Dear Craig,
Cook county residents started receiving their tax bills 2 days ago. Mine was 32% higher. This with the 7% cap (if there had been no cap then the bill would have been 105% higher so I guess we should be grateful).
Here’s a few questions: When was the last time any of us normal people got a 32% raise? When was the last time any of us taxpayers who work in industry received a 32% increase in our operating budgets? When was the last time a company filed financial statements and showed a 32% increase in expenses and lived to see their stock price go anywhere but down? When was the last time a company filed financial statements showing a 32% increase in revenues yet a net loss without shareholders screaming bloody murder?
In other words, Commissioner Toddy the Pimp is getting a whopping big raise from a whole lotta property taxpayers and he still can’t balance the %$#^ing (rhymes with “trucking”) budget!!?? And he still has a job?
Didn’t a couple of big swinging youknowwhat CEOs just get canned for increased expenses? Toddy couldn’t manage the mailroom at the GAP without hemorrhaging money.
To anyone who says “yeah, but your property has appreciated since the last assessment” I say to you: I will give you the amount of money in my bank account as a result of the increased value and you can try shopping at Dominick’s with it. If guvmt wants to tax my capital gains, fine. But as it stands guvmt is taxing non-existent gains on appreciation that may or may not ever be realized. You try selling a home in this market. Best as I can see only a small handful of properties are moving in RP. One multi-unit property north of Howard is under contract for approx. $629,000 yet it was appraised at $725,000. So much for those big gains.
We are all so screwed and yet the dumbasses just keep getting re-elected from the governor to the mayor, right down to our own goofball Joe Moore. Either a whole lotta voters are getting paid for votes or we’re all idiots.
One Screwed Taxpayer
15 comments:
tax assessment is pretty screwed up
out tax bill jumped
2.5 times what it was,
the last installment
was 2 something k
and this next installment
jumped to 7 something k
huh?
that would be 14k a year,
i dont believe that i live in highland park,
and or other high tax areas like wisconsin or minnesota,
we will consult a tax lawyer
you pay him one third
of what you save,
which is better than the alternative,
but makes you think that perhaps
the tax assessor and
tax lawyer are in cahoots,
and out assessment jumped for 20k
to 400k
now of this makes sense
because the property never even in recent times was worth that low,
and is worth more than 400k
their calculator is screwedup,
cuz we have a multiunit prop
and i know that condos are worth more than or are equal to 400k
arent being charged 14k in taxes,
i have seen that assessed value is never what it really should be,
and that the assessed taxes on that
are really messed up,
*our
*from
damn my typing
*none
All I have to say is this Don't blame me and my mom because mom voted for:
Anthony Peraica (Cook County Board President)
Dorothy Brown (Mayor)
Judy Baar Topinka (Governor)
It really doesn't serve as any surprise to me. Peopel are just used to voting for the person's party label and not what they stand for.
Jake you hit it on the head!
Perhaps if ONLY property owners were allowed to vote... things would shake out differently.
Just a thought.
If you think your property has "appreciated" since the last tax assessment, just try selling it for the value Crook County says it has appreciated to.
And more: Why should you pay more taxes just because your property has appreciated?
Think about it. As long as the gubm't is free to escalate the "rent" you must pay it in order to retain "ownership" of your own property, then there is no way you can be considered to be a true property owner. The principal benefit of ownership- being able to keep your monthly housing expense under control and eventually being able to remove it by paying off your loan- is rendered meaningless by constant re-assessments and tax increases.
It used to be, in Chicago and elsewhere, that your taxes stayed fairly level throughout your term of ownership, and only increased when you sold the place. Then, the new owner, who presumably paid way more than you did, say, 20 years previously, and who is presumably more affluent, will pick up the steeper tax bill that has been adjusted to reflect the current value of the place.
The ongoing re-assessments with corresponding steep hikes guarantee that you will NOT get the payoff from ownership that you struggled for 20, 30, 40 years for, and that, instead, you will be blasted out of your house and end up living in semi-slum housing, that will be all you can afford because rentals, too, will have been driven steeply northward by the demands of the local greedy pols.
We need a real, fierce, and widespread property tax revolt. We need for hundreds of thousands of enraged property owners to march on City Hall and SCREAM for a massive rollback.
We also need to scream for a rollback in unnecessary spending. Is there any city, county, state, or government and quasi-government payroll that isn't liberally stuffed with overpaid goldbricks who are there to supply a power base for somebody like the Toddler or the Mayor or some bureacratic chief? Seems to me that there are 5 unnecessary people for every necessary one in the managment ranks of our city, county, and state bureaucracies and agencies. Possibly large numbers of unnecessary rank-and-file as well, or at least some that are underutilized.
We can also demand that all TIFs be allowed to expire and that no new ones be generated, then go on to snuff out corporate welfare in all forms.
We might have to give up little city funded projects that are dear to us (take your pick), like more recreation funding and such, but it would be worth it to assure that all our citizens can continue to remain in the homes they bought and paid for without getting special breaks from the city.
North Coast said... >"more recreation funding and such"
Like this? Actual city pay-roller.
Special Events, Jumping Jack Program Aide - $18,720
Can you believe the city pays someone 18 grand a year to be a Jumping Jack aide?
This city spending is insane.
To Catherine on Eastlake,
If you think that ONLY property owners should be allowed to vote, try interviewing your neighbors on matters pertaining to local development (like the nearest TIF district) and other matters that effect our taxes.
Though I do not "own" property, I pay steep taxes through my rent, because my landlord is the owner of a 42 unit bldg(or two or three of them)and is taxed at a steeply higher rate than a SF home or small (less than 6 unit)apt building, while getting less service, in that he must engage a private trash hauler and has to pay a metered water bill- two things SF home owners get at flat rates.
He and other landlords I talk to tell me every single rent increase in the past 10 years has been driven by tax increases, and that the taxes on my building increased 100% a few years back, after several hundred thousand dollars had been spent making extremely necessary repairs to the place, which I am told was quite rundown when he bought it.
This is how landlords get rewarded for upgrading a building from a semi-slum into a fine rental.
I attended two meetings concerning the Loyola TIF and projects to be done with the TIF money, all funds that will be offset by higher taxes for property owners, and I'm appalled that so many property owners approve of the appropriation of public money for private purposes.
In fact, there has been NO significant outcry among city property owners against the monument building and other gross misappropriations of our money, and Daley continues to be a beloved figure in the Bungalow Belts of this city.
So much for property owners- they're as dumb and deluded as anyone else, so I don't think the results will be any different, especially if the property owners voting are major slumlords and owners of properties receiving millions of dollars in development grants.
From Mo Cahill...> "the idiots that put these clowns in office will never be able to comprehend what they have done."
Hey Mo, according to yourself, you're an idiot and will never comprehend what you've done.
Good. I wish the property tax as well as other taxes would increase 1000%! It seems that the voters in this city and county CONTINUALLY re-elect the corrupt politicians simply because they are Democrats. You voted for the Mayor, you voted for Todd even when it was obvious that he was un-qualified and was appointed to that spot to appease the minorities so now you live with it.You reap what you sow.
For what it's worth, my letter to the Alderman's office after I got our tax bill the other day...
Dear Alderman Moore,
We saw you on Chicago Tonight and received your email about the new tax proposals from Mayor Daley and the County.
We also just got our tax bill yesterday- it went up 25% from last year. We own a 2-flat that we live in and rent out one unit. We are already taking a loss on the property and this just adds to it.
In my opinion, raising property taxes more than what we have already experienced this year is unacceptable. 25% in a year and then more?
I want to see government trying not to waste and cutting the fat paychecks for administrators (and
family and friends) and then maybe another increase would be something that wouldn't make me sick to my stomach. I thought that public servants were here to
serve the public and not themselves.
Yet, again and again I see stories in the Trib about Todd Stroger and his friends and family getting cushy jobs and the Governor's wife getting real estate commissions from people who have state contracts. IT STINKS. And it looks BAD. I guess they don't care what
it looks like to us, the public. They take and take and then they wonder why the public doesn't seem to give a damn anymore.
Anyway, this is turning into a bit of a tirade, but if you and your office will challenge this type of thing, more power to you.
Business as usual stinks. That's how I and lots of people feel. Let's see some real effort to conserve and spend wisely before we raise property taxes again.
"Perhaps if ONLY property owners were allowed to vote... things would shake out differently."
What a fascinatingly pre-Revolutionary idea! Only landed gentry should be allowed access to the voting booths! Let the renters eat cake!
Yeesh. I guess Catherine just can't handle democracy.
To those that are simply not savvy about American History... Our Forefathers wanted to write into the Constitution that ONLY (White Males) Landowners should be able to vote. There were even those that wanted ONLY the Educated to have the ability to vote. Both of these issues i find very interesting given with what is happening today. Not that I agree with the White Male part... but find it unfortunate that so much of our tax system hinges on Land owners paying for most of the services non landowners reap. And lately it seems just downright unfair.
As far as rents go... i'm sure the market dictates what is appropriate and just for the area more so than what is based on taxes. Meaning i'm sure the Landlord is giving much more out of his profit to pay increased taxes, upkeep, utilities, etc.... than the renter gets hit with especially if there is a lease involved.
Keep in mind that these increases are based on reassessed property values that the Landowner will never see unless he sells.
I say lets readjust the tax system to a SALES TAX ONLY SYSTEM. I'd rather be taxed ONLY on what i spend. To me... it makes more sense.
Just some thoughts.
Less Government involvement and more subcontracting for all services.
"Government works less efficiently when it begins to grow out of control and takes on more and more of the responsibilities that belong to the citizens."
Jesse Ventura
hey craig, why not just flit around the web and create a blog out of snippets here and there that make sense to you and the voices in your head.
my comment was about the u.s. economy and the state of the dollar. NOT about the piddling increase in my property taxes, which is necessary to make up for the loss of federal support for programs that make sense. i am mostly happy to pay my taxes to the city and county. i am proud to be a tax payer, and could not hold my head up asking for services that i did not contribute to if i could.
all you who are whining might want to remember that your alderman did his best to stop the giant sucking sound that is your tax dollars being poured into the sand, (and the already deep pockets of *'s cronies)
what is the difference you might say? toddie stroger, pathetic as he may be, is not killing people in an illegal war.
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