WOODSTOCK – The McHenry County Board likely will carry its hefty subsidy of the McHenry County Economic Development Corp. into future years, to the dismay of those who annually question it.

Board members Tuesday voted, 19-5, to approve a contract that supplies about 45 percent of the EDC’s funding to advertise and grow the county’s economic and jobs base. The county will pay $166,000 in 2013, with the annual option to extend the contract at an increase of 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is smaller. The contract caps the county’s contribution so that it cannot exceed 45 percent of EDC funding.

A handful of opponents each year challenge why taxpayers pay almost half of EDC’s budget. Some want EDC functions done in house, while others, such as Randy Donley, R-Union, say the EDC, created in 1993, should be far more self-sufficient.