Kendall County Property Tax Revolt - A New Beginning

A big thank you to over 300 taxpayers who came out to the Property Tax Revolt Day gathering! Judie & Don Burks and I were not sure what to expect but the crowd was overwhelming! Thank you all! We enjoyed the frank discussions with everyone and heard too many stories of people who were leaving the area unable to pay the ever-increasing property tax bill. There were many older taxpayers living on fixed incomes but there were plenty of younger taxpayers who were actually looking at their tax bills. There was plenty of pain to go around.

Most asked what they could do. First step is to prepare for your appeal now. Don’t wait for the assessment to come in the mail. You have nice weather and plenty of time to find comparable properties or hire an appraiser. From what I heard time and time again yesterday was, “Don’t stop with the Board of Review. Take it to PTAB/the State.” Many, many times people were refused by the BOR only to win at the state level. The government doesn’t make it easy for you and they never will. Many people told us of states like Washington, Florida, Missouri, and Arizona whose property taxes for a $200,000-$300,000 home would be less than $2,000. Some as low as $1,000 for the same home in Kendall County whose taxes are $5,000-$12,000. Too many people think we can’t lower the taxes but look at just a few states who have found a way. Their schools, counties, and cities are flourishing with foreclosures galore. The question we need to ask is how come they can but we can’t?

The next step for our group is to organize and begin the research and rallies. They haven’t seen the end of us – only the beginning. I am setting up the email list right now and am asking any others who would like to be kept informed and/or to join the group to send me an email at: kendallcounty@gmail.com. If you have any expertise at all, we welcome it. Watch your email for an announcement soon. The subject line will be “tax protest.” I will attach the flyers and handouts from yesterday to everyone. Many wanted copies of the information.

We are a very diverse group from all over the county whose needs vary greatly due to school referendums, park districts, bonds, and much more but we are all in the same boat. We must put each group together to fight the battles in their own backyards. We are fighting different battles but we are all in the same war to be taxed fairly and cut the unnecessary spending. The war has just begun to hold people accountable, lower our tax bill, so we can all stay in our homes. Join us and help to find solutions.

Two links to stories on Patch and the Beacon-News:

http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/12866867-417/hundreds-join-kendall-tax-protest.html