“Lower Property Tax Assessments Could Bring a Hike in The Property Tax Rate for Local Homeowners” plus 1 more

Lower Property Tax Assessments Could Bring a Hike in The Property Tax Rate for Local Homeowners

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 04:36 PM PDT

ROCKFORD(WIFR)--Beth Halfman is feeling the strain of high property taxes despite a steep decline in the value of her home.

"You try to do what you can to make end meet."

The Rockford township resident was one of the first in line at the Winnebago County Assessor's Office this morning, anxious to get her hand on a complaint form to cut her tax bill after receiving her 2010 property tax assessment.

" Our taxes were assessed $2000 less for next year, but we think it is going to go down even more if we can justify the houses were cheaper in our area."

"Assessment notices were sent to taxpayers who experienced a change with the Township Assessor, meaning the Township Assessor re-valued their property from 2009."

" 29,000 Winnebago County residents will soon be receiving their 2010 property tax bills in the mail. But it might deliver a surprise. Many of your bills will be lower this year, versus last year, due to a lower equalization factor."

"Property assessments in Illinois, by law, is one third, so if they take their assessment and multiply it by three, that is the value the assessor has placed on their home."

Campion is gearing up for a rush of complaints well ahead of the September 10th deadline. She expects the number of appeals this year to mirror last years record.

" We had 5145 complaints of those 80 percent were able to get a reduction."

But with many local communities grappling with a decline in funding, closing this revenue gap could mean bumping up property tax rates.

Latest Comments

Posted by: turbo Location: illinois on Aug 7, 2010 at 06:17 AM

BS get us our jobs back from China and Mexico and we wouldnt have tax problems from lack of revenue

Posted by: Nancy Location: Roscoe on Aug 7, 2010 at 12:14 AM

So they are going to get you one way or another.

Posted by: Terry Location: rockford on Aug 6, 2010 at 11:01 PM

lower then raise..what a scam there playing with our money. They are robbing the working class in this area..Alot of people in this area won't even get a pension..and yet we have to pay the city workers pension..Town is not worth living In

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No Property Tax Hike in Dallas Budget

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 05:26 PM PDT

Dallas property owners avoided a tax rate hike in the proposed $2.7 billion city budget released late Monday.

Higher than expected property values reported in July helped avoid the rate hike City Manager Mary Suhm expected to recommend when she first confronted a $130 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year.

"The really good thing for us is that the property base did not go down as much as we thought it was going to go," she said. "That was about $20 million. That was a huge help, and I think the budget would have looked a lot different if we had had to find that $20 million."

Her proposal still calls for deep spending cuts, including 450 employee layoffs, unpaid furlough days for all employees, wage reductions for civilian workers and service cuts.

Dallas Budget Shows More Layoffs To Come

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Dallas Budget Shows More Layoffs To Come

Parks, recreation centers and libraries will again face reductions, and past cuts to street maintenance and other city services will not be restored.

Suhm said city services should not remain at this level in the future.

"I'm happy that we've been able to maintain them where they are, but ultimately, I don't think they should stay there for a long time," she said.

Suhm said her budget is intended to position the city for a rebound when revenues improve.

"We're immensely competitive when you look at us nationally," she said. "We're not having the economic challenges that other cities do. We're growing."

Mayor Tom Leppert said a tax increase would threaten that competitive position.

"If we can grow the economy, that's going to address the issues," he said. "That's going to provide more resources. Increasing taxes doesn't help the people we have today, and it sure doesn't encourage more people and businesses to move to our city."

But several City Council members say cuts have been too severe and a small tax rate hike is needed.

"You look at our curb appeal, and you see high weeds," Councilman Tennell Atkins said. "Would you invest in the city that's not got a great curb appeal?"

Atkins said voters were warned that a tax rate increase would be needed to pay for the bond issue approved in 2006.

"And we have not done that, so therefore, we are suffering with customer service," he said. "We've got all these layoffs."

Final budget decisions will come in September.

Before then, a series of community meetings will be held to take public input on the spending plan. The plan will also be discussed at Monday's City Council meeting.

Click here to see the schedule.

First Published: Aug 6, 2010 7:07 PM CDT

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Property Tax

Saturday, August 7, 2010