Generally, taxes do not go up because of increasing assessments and they will not go down with falling property values. On an individual basis, if the assessments in one area of the township go down and all the others go up, the declining area may see some relief in their taxes – the tax burden has been redistributed. And if one area of the market appreciates while most of the market is stagnant, the appreciating area may see taxes increase while the others stay the same – the tax burden has been redistributed. But, if assessments all decrease by a similar amount, say 10%, there will be absolutely no change in your tax bill - unless the levy changes.

 

LEVIES go up because local government spending goes up and taxes go up because LEVIES go up - even when assessments go down. Assessments and tax rates do not create the tax burden and they do not change the tax burden; they only distribute the tax burden that is created by the levies.

 

The services we want from our schools and local governmental bodies are not free; we pay for them with our property taxes. And when we see a downturn in the economy and housing market and find ourselves having to cut back in our own lives, we want our taxing bodies to do the same. It is up to each of us, as voters and taxpayers, to question how much money is needed by our taxing bodies to operate, because…

The only way to control taxes is to control local government spending.

 

 

THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME STATISTICS RELATED TO THE TAX BILL CHANGES FROM 2006 TO 2007

 

These changes occurred because of the general reassessment of Cuba Township properties.

 

There are 7,864 residential properties in Cuba Township

 

5,258 properties TAXES either WENT DOWN or STAYED THE SAME

 

1,554 properties went up between 2% and 20%

 

1,052 properties went up more than 20%

The properties that went up more than 20% were greatly under-assessed and needed to be increased so the tax burden would be equally distributed amongst all Cuba Township properties.  This was completed for the 2007 tax year.  This year there are a few neighborhoods that need to be ‘tweaked’ because of minor problems.

2008 Assessments

Because of Illinois Department of Revenue statutes, sales ratio studies are performed on all properties within a township.  The sales used are for the 3 years prior to the assessment year, in this case, 2005, 2006 and 2007.  Based on the sales in Cuba Township, I have been advised by the Lake County Chief Assessment Officer that if no changes are made in Cuba Township by the Assessor, all properties will have an additional 5.32% factor added to each.  As the Township Assessor, I have no control over this factor;  this figure is determined by the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Lake County Chief County Assessment Officer.  Hopefully with the few changes that need to be made in certain neighborhoods, this factor will go down.

 

The “blue assessment cards” will be mailed sometime in August.  If you feel your assessment is too high or incorrect, please call our office at (847) 381-1120 to make an appointment to discuss the issue.  You will need to visit the Lake County website of www.lakecountyil.gov to obtain comparative information for your appeal.  You have 30 days to appeal to Lake County Board of Review, but we try to take care of as many appeals as possible in our office so we can all avoid travel to Waukegan.  Please do not contact us about your assessment until you receive the “blue card” unless you can document a mistake that is reflected on your property record card.

 

I hope you all have a great spring and summer.

 

Sincerely,

 

Rebecca M. Tonigan, CIAO