Tax Bills Are Coming
- on 04.29.06
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The Q & A below appeared in todays Daily Herald. It provides useful information about how tax bills work and why they continue to rise.
It is a reminder that tax bills are just around the corner. According to the Lake County Treasurer bills are due June 6th and Sept. 6th. Since bills in the past have arrived about 1 month in advance, I expect tax bills to be in your mailboxes around May 6th.
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8 things to know about tax bills By Lee Filas and Mick Zawislak The Lake County clerk’s office tax guru, Wayne Wasylko, answers questions that you may be asking after you receive your tax bill, scheduled to arrive the second week of May: Q. Why is my property tax bill higher than last year’s? A. There are two main reasons. First compare this year’s billable value on your tax bill to last year. If this has increased, then your taxes would increase, even if the rates stayed the same. The second possibility would be if there was a referendum to increase rates or sell bonds. Q. What factors go into determining a property tax bill? A. Each of the taxing districts shown on your bill files a budget and a tax levy (a request for real estate tax dollars) with the Lake County clerk’s office. From these requests, the various tax rates are calculated to be applied to the assessed value of your individual property. For example, the total tax rate of 8 percent times the value of $50,000 equals $4,000 in taxes. Q. Where are the highest and lowest tax rates in Lake County? A. Some of the highest tax rates are found in Zion (10.809 percent) and Waukegan (9.169 percent). There are “pockets†of high rates all through the county. It just depends on the combination of taxing districts that you pay to. The lowest rates are in Lake Forest (3.951 percent). Q. Where do my tax dollars go? A. Your tax dollars pay for the government services from those districts that appear on your tax bill. Q. If my house is new, when can I expect a tax bill? A. In general, taxes are based on what existed on the parcel of land as of Jan. 1 of any given year, but township assessors may determine a partial assessment for a home in the year construction begins. Q. What if I don’t pay or can’t afford to pay? A. Any portion of an unpaid tax bill will be sold at the annual tax sale held in December. At this sale, investors (tax buyers) will bid on the right to pay your taxes and impose a percentage penalty on you. This is a “bid down†auction with penalties beginning at 18 percent per six-month period, and can be bid down to zero percent per six-month period. The property owner has between two and three years to pay this, depending on the type of property, before they are in danger of losing ownership. Q. Is there anything I can do to lower my tax bill next year? A. The only part of the equation that you have any control over is the value of your property. If you feel that your property is over-assessed, especially in relation to similar properties in your neighborhood, you may file a complaint with the Lake County Board of Review to ask for a reduction in your assessed value. An appeal to affect the assessment for the current tax year shall be filed by Sept. 10 of each year or before 30 calendar days after the date of publication of the assessment changes for the township, whichever is later. Q. What are my chances of winning an appeal? A. There are no quantitative numbers as to how many people win an appeal. It is all dependent on the quality of evidence that you present, and that you make a valid argument. |
[...] If the money is not coming from a State Tax increase, then it will come from the local property tax owners. You think you pay a lot now in taxes, this is going to make that seem like chump change in a few years. Think about it that when you tax bills come this weekend. [...]