Steve Balich Returns – Zero Levies, Solar Farms & Why Your Vote Matters | The TBTS Show

Steve Balich Returns – Zero Levies, Solar Farms & Why Your Vote Matters | The TBTS Show Will County Board member Steve Balich is back at the TBTS table! He has 14 years on the county board and four years as Homer Township Supervisor, and he’s running again for Will County Board District 4 this November. Steve sat down with us to talk about what’s happening at the county level and what’s at stake locally. We get into the zero levy and the $25 million question behind it, the push for a new county building, solar farm votes and why he “voted yes under duress,” state control over local assessors, Flock cameras, and the Educational Choice Act. Along the way we take detours into data centers and nuclear power, Nikola Tesla, where Illinois cannabis money goes, and Steve’s five-AI research method. At 76, he proves he knows his way around Facebook analytics better than most of us. We close with a push to get Polonia out to vote. ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 Welcome back, Steve 0:09 Election season & 14 years on the board 0:40 Four years as Homer Township supervisor 0:53 Zero levy, but $25M more? 2:52 The new county building debate 5:23 Administration growth & school spending 7:04 Trustees who brought real skills 10:10 Campaign intro: County Board District 4 11:00 The unfinished Civic Center 12:42 Who’s on the ballot 15:07 Early voting & the national mood 16:01 Capitalism vs. socialism 19:01 Centrists and the far ends 21:01 Data centers, SMRs & closed-loop cooling 24:36 Solar farms & storm damage 28:44 Voting “yes” under duress 31:35 State mandates & housing requirements 33:19 Rezoning Welter Farm as open space 35:38 Coal, nuclear & fusion 37:08 Fermilab, colliders & Nikola Tesla 40:47 Local assessors vs. state control 45:48 Credit upgrades & the mileage tax 47:20 Flock cameras & slot machine break-ins 50:20 Why every vote counts 53:59 The bus-off-a-cliff meme 55:14 A detour into foreign policy 1:01:23 SB 1015 & Will County’s form of government 1:03:25 November 3rd & the down-ballot races 1:04:56 Should Election Day be a holiday? 1:07:47 Affordability, refineries & gas prices 1:10:51 Taxes on taxes & capital gains 1:12:44 Where Illinois cannabis money goes 1:14:59 Gambling, then and now 1:15:57 The Educational Choice Act 1:19:30 Protest season in Homer Glen 1:23:51 The AI ad debate & guessing Steve’s age 1:27:15 How Steve researches with five AIs 1:30:23 Steve’s closing message 1:31:43 Getting Polonia to vote 1:32:24 Dual citizenship & Poland’s land rules 1:33:39 Wrap-up 🔗 Steve Balich: https://stephenbalich.wordpress.com/?... The TBTS Show: real conversations, real people, real community. Subscribe, drop a comment, and let us know who you want to see next! #TBTSShow #SteveBalich #WillCounty #HomerGlen #LocalPolitics #Election2026 #Illinois #Polonia