Friday, January 6, 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 …
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
The $92.6 million spending plan will be the focus of a public hearing in August.
The New Trier Township High School District 203 on Monday night approved a tentative 2011-2012 budget, which calls for spending about 3 percent more than last year. The $92.6 million spending plan is available for review and will be the topic of an Aug. 22 public hearing. The school board is scheduled to vote on a final budget that puts revenue at $92.7 million after that meeting. Read more: Patch's coverage of New Trier Township High School District 203 While the tentative spending plan shows revenue outstripping spending by $124,000, it includes a contingency fund of more than $565,000 that is available for emergencies, said Donald Goers, the district's associate superintendent. It also differs from the preliminary budget presented to …
Friday, April 1, 2011
Tucked away on the sixth floor of the Cook County building, the county's Board of Review office is a place most people don't know about until compelled by the appeal process.
Click through the photos above for an inside glimpse into the world of property taxes at the Cook County Board of Review. This additional office is unique to Cook County's property tax system in the state of Illinois. Created as an extra layer of appeals for the property taxpayer, the board is comprised of three elected commissioners and their staff. One commissioner, Daniel Patlak, took some time to give Patch a personal tour for our property tax series, "Making Sense of Your Property Tax."
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
In Day Three of our series, Patch explains the reasons why you may be paying more than your neighbor in residential property tax.
Scott Bagnall, a township assessor and attorney, is good at listening. It’s his job at the Niles Township Tax Assessor’s Office, one of the 30 such offices around Cook County. For instance, he listened intently when a resident came into his office a few years ago wondering why he was paying 27 percent more on his home property taxes than his neighbor was on a similar house three doors down on Jarvis Avenue in Lincolnwood. Both homes were assessed at similar values of $124,000 and $127,000, yet the man in Bagnall’s office was looking at an extra $1,200 in taxes. Bagnall’s answer: It came down to exemptions. The neighbor had applied for and received an exemption for Cook County residents who have occupied their homes for 10 continual years. …
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
In Day Two, Patch unpacks the impacts of the classified tax system on businesses, through the lens of one business owner.
Joel Byron, 51, was hunched over tiny numbers in the back office of his business property, a one-window storefront in the northwest suburbs. Surrounded by stacks of papers, the small business owner thumbed his way through records of correspondence with the Cook County Tax Assessor’s Office like pages in a family photo album. “Here’s a letter from October,” he said. “Oh, wait! Here’s the one from November. … This one is mine again. … And here’s the follow-up response two weeks later.” To small business owners like Byron, the amount they owe in property taxes each year is not just one more line item in their operating budget. Due to the complex tiered system unique to Cook County, it can single-handedly cripple them. Part of the reason is …
Dan
5:38 pm on Saturday, January 7, 2012
After having worked as a property assessment analyst for eight years under Commissioner Maureen Murphy, and being the Wheeling Township Assessor for about 5 years, it is reassuring to know that we have a very qualified Commissioner representing the 1st District to the Board of Review. Thank you for looking out for homeowners through these seminars and making every effort to be transparent! Keep … more ›