Monday, March 4, 2013
Do you know what the current assessment on your home and how it will change?
What is your current assessment amount? Will it change? In Calendar Year 2013, all of the property north of North Avenue but excluding the city of Chicago (ie: northwest suburbs) will be re-assessed. The re-assessed values will be your property’s value for property tax purposes for the next three (3) years. There are 13 townships in the northwest suburbs to which this applies; namely, Barrington, Elk Grove Village, Evanston, Hanover, Leyden, New Trier, Niles, Northfield, Norwood Park, Maine, Palatine, Schaumburg, and Wheeling. You will receive the proposed 2013 Re-Assessed Values in the mail. Property owners have only 30 days to file an assessment appeal with the assessor’s office once the notice is mailed. Property owners in the …
Monday, December 3, 2012
The Niles Township High School District will not seek an increase in its property tax levy; that means its portion of your property tax bill should not go up.
Taxpayers in Niles Township High School District 219 can breathe a sigh of relief. The district intends to request no increase in property taxes next year, according to school board president Robert Silverman. Silverman brought up the issue of the tax levy – conspicuous by its absence on the agenda – at the Nov. 26 school board meeting. “One of the things that’s missing is our annual levy request,” Silverman said. “The law requires us to publish if we’re seeking more than a 5 percent increase. It is not our intent to seek a levy increase of more than 5 percent; in fact, our intent is not to seek an increase at all. It is to freeze our tax extensions.” Earlier: Tax complaints lead to police presence at meeting The move is unusual for …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The board approved the teachers' contract, which gives average 3.6% raises over four years, but some trustees said that was too much during a recession. Also, one pointed to $14 million in immediate building needs for mold control, etc.
The Park Ridge-Niles Elementary District 64 school board voted 5-2 Monday to approve a four-year contract that will give teachers an average 3.6 percent raise each year. The contract includes a 2 percent base increase for each year, plus increases for experience and added education that average out to 1.6 percent each year. Supporters of the contract say that it will give the district financial stability and that the district can live with the costs, keeping a projected fund balance of at least four months’ worth of expenses in the bank beyond 2017. The teacher union, the Park Ridge Education Association, voted to approve the contract Sept. 18. Earlier: District 64 annnounces contract deal In addition to the salary provisions, the …
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Resident to school board: "I am not a terrorist. You guys are over sensitive."
Residents were greeted by uniformed Skokie officers carrying metal-detecting wands prior to entering District 219's board meeting on Monday night. Attendees were also subjected to a bag search. “District 219 received a threat of violence in connection with tonight’s meeting,” District 219 board president Robert Silverman said prior to the meeting. “In response and in consultation with the Skokie Police Department we put in place some extra security just as we do in our schools.” The threat was received after property tax bills were sent out last week. While the amount of property tax revenue the district is receiving this year is set to grow by 3.13 percent, some homeowners saw the amount they are paying to the district jump by 13 percent…
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Efforts could save the district “hundreds of thousands” of dollars
The Niles Township High School District 219 school board agreed Monday night to continue working with other school districts and other taxing bodies in Niles Township to fight efforts from property owners to get refunds on their property taxes. The school board agreed to authorize the law firm Franczek Radelet P.C. to act on behalf of the Niles Township Property Tax Appeals Cooperative in challenging appeals filed for assessment years 2010-11 before the Cook County Board of Review, and to pay the cooperative more than $35,000 for work done on behalf of the district so far. That includes fighting property tax appeals filed by dozens of property owners. While some are individual homeowners, most are commercial properties, and several would …
Monday, January 9, 2012
Patch catches up with the Cook County Board of Review Commissioner before he hosts a seminar in Northfield Township next week.
Do all those property tax numbers make your eyes squint? If you're looking for some clarity, you're in luck. Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Dan Patlak will host a property tax seminar in Northfield Township on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The event is at 7 p.m. at the Bernard Weinger Jewish Community Center, 300 Revere Dr. in Northbrook. Patch talked with Patlak to learn more about the seminars. Related: Understanding Your Cook County Property Taxes Patch: Why is it important for residents to attend the property tax seminars? Patlak: No one should pay more than their fair share of taxes. Therefore, any property owner who believes they may be overassessed owes it to themselves to attend a Board of Review Assessment Appeal Seminar to find …
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
That's the deadline for Maine Township properties.
If you live in Maine Township, Wednesday is the last day you can take action to possibly lower your Fall 2012 property taxes. If you miss it, you can file a property tax appeal next spring, but that would affect your Fall 2013 property taxes. To file a property tax appeal in time for this week's deadline, you can go in person to the Cook County Board of Review offices in Skokie or Rolling Meadows, file online or send a form postmarked by Wednesday, Nov. 16. Earlier: Property tax expert gives tips on how to win appeals You can also visit the Maine Township Assessor's office at 1700 Ballard Road, Park Ridge, and they will assist you in filling out forms. However, it is now too late to file your appeal with them. "We had lines out the door …
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Andrea Raila tells you exactly what to enter on the Cook County Assessor's website.
Property tax bills arrived in mailboxes last Monday, and on Wednesday night, homeowners--about 60 in all- filled the Niles Public Library's meeting room to hear a consultant tell them how to lower the amount they have to pay. Andrea Raila of Andrea A. Raila and Associates started by outlining four premises on which to file an appeal to lower what you owe: Raila has more information on her website, and occasionally gives free public workshops on lowering property taxes.
Monday, June 13, 2011
City responds to Patch article by analyzing, discovering it wasn't apples to apples comparison.
Last month, Niles Patch and other Patch sites posted an article, "Which Town's Residents Pay Most in Taxes and Fees?" The article, which found Niles residents pay among the lowest in neighboring suburbs for property taxes and fees for water, sewer, etc., was based on information provided by the city of Park Ridge. It released an annual ranking of what residents of 13 nearby towns pay annually for their municipal services. "By considering all the monies residents pay, including property taxes and fees, it attempts to create an apples-to-apples comparison and determine who gets hit hardest in the pocketbook," read the original article. But Evanston authorities point out that it wasn't an apples to apples comparison, because Evanston's taxes …
Friday, May 13, 2011
Down the road, Niles residents enjoy the lightest levy load of the 14 communities in annual report.
Morton Grove residents are the most heavily taxed in the northern Chicago suburbs again this year, according to a recently survey, while their neighbors in Niles enjoy the lowest tax burden. The average Morton Grove household will pay $1,719.89 this year--the most among 14 communities surveyed by the City of Park Ridge--in property and other taxes as well as fees. Morton Grove also topped last year's survey, which took into account such costs as trash pickup, auto licenses and water and sewer fees. A news report yesterday erroneously said Morton Grove did not participate in the annual survey, but the information was based on an early version of the report. Morton Grove was late getting its information in and eventually was included. Having…
JAMES CHWALISZ
5:30 pm on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Thank You Mr. Jarratt for providing the sample salary figures for non-administrative positions. Add these figures to the outlandish salaries of administrators and you can see that our schools are in financial trouble or should I say our tax-payers are in financial trouble. Why do we need more than one administrative superintendant for each high school, junior high or grammar school? And what are … more ›