Did you know that Kendall County is the 24th highest property taxed county (out of over 3000) in the nation? Did you know that most counties on the East Coast are lower than Kendall County? Did you know there isn't even one county in California that is higher than we are? If that doesn't frost your cookies - I'm not sure what will!
Illinois is the 7th highest property taxed state in the union and Kendall County is the 24th highest taxed county in the entire United States. (See this document on the Tax Foundation's website for county rankings based on a three-year average of owner-occupied housing taxes from 2007-2009. See this article on 24/7 Wall St. Wire for the state rankings.)
Can we stop this and reverse it? Make 2012 the year we begin! Let's begin educating taxpayers on property taxes.
Our first event is June 1, 2012 from 12:00 pm until 8:00 pm in . Join us for 15 minutes or for the entire day. We will be handing out information to help you prepare to protest your property taxes.
It is time you help yourself and your fellow neighbors fight to keep your hard-earned money. You are not alone. Together, we can reverse this trend.
Please "Don't shoot the messenger!!!" ; - )
• Schools are +60% of the property tax bill • Property taxes are paid in escrow so many taxpayers believe their mortgage and taxes are one and the same • The Assessor’s are to blame • The County is to blame • The cities are to blame • Property taxes are killing home sales • The real culprit here is the “Tax Levy” which forces the higher taxes • We have legal obligations to pay for school referendums and bond issues • We need economic development/new businesses to help offset higher property taxes • We can’t cut education • The high growth over the last 10 years is the reason for high taxes • The high rate of foreclosures is causing the higher taxes • My neighbor who protested his taxes and won is why I have to pay more • We need a comprehensive economic plan • Government pensions are to fault for high taxes • Government healthcare is to fault for high taxes • The size of government is the reason • High density and cheap housing is to blame • Property taxes are a 3-year average so high values take a few years to be reduced to actual. Who hasn’t heard this? Now the valuations are down but the taxes are up because there are less of us sharing the burden. Always another reason from our elected officials
• We have too many police and firemen now • The court house, police stations, fire houses, city halls all look like Taj Mahals. Is this excessive? • Do we really need all the SWAT & Homeland Security trucks and equipment? • The parks and bike paths are killing the taxpayers • Pay structure of public employees is the reason for high property taxes • Unions are the problem • Corporations are the problem • The welfare people are the problem • The rich people are the problem • The Democrats are the reason • The Republicans are the reason • The school board is the problem • A corrupt and inept system of government in Illinois
http://yorkville.patch.com/articles/district-115-school-board-reviews-surplus-budget Now they just negotiated to give it all away to the teachers union.
While I believe in our individual responsibility to make ourselves informed; I also see an issue regarding the failure of taxing bodies, especially those looking to sell bonds, to fully remind property owners that EVERY taxing body listed on their property tax bill is able to increase their levy by the statutory minimum. Another issue, the failure to thoroughly clarify and explain that even if the taxing body is subject to PTELL (commonly called the taxcap) money collected for SSAs and/or the repayment of bonds (debt service) are NOT “taxcapped” funds. So a larger district, such as U308 approves a budget, etc and later submits a levy in accordance with Truth in Taxation laws. A “levy” is their request for monies by fund, which were deemed necessary during the budget process, to maintain & operate the district. When these funds are added together the total increase is limited to the 5% or CPI, whichever is less. These are referred to as the capped funds.
The amount needed for the bond fund, an uncapped fund, is then computed and added to the total for the capped funds. This combined total is what creates the total rate & total extension amount for that district. Much to my surprise a few years ago voters in U308 voted in favor of placing a behemoth bond issue on the backs of property owners. The Administration and/or BOE had apparently advertised some non-binding promises about holding the overall tax rate at 5.06 by reducing the amount collected for bond payments and of course with the declining economy that had to fall to the wayside. For years I’ve suggested people consider bond issues with the same cautious attitude they would use if they were asked to approve a tax rate increase. The back-up plan for every type of bond I’ve seen is always the tax-payer. And for the record, guess who pays for bonds sold to develop TIF districts.
Thank you for the great insight on how PTELL actually works, you're right about the U308 promise to keep taxes at 5.06 being non-binding. They did not do it and offered no apology or explanation. Two years later and they are at 6.66 and heading for 10.00 even if we do not pass another bonding issue. This will create a mass exodus from Kendall county the like of which have never been seen anywhere in this country. Think your property values are down now, just wait and see what happens over the next few years. I predict the only solution will be to dissolve U308 entirely and default on the debt.
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Todd Barron 630-942-8100
Oswego Assessor, David Maher, also runs a private appraisal practice. I'll leave it up to you to determine whether or not he is running his business out of the Assessor's office. And if you had your house privately appraised by Mr. Maher in Kendall County then you have to question who is loyatly is to. If he finds out information about your house during a 'private' appraisal then does he get to change the data at the Assessor's office, or does he ignore it and rip off the taxpayers? Can't serve two masters. I'm extremely familiar with what is going on in Kendall County and the actual employees administering the process would be the best place to start investigating.
Help!!!
Mark