Our tax bill give us, to the dime, exactly where our money was going, and the City of Evanston doesn't get a very big cut. It also showed the increase for each taxing district, some of them just $10 or $12, not very much, but boy does it add up. The schools, and Cook County take the biggest haul.

Cook Country is where I'd start the budget chainsaw, but I only have one vote. I am shocked that when the high schools were ranked that ETHS was not very near the top of the list. On the other hand, being such a large school it has large populations of every kind of student who requires extra resources to educate.

I've noticed quite a lot of for sale signs still up, including the house at the end of our alley, across Asbury which has been brought back from the dead in order to put it on the market.

Ann, FYI. When we last visited about the sidewalks in front of the gas station at Asbury/Oakton, you said that they would be repaired when all the other walks were done around the city. It looks to me like that work has been completed, but the temporary patch remains.

re: /m17495
Ann, you are SO right on this one. I had to educate the township assessor on this one last year and ended up saving over $2,500 on my tax bill. However, you would think that the county would have sent me an application for this year. No such luck. Another hour in the Skokie office, but well worth it. The entire process at the counter was less than 5 minutes. I wonder how many people don't know this exemption exists.

Chris - as I said I received no form either and am curious about the woman Candace spoke of. The Long time occupant exemption is a secret and that is all there is to it. The relief is tremendous.

This flier has everything you need to know about parking etc. We are area 4. You do not have to move your car on dates when there is no cleaning - read this - make your lives easier. Print it out! http://www.cityofevanston.org/departments/...finalWebMarch25.pdf

Might be time to reread this great newslettere - the season is changing, refresh your memory!

What is the deadline for applying for the Long-time Occupant Homestead Exemption (LOHE)?

re: /m17499

I understand where the individual portions of the tax bill are going - what I don't understand is the discrepancy between taxes suddenly going up and taxing bodies saying they can't make their budgets. While it's likely some of it is being lost to corruption, it doesn't fully explain the relationship between income and out-go.

I agree, Cook County would be the first place I'd go looking. Second place would be non-academic-related programs at ETHS, which I don't think are corrupt but I don't think should be paid for by tax dollars.

Though, on a City tax question - does the City get a certain flat amount out of all the property taxes, or do they recieve a percentage?

As I was looking up this information, I noticed that the long-time homeowner's exemption is not listed on the menu of exemptions at all, on either the treasurer or the assessor's website. Interesting.

And now for something completely different... props to the Streets Department! Was just out with the boys while Streets was picking up the massive loads of street leaves. When I pointed out to an employee that some had been impacted yesterday into a street drain on the opposite side, he and the loader driver cleaned them out of the drain and loaded them into the truck. Not once did I get a "what a pain in the a** resident" look or anything. They were great about it and we residents appreciate it!

Michele -The total amount of the city's portion of the property tax levy is the amount needed to operate after other revenues (fees fines, sales taxes, water bills etc) are projected. The 2008 2009 amount is $38 million. Keep in mind, the cost to run the city is $219 million.

$38 million is then assessed to all Evanston property taxpayers based on the assessed value of their property.

No matter what the assessed values are – the city only gets the $38 million it levied. If the assessed values in the city go up a gazillion dollars or down a gazillion, the assessor can only assess Evanston taxpayers the $38 million. There is no windfall and no shortfall. The city gets no more or less money than it levies. Of course some don't pay but they are taxed. While some bills went up, plenty went down, believe it or not. All based on assessed value of the property and the various rates and equalization factors. Look at the right hand column of your 2008 2nd installment bill – you can see the formula used to calculate your share of the the tax from all taxing bodies. It is a good lesson to compare your bill with someone else.

I am setting up a board for tax discussions because it is important to flush out issues and questions such as yours.

Don’t forget:
Participate in the community budget process – in person or on line
http://www.cityofevanston.org/budget/

Everything you could ever want to know about the budget is on line.
 


Just for the record let’s say your tax for this 2nd installment is $2900, 19.7% of that bill is collected by the City of Evanston or about $571. The rest goes to the other 13 taxing units. The assessed value
of your home is the basis for the share of taxes you pay.

Mindy - if you want the exemption to apply to this bill - run to the skokie court house and it will apply to this installment. You will be sent a new tax bill prior to the payment due date.

squirrel "carving" our pumpkin

fabulous, Kristin. Made my day.

We received the 10-year owner exemption form earlier this year. Had no idea what it was - initially thought it was the kind of scam mortgage lenders send out. Checked thoroughly. Legit. Sent in and it did appear on the property tax statement. I was under the impression that, like a homeowners exemption, it was automatically applied every year until you moved, and did not require annual re-application. If nobody knows for sure, I can check with the County assessor's office. Definitely a plus for many of us in the 8th, since a lot of people here live in their homes 10-years and longer.

Must apply every year

That ad blasting St. Francis hospital is from AFSCME, which I believe is the same union representing city workers.

Any thoughts?

Edited by author 11-05-2009 10:22 PM
Makes me rethink the value of going to privatized garbage collection.

These AFSME creeps are really behaving like thugs only thugs with union dues to waste on high priced TV ads.

Don't know why anyone at city hall would want to be associated with those ads. I blame every member. Shame on AFSME and Shame on Jan for supporting them.