Property Tax Bill

[punkerjim]

Compared to the last three years, my property taxes are way down... the problem was, I never had the cook county homeowner's exemption figured in. I had always assumed it was for the elderly only but, nope it's for anyone.

Called up the assessor, had to fill out a single form three different times (one for each of the last three years) and they reviewed and sent me three seperate checks... probably a total of $6000 in overpayments.

if you live in cook county and don't have the homeowners exemption, call them up... unfortunately not all counties have such things.

other than that, property taxes may be higher because of those lovely things they slip in at the polls to increase taxes.... and, as previously stated, no one votes so these usually get approved and no one notices until the bills get sent out.

[vandre]

Originally Posted by tolovefromANFIELD

I am in Wheatland township, north Plainfield. I called up the township, and asked to speak to an assessor. The airhead on the other line said he wasn't there. So I proceeded to ask her when will the sale of my home be completed? Couple of seconds of silence. She says I have no idea what you are talking about. I said, you guys say my house is valued at this number, I am more than willing to take it, and was wondering when the township will buy my house. Crickets chirping........

Haha That's a good one... I should use it next time I inquire about our property taxes. We own a vacant lot in western Geneva (purchased late 2007). We have been trying to sell it for the past two years, current asking price is 55% less than what we paid for, yet according to the assessor the value of land in our subdivision has only decreased 2% since 2007... We would gladly take $98k from the township instead of $45k!

[Chris_H_2]

In Dupage County, is there a specific window of time during which you can formally appeal your tax bill? I just received mine 2 days ago, and it shows my taxes increasing by almost $700 per year, even though I just bought the house in January for $150,000 less than for which the previous owners bought it in 2009.

[linicx]

You must do these things.
1 - Go to your county courthouse and get the form(s) you need.
2 -Find out the earliest DATE when you can file an Appeal for tax reduction.
3. It must be your primary residence and you had to be permanetly domiciled at your primary residence for two consecutive years from January 1 - January 1 of the following year. It will not apply to a second home or property you rent.
4- Hire a state licensed Home Appraiser

Since you purchased the house at a lower cost, you must have a fresh Appraisal. In my county the Appraisal cannot be more than 90 days old when the Appeal is filed. If it is one day too old the Appraisal you paid for will be ignored. Get two copies.

To qualify for an exemption - which is not the same as a tax appeal - your income must be limited

There is al military, active and retired, exemption. There is also a medical exemption and senior exemptions. Each one has a different set of rules to follow to qualify..

Originally Posted by Chris_H_2

In Dupage County, is there a specific window of time during which you can formally appeal your tax bill? I just received mine 2 days ago, and it shows my taxes increasing by almost $700 per year, even though I just bought the house in January for $150,000 less than for which the previous owners bought it in 2009.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by linicx

You must do these things.
1 - Go to your county courthouse and get the form(s) you need.
2 -Find out the earliest DATE when you can file an Appeal for tax reduction.
3. It must be your primary residence and you had to be permanetly domiciled at your primary residence for two consecutive years from January 1 - January 1 of the following year. It will not apply to a second home or property you rent.
4- Hire a state licensed Home Appraiser

Since you purchased the house at a lower cost, you must have a fresh Appraisal. In my county the Appraisal cannot be more than 90 days old when the Appeal is filed. If it is one day too old the Appraisal you paid for will be ignored. Get two copies.

To qualify for an exemption - which is not the same as a tax appeal - your income must be limited

There is al military, active and retired, exemption. There is also a medical exemption and senior exemptions. Each one has a different set of rules to follow to qualify..

It may differ county to county. In Wheeling Township you can start the process at their office instead of having to schlep downtown to the county building.
It is a system rigged against the taxpayer; meaning they can do some cuts but at a certain point there is no more to cut from the budget without drastically affecting needed services. So they play the game of lowering values and increasing rates,especially if your municipality relies heavily on residential property for property tax revenue.
The real answer lies in reforms in pensions and public worker health care contributions (pay more out of pocket like 90% of the general public does) and the involvement in local government to object to unwise spending and salary contracts. This means going to school board meetings and village trustee meetings to ask questions and object when you feel something is wrong. Then if they do not listen, vote them out. Problem is many of us like to complain but do not have the will and/or time to get involved.

[Sampson415]

I just bought my house last year in cook county. Before I bought the property, the taxes have been going up more than 10% each year. My first full year bill was 12.4% higher, which is outrageous! I know it's only going to get worse because 1) I'm losing the previous owner's senior exemption this year and 2) the 7% expanded homeowners exemption will "reset" next year (because of the sale of the house) causing my exemption to drop from 20k to 6k, which will be about a $1000 increase in my tax bill or 30% increase in my tax bill. And that doesn't include any of the increases the school districts are asking for. Cook county drives me nuts, everything is so complicated.

[cohdane]

"December 27, 1933

Illinois Property Tax Dropped for Sales Levy

Springfield, Ill., Dec. 27-- (AP)
Illinois today abolished its state tax on property, which last year was 50 cents on each $100 of assessed valuation. Revenues from property will be replaced next year by the two percent retail sales tax.

The decision was announced by the board, consisting of Governor Henry Horner, State Treasurer J. C. Martin and State Auditor Edward J. Barrett, at its annual meeting. A year ago the levy board increased the state tax from 35 to 50 cents on each $100 in assessed property valuation.

Thus Illinois for the first time in 115 years has been able to relieve real estate and personal property of the state tax, said Governor Horner.

The elimination of the state tax lifts a burden of approximately $35,000,000 from the taxpayers in 1934."


So during the last Great Depression, the state was trying to reduce the burden on hard hit taxpayers. Contrast that to 2011: They raise the income tax, raise the property tax, raise taxes on corporations (and then give them massive incentives to stay in state) AND-- the kicker-- fail to pay our tax money back to our towns to cover municipal bills and threaten to withhold even more of our tax dollars from our own streets and schools:

Quinn wants to withhold cities' money as pressure to borrow billions - Chicago Tribune

How times have changed.