What the.....?? I thought the 2nd installment in '09 was a questionable jump. OUCH!
Riverside Info » About Riverside
First Installment of Taxes
(6 posts)-
Posted Monday Jan 25, 2010 11:18 #
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More info? I am sooo not looking forward to this bill. Did you see news or did you get yours already?
I did hear last week that Chicago property owners were looking at a big increase. I hadn't heard anything about us though.
Posted Monday Jan 25, 2010 12:52 # -
Got mine in the mail today - up another 12% from the one in the Fall (which was up big). What bothers me is that I got a HELOC 3 years ago with an AVM value that I considered accurate. Last Fall I got a letter from the bank saying the AVM on my property had now decreased almost 40%. But in that time my taxes have gone up almost 40%. I know taxes aren't calculauted on market value, but it's so skewed now it's ridiculous.
Posted Monday Jan 25, 2010 15:13 # -
PAR4 - in your calculation did you take into account that the first installment is 55% of last year's total, not the usual 50%. I nearly choked when I opened mine, too. The 5% difference doesn't completely soften the blow, but....
Posted Monday Jan 25, 2010 16:30 # -
Oh yeah, they were going to make the first installment 55% of the annual (by some new law) and I also heard that the 2nd installment might actually be up to a YEAR away. Seems like we just paid the 2nd installment from LAST year, and now already 1st installment? Ugh.
Posted Monday Jan 25, 2010 19:35 # -
Fran Sitkiewicz, Riverside Township Assessor sent me this press release about the 1st installment of the 2010 Cook County taxes:
You can download the whole thing here:
http://chrishajer.com/bbpress/2010-taxes.pdfHIGHER FIRST INSTALLMENT TAX BILLS MAILED
Contact: Fran Sitkiewicz, Riverside Township Assessor
First Installment Bills at 55% of Prior Year’s Taxes
The higher first installment bills, coming on the heels of the last set of tax bills that were due less than two months ago, will no doubt cause hardship for some taxpayers. But Fran Sitkiewicz, Riverside Township Assessor notes that the change in the formula for determining first installment bills will not change the overall annual level of taxation. “The first installment is just an estimate of the annual tax bill for each property. The final tax due will not be determined until the second installment payment is calculated. At the time the final tax due is determined, the amount paid at the first installment will be subtracted from the final amount that is due,” Fran Sitkiewicz said.
The legislature changed the formula for first installment tax bills for two main reasons. First, in recent years the mailing date of the second installment tax bills has been late, with due dates often occurring very late in the year. Since property tax revenue forms a substantial portion of the operating revenue for schools and other taxing districts, the delay in receiving bills was causing hardship for the districts such that some districts had to borrow money to fund their operations while waiting for tax revenue to arrive. By providing more money to taxing districts at the first installment, the need to borrow if second installment bills are late will be reduced.
The second major reason for the change is to bring first and second installment tax payments into better balance. Property taxes are based on the tax levies of local taxing districts, which typically increase by the rate of inflation every year. Charging taxpayers 50% of the prior year’s tax bill on the first installment virtually guaranteed that the second installment bill would be higher than the first, as the levy increases would not be reflected on bills until the second installment. Under the new rules, the difference between first and second installment bills is likely to be smaller.
Details about Paying Taxes
The first installment bills will be due on March 2. If money for property taxes is paid into an escrow account with a taxpayer’s mortgage company, the financial institution should receive the tax bill electronically, even if the taxpayer also receives a copy of the bill. Fran Sitkiewicz, Riverside Township Assessor advises taxpayers with property tax escrows held by their mortgage companies not to pay property taxes on their own. If they do, an overpayment of property taxes will likely ensue.
Property owners who do not have mortgage companies paying their taxes can make tax payments in person, by mail, or on-line at the Cook County Treasurer’s web site, www.cookcountytreasurer.com. In-person payments are accepted at the Cook County Treasurer’s downtown office at 118 N. Clark Street and at any Chase Bank in the Chicago area.Taxpayers should note that first installment tax bills will not reflect homeowner, senior citizen or other exemptions, nor will they reflect successful assessment appeals that were filed in calendar year 2009. “The first installment is just an estimate based on what was paid last year,” Fran Sitkiewicz explained. “When the second installment bill is mailed in the fall, it will reflect all exemptions for which the property is eligible as well any savings due to successful 2009 tax appeals.”
Release date: January 26, 2010
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Posted Tuesday Jan 26, 2010 15:15 #
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