launch, and most decisively win, a grass-roots, write-in campaign to become elected as a Lakewood Village Trustee.

As a village trustee, Paul chose to waive his salary. He fought against the prevailing wage ordinance - filibustered against a 50-year SSA Property Tax - held town hall meetings to fight property tax hikes - and in 2016, Paul?s first year as trustee, they were able to freeze the property tax levy!

Residents have since dubbed Paul ?The Lakewood Tax-Fighter? and will testify that Paul has brought an entirely new level of transparency and accountability to the Lakewood Village Board.

In February 2016, Paul took his efforts to reduce our taxes to an entirely new level by campaigning to Take Back Illinois as State Representative in the 66th Dist. with an unprecedented proposal to establish a Property Tax Relief Fund that he would contribute his entire legislative salary to, if elected.

Paul Serwatka Proposes ?IL Property Tax Relief Fund?
Pledges To Donate Entire Salary To Fund

(LAKEWOOD) February 16 ? Paul Serwatka, Republican candidate for Illinois? 66th House Seat, announced, today, that one of his first actions in office will be the creation of a Property Tax Relief Fund to combat the extreme Property Taxes plaguing 66th District families.

To help jump-start this fund, his first year in office, Serwatka pledges to contribute his entire salary to the fund. ?By contributing my salary, we can IMMEDIATELY begin efforts, as well as leverage other contributions, to initiate REAL reform, locally, where property taxes are affected most,? Serwatka said.

?Countless families are being forced out of their homes due to the punishing property tax burdens in McHenry & Kane Counties.? Serwatka added, ?By creating this ?IL Property Tax Relief Fund? we can begin to hold local taxing bodies accountable, effect fiscal responsibility and promote fiscal conservatism within ? and in a very meaningful way.?

Serwatka continued, ?This fund will be the first of its kind and I have complete confidence that it will have real, tangible effects on the property taxes residents pay. I?m so confident, in fact, I?m betting my salary on it!?

?Every day, I speak to families who tell me ?We are being taxed out of our home! Something has to be done!? Serwatka said. ?I have been successful in fighting property taxes in my village. Now, it?s time to turn things up a few notches.? Serwatka added ?I?ve never been one for just talking. I?m a guy who takes action - and this will be an opportunity for me to publicly ?put my money where my mouth is,? so to speak.?

Specifically, the ?Illinois Property Tax Relief Fund? will serve as a concerted effort to stop reckless and abusive spending by local taxing bodies which results in the increased tax levies that affect our property taxes most. The fund will focus on creating a local awareness of relevant issues, organizing residents, promoting fiscally conservative policies and electing fiscally conservative members to local taxing bodies within the 66th Dist.

The 66th District includes parts of southeastern McHenry and northern Kane counties, including parts of: Algonquin, Crystal Lake, Lakewood, Lake in the Hills, Huntley, East & West Dundee, Elgin, Gilberts, Sleepy Hollow and Carpentersville.