MARCH 2020 NEWSLETTER To promote, educate and advocate for the Residential Building & Remodeling Industry; providing resources that benefit industry professionals and consumers in the communities we serve. Among the thousands of visitors that came to the Home Show we found Congressman Bost & wife Tracy, Mayor Roach & wife Nancy with Bryan Wenthe, HBAI 1st VP visiting the RP Lumber booth with Jeff Schmidt WHATS INSIDE Upcoming Event Registrations Mar 12 - Anybody’s Game, Networking with a Swing Apr 2 - Spring Social Apr 25 - Lobby Day May 15 - Sport Clay Shoot May 30 & 31 - SAFB Air Show HOME SHOW ~ HOME SHOW ~ HOME SHOW Staff is still in “recovery” mode from the Home Show and will provide pictures of the amazing member displays and other updates of attendance in the next issue. https://www2.illinois.gov/dhr/Training/Pages/default.aspx Membership Renewals & New Member State Laws in front of the General Assembly Industry Health Insurance Program Membership benefits Illinois Policy Institute New Home Stats for 2019 Page 1
CONSUMER STUDY REVEALS TRENDS ABOUT WHERE HOMEOWNERS STORE THEIR STUFF The year-over-year change for storage solutions shows that homeowners are trying to get the most out of their existing space. By Home Innovation Research Labs Since 2017, Home Innovation Research Labs has asked a detailed set of questions about garage and closet storage purchases in its Annual Consumer Practices Survey. As data was compared from the 2018 and 2019 surveys, with about 2,300 U.S. households reporting, interesting trends were revealed. Each year, about 2.3 million U.S. households purchase closet storage systems, including those in bedrooms, laundry rooms, and kitchen pantries. The 2019 study found that about 108 million linear feet of closet and garage storage were installed in U.S. homes. And, while the storage system market is largely do-it-yourself currently, we expect professionally installed closet and garage systems to continue to grow in popularity. While there was no growth in the number of households purchasing closet, pantry, and laundry room storage systems between the two most recent annual studies, we found that each purchasing household purchased more—increasing from an average of 15 linear feet of closet system to 18 linear feet. Bedroom closets saw the smallest gain, and laundry room storage saw the biggest. For garage storage systems, the total number of purchasing households increased by 8% year over year, and linear feet of garage storage grew from 13 to 15 linear feet per household. Ceiling storage— perhaps the last frontier when all viable wall space is occupied—saw the biggest percentage increase at 28%. The year-over-year change for storage solutions shows that homeowners are trying to get the most out of their existing (and possibly limited) space for their belongings. Several demographic drivers could be at play. First, there are more multigenerational households now than a decade ago—adult children are staying longer, and aging parents are moving into the homes of their adult children. This, and other combining of households, leads to competition for storage space. The increasing popularity of open floor plans continues to contribute to the growing need for storage space—open floor space in the main living area diminishes the number of interior walls and the closets and cabinets that may have been part of those walls in other configurations. Based on the most recent report, clothes seem to be the primary focus for new closet storage. Nearly three-quarters of all storage systems include hanging rods and bars; more than half include cabinets with shelves (many with doors and drawers); and more than one-third integrate shoe storage. Over the past year, we saw manufactured wood (primarily particleboard and MDF) catch up with metal rods, hangers, and shelves as the most popular material for closet storage systems. Natural lumber, the more costly option, has a healthy 16% share. Page 2
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March THU Networking with a Swing 12 @ Top Golf in Chesterfield 11am - 4pm ( Party Buses will depart from St. Clair Square) April THU HBR Member Spring Social 02 May FRI 15 June FRI 12 Sport Clay Shoot 8 am Registration NILO Farms, Brighton Bury the Hatchett 2 pm - 5 pm The Axe Hole, Collinsville July FRI Annual Golf Tournament 17 10 am Registration Far Oaks Country Club Caseyville TUE Lunch with Mayor Speiser 28 11:30 am Registration Reifschneider’s Grill & Grape Freeburg September THU Power Women Luncheon 10 October THU HBR Member Fall Social 01 5 pm - 8 pm Silver Creek Saloon Belleville November THU Trivia Night 05 5 pm - 8:30 pm VFW, Collinsville December THU Christmas Party 10 5:30 pm - 9 pm Gateway Classic Cars O’Fallon 11:30 am followed by PWB Bowling & Go Kart Event 2 pm - 6 pm The Edge, Belleville 5 pm—8 pm Bella Vista Winery, Maryville NAHB Formally Challenges Some Recent Building Codes Vote Results NAHB sent a letter Feb. 14 to International Codes Council (ICC) President Dominic Sims urging the building codes body to carefully reevaluate the validity of many approved voting officials, to reject two specific proposals as not meeting the intent of the energy code, and to reform some of its voting processes while retroactively reconsidering proposals that should not have been on the final ballot. The results from the 2019 Online Governmental Consensus Vote, to determine 2021 building codes proposals, included several irregularities and discrepancies, specifically proposals for the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Some aggressive energy efficiency proposals that had been defeated at prior committee hearings and public comment hearings were approved in the online vote. When proposals are defeated at hearings, they must get a twothirds majority to overturn past results. It’s a bar so high, no previous proposal had ever met the threshold with the online vote. But in this code cycle, 20 IECC proposals cleared the hurdle and came back to life. NAHB is asking the ICC to set aside the results for these 20 proposals and to revise its code adoption process to clarify that the Public Comment Hearing results are considered the Final Action for proposals that were disapproved at both the Committee Action Hearings and the Public Comment Hearings. Two of the 20 proposals were also, in NAHB’s view, clearly outside the intent of the IECC. These proposals require the addition of electric vehicle charging outlets and the installation of electric outlets where gas appliances are installed that can be used for future electric appliance replacement. Neither proposal increases energy efficiency. NAHB is asking that they be rejected regardless of the outcome of the previous request. The 20 IECC proposals that were approved after being previously defeated appeared to have been overturned with significant support from hundreds of new voters in the online vote. And the new voters were added late in the code cycle. In 2019, only minor updates occurred to the ICC Member Directory after two deadlines on March 29 and Sept. 23. At some point between late October and Dec. 19, 2019, however, there was a major update that added roughly 209 newly validated Governmental Members to the roster, totaling about 1,345 new Voting Representatives. As a leading participant in crafting the I-Codes, NAHB and its members have a significant interest in retaining the rigor, credibility and legitimacy of the code development process in order to create building codes that are enforceable and provide safe, energy-efficient and affordable homes. The ICC must acknowledge the irregularities of the most recent online vote and take steps to remedy the results and ensure the validity of the process. For more information on the building code development process and builders’ role in it, visit the Code Development page on nahb.org or contact Craig Drumheller. Page 6 2020 Home Builders & Remodelers SOCIAL EVENT CALENDAR
NEW MEMBERS RENEWING MEMBERS Arrowhead Building Supply, Inc. - 13 years BlindQuest - 1 year Cardinal Door, Inc. - 2 years Helitech Waterproofing & Foundation Repair - 23 years Landscapes Unlimited - 7 years Mark’s Appliance - 2 years Providence Bank - 28 years Sherwin Williams Co. - 4 years Throm Construction Co., Inc. - 9 years US Bank - 2 years REMODELERS COUNCIL First Mid Bank & Trust PROFESSIONAL WOMEN IN BUILDING COUNCIL 1st National Bank of Waterloo Earthworks, Inc. (NEW x2) Benchmark Title Company Jacob Sunroom, Exteriors & Baths R.P. Lumber Company NEW MEMBERS Wade Weitlauf 215 S. Illinois Street Belleville, IL 62220 O: 618.233.6400 C: 618.520.7651 wade.weitlauf@bankofbelleville.com www.bankofbelleville.com Sal Easterly 13600 Shoreline Dr., Ste 100 Earth City, MO 63045 O: 800.642.2246 C: 314.255.5099 seasterly@hllmark.com Jason Enke 2425 S. Wabash Centralia, IL 62801 O: 618.532.5265 C: 618.367.2677 jason.enke@midambuilding.com www.midambuilding.com Butch Yeager 10887 N Service Rd Bourbon, MO 65441 O: 573-259-0900 myeager@movinyl.com www.movinyl.com Beth Zabala 110 Rottingham Court, Ste A Edwardsville, IL 62025 O: 618.977-4177 beth.zabala@peoplesnationalbank.com www.peoplesnationalbank.com Page 7
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by Brad Weisenstein, Editor Property taxes in Illinois are nearly double the national average. Until state lawmakers trim down thousands of local governments and pursue pension reform, those bills wills remain high. The average American family spends $2,375 on property taxes for their home, but the average Illinois family spends nearly double that amount. Illinois is again the second-highest state for property taxes, behind New Jersey, in a new survey by WalletHub. Illinois taxes average $4,705 on a $205,000 house, the national median. This is the third consecutive year the two states ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the property tax survey. Illinois’ median home value is less than the national median at $187,200, but taxes on that home still average $4,299, WalletHub reported. Illinois realizes it has a problem, and state lawmakers in the spring created the 88-member Illinois Property Tax Relief Task Force. It was charged with finding solutions by the end of 2019. So far, no official report has been released to the public. The group’s Republican members refused to sign off on a draft that mainly rehashed old ideas, said state Rep. Mike Murphy, R-Springfield, a member of the task force. He said substantive ideas were rejected, and the draft contained only vague suggestions. “There’s nothing in here that says ‘tomorrow we’re going to file legislation saying this,’” Murphy told The Center Square. He said he expects the task force would mainly be used as a way to push Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive income tax hike, which Pritzker in his Feb. 19 budget address said voters must pass in November or else he would cut $1.4 billion for schools and other state services from the 2021 budget. Proponents of the plan, which Pritzker calls the “fair tax,” claim higher income taxes can be used to reduce Illinois’ property taxes. But despite Illinoisans shouldering two of the largest income tax hikes in state history in the last decade, the state’s property taxes remain among the highest in the nation. ge 10
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6100 West Main Street Maryville, IL 62062 Phone: 618-343-6331 E-mail: tbutler@hbrmea.org Web: www.hbrmea.org
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