The organizers of a against high property taxes in Yorkville in May are hoping to repeat that success in Oswego today.
The second Kendall County Property Tax Revolt, as organizers are calling it, is set for noon to 8 p.m. at . The Yorkville event drew more than 300 people, according to co-organizer Greg O’Neil, and the group hopes to see similar numbers in Oswego today.
The group includes Mark Johnson, who has been , and Don and Judie Burks.
The idea, O’Neil said, began as a way to educate people on how to challenge their property tax assessments. But it’s become a vehicle to express dissatisfaction with the property tax situation in Kendall County, and perhaps affect a change.
“People can’t afford the tax rate here,” O’Neil said. “Particularly people on a fixed income.”
According to a Tax Foundation report released in May, Kendall County ranks 26th out of 2,992 U.S. counties when it comes to high property tax rates. The county is also suffering from a high foreclosure rate – foreclosures are up 8 percent county-wide this year over the same time period last year, according to this Oswego Ledger-Sentinel story.
O’Neil believes county residents are being taxed out of their homes, and he’d like to see something done about it. The group has launched an online petition to have the taxes returned to 2008 levels, or county spending cut by 20 percent. That petition had 38 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.
“Do I think they’ll do it? No,” O’Neil said. “But it’s a starting point for a discussion.”
The lion’s share of homeowners’ property taxes go to the school districts, which O’Neil understands. He said there must be a better way of operating schools, and suggested using the buildings year-round for a start. But he also said the funding mechanism for schools needs to be overhauled, instead of continuing to raise taxes.
Today’s rally will include information on appealing a property tax assessment, but it’s also designed to send a message.
“I think people understand that we can’t continue down this path,” he said. “We can’t run a community into the ground by unlimited spending.”
Today’s Kendall County Property Tax Revolt runs from noon to 8 p.m. at Hudson Crossing Park, 65 N. Harrison St. in Oswego.
1. If you purchased a home in an area affected by an SSA you are paying for it through your taxes and should have been aware when you purchased your home. Your taxes to pay back the SSA will not go down. 2. If you get a senior (or other type of) exemption, your tax rates are not anywhere near the rest of ours and not the 2.03% quoted by the tax foundation. 3. Our leadership salaries are excessively bloated which is the main reason our taxes are so high (and I don't care about the "well they get it in such and such town so why shouldn't I" argument. If they are serving for the money and benefits alone they don't get it.) Go after the high pay of administrators specifically or they will only further cut the pay of the rank and file or cut back on items such as road repair services, clean up and replacing good teachers with cheaper ones while padding their own salaries as rewards for the "savings" thus saving us nothing and degrading our services in general. Since we are always going to be taxed, let's make sure we get our money's worth. 3. Make sure that they don't cut back on those things that are important to the growth of our community. We have excellent park districts, libraries and a potentially great school system. These things attract people to our community. Unjustifiably high taxes and overpaid administrators just tick people off and steer them away.
The previous system of "Spend,THEN tax" didn't work.Now we need to "Tax...then spend." to stay within the limits of existing finance.Raising taxes is no longer a viable option to cover escalating costs.Another topic discussed was the "Lump Sum" demand for property taxes.Currently, we can pay in 2 installments.However,miss the second installment or try to pay a portion with a promise to pay installments and your tax lien goes to auction immediately.No installment payments,no partial payments accepted,its all or nothing or it gets auctioned to the "tax lien vultures".They get the property for the amount of taxes owed if the lien is not paid...with high interest. Basically,I pay the back taxes owed on a $200,000 property for $18,000.I charge 20-25%annual interest on that amount.You pay me or I get the property in 2 years. I sell it for half the market value and pocket the profit.Your property value goes down.
Strange, I seem to remember the majority of residents voting to do exactly that. They were warned, but I guess anything that involves 'math' or 'thinking long-term' is only for nerds. Enjoy your self-created hell.