Real Estate Tax Bills Coming Monday

McHenry County Treasurer Glenda Miller mailed property tax bills on Friday. Since they didn’t come Saturday, I’m guessing they will arrive in most mailboxes Monday. McHenry County Blog will present some analysis, the first portion of which compares what categories … Continue reading

Rauner’s Real Estate Tax Freeze Proposal

It will be interesting to see how House Republicans who attacked State Rep. Jack Franks’ proposed “property tax freeze” will react when they discover that Govenror Bruce Rauner’s takes the same approach. (Read the language of Franks’ House Bill 695 … Continue reading

Conservation District Asking for Slightly Less

As I have been trying to get through to folks, something called the “tax extension” is what people (including reporters) should concentrate on. The extensions of all tax districts in McHenry County can be found on the McHenry County Clerk’s … Continue reading

Low Inflation to Rescue Property Taxpayers in 2016

Thanks to The First Electric Newspaper for reminding me that it is that time of year when financial officials at tax districts find out how much more tax money they will be able to get in 2016. They already know … Continue reading

Park District Real Estate Tax Comparisons

I know it is mid-summer and I forgot to show the comparisons between what McHenry County’s five park districts billed property taxpayers last year and this year. The word “extension” below is the amount that was billed taxpayers.  Because the … Continue reading

Comparing This Year’s Fire Protection Taxes with Last Year’s

Below the total tax requests from Fire Protection Districts in McHenry County for last year are compared to the ones which will be reflected in the real estate tax bills about to arrive in people’s mailboxes: The Barrington Countryside Fire … Continue reading

Most Township Boards Ask for Less or Same Amount of Taxes as Last Year

Townships are a much maligned form of local government. Today we show you how much McHenry County’s seventeen townships will extract from pocketbooks this year compared to last year. Extensions are the amount of taxes which are billed.  The tax … Continue reading

McHenry County Tax Take Up by 1.5% or $12 Million

Last year McHenry County real estate taxpayers were billed $797,419,250.88. This year the McHenry County Clerk’s Office has determined that bills amounting to $809,385,180.76 will be issued. That’s a dollar increase of $11,965,930, a percentage increase of 1.5%. The Property … Continue reading

It’s Tax Levy Time and the Taxpayers Are Hiding from and Being Left Out in the Cold

There are plenty of articles in the Northwest Herald about tax levies this time of year. Let me give a short course in how to report what’s going on. Headlines have read, “[X tax district] holds levy constant.” What does … Continue reading

County Government Aims to Capture New Growth

The inadequate language of the Property Tax Cap encourages tax districts to “balloon” levy. The Tax Cap, know as PTELL to the technocrats, has two parts. In the first, which is most widely known, tax districts like schools and county … Continue reading

Dave McSweeney Seeks to Force Flatlining of Township Taxes

State Rep. David McSweeney is proposing at amendment to Senate Bill 1937 that would prohibit township governments throughout Illinois from increasing the amount of money they extract from taxpayers’ pockets for the next two years. Unlike some legislators and local … Continue reading

The McHenry County Tax Districts That Made Good Faith Efforts Not to Raise Taxes As Much As Possible

This has been the week that tax information was posted on the McHenry County Clerk’s web site. Pretty much anything anyone would be interested is there, but to make it useful for comparison purposes requires quite a bit of work. … Continue reading

Grafton Township Trustees Forego Opporunity to Reverse 2013 Tax High

A press release from Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore: Grafton Trustees Tax to the Max At the January meeting of the Grafton Township Board, Supervisor Linda Moore proposed keeping taxes constant, but Trustees LaPorta, Murphy and Zirk refused to second … Continue reading

Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore Follows Algonquin Township Supervisor Dianne Klemm’s Example in Attempt to Lower 2013 Tax Bill

A press release from Linda Moore: Grafton Township Clerk Harriet Ford Fails to Include Supervisor’s Agenda Item to Propose Tax Cutting Resolution At the December meeting of the Grafton Township Board, Supervisor Linda Moore proposed keeping taxes constant, but Trustees … Continue reading

Lakewood Votes for Maximum Levy with Caveat

This is the season that taxpayers should be attending municipal meetings. It’s when village trustees, city councilmen and aldermen decide how much to raise your taxes next year. I almost added “if any” to the above sentence, but raising taxes … Continue reading