Want to Appeal Your Property Taxes? Attend This Free Seminar
Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (13th District), Board of Review Commissioner Michael Cabonargi and Evanston Township Assessor Bonnie Wilson host a property tax seminar Aug. 30.
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Monday, August 27, 2012
Thursday, July 21, 2011
‘Autonomous’ Library Board Still Reliant on City
Though the Evanston Public Library is legally autonomous, it will be financially reliant on the City of Evanston for the near future. Can the library board operate successfully with such contingencies and will it ever become wholly self reliant?
It has been almost a year since the Evanston Public Library Board of Trustees voted to become an autonomous governing body by adopting a library fund model, but only in the past few months has the board been forced to take up the new responsibilities that accompany their decision. For the first time ever, the board will have the ability to determine how much funding the library gets in the coming year by levying a tax as a percentage of the money the city receives from property taxes. While this seems like an ideal mechanism to alleviate recent financial concerns and even expand neighborhood services, the transition to the new funding model burdens the board with a new set of considerations, including defining its relationship with the …
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Saturday, June 11, 2011
City Responds: Which Towns Pay Most in Taxes and Fees?
A new chart from the city tells a different story.
Last month, a few Patch sites posted an article, "Which Town's Residents Pay Most in Taxes and Fees?" The article was based on information provided by the city of Park Ridge, which 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 include funding for the library and park district, while residents of other municipalities pay additional taxes to separate library, parks…
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Richard Schulte
2:57 pm on Sunday, June 19, 2011
The law of unintended consequences always applies. Chicago raised the parking fee at the Monroe Street garage from $12 to $16 some time ago. Now I don't go to downtown Chicago anymore. So instead of making $12 from me each time I go downtown, Chicago makes $0 from me. Not only does Chicago not make any money from me, neither do the merchants downtown. Hence, not only did Chicago lose my parking … more ›
Lori Keenan
4:23 pm on Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wow, Jordan, excellent reporting on a truly complex issue! Here's a question, though, in terms of real dollars to taxpayers, what would a 9% increase in the Library's portion of the budget really mean? That part isn't clear. In other words, on a hypothetical $5,000 tax bill, aren't we talking about less than $20? Personally I'd rather have my money go for things like the Library than buying … more ›