Thanks to Lobbyist John M. for getting us the final ballot issues that will appear on the November 6th ballot.

November 6th ballot issues final

Once again, we wanted to provide a service to Lake County taxpayers by providing the annual costs for each levy on the ballot, and the total annual costs for each taxing district.  Please remember that the $ amounts listed are for a home valued at $100,000.  If your home is valued at $300,000, you would have to multiply the reported numbers by 3 to determine your annual costs.

November 6 ballot issue costs per taxing district

November 6 Ballot Issues Total Annual Costs

A word of caution to all taxpayers.  We see a disturbing trend by the political sub-divisions regarding the length of time that a levy will be collected.  Many are now asking the taxpayers to vote for a Continuous Levy rather than the normal five year period.  It appears that lawyers that are on the respective Board of Trustees, or the advisers of the political sub-division are supporting the change to continuous levies.  They are playing “follow the leader” since they have been able to get it past some voters in certain taxing districts, and they believe that they can “hoodwink” other non-suspecting, gullible taxpayers.

What does it mean and why would they do this?

A levy that has CPT (continuing period of time), or “continuous” on the ballot means that the political sub-division wants to eliminate the need to return to the taxpayers for approval, since the levy will be collected from the taxpayers FOREVER.   The Board of Trustees will state that this will allow them to be better planners and it will cost the taxpayers less in the long run.  LFC would NEVER recommend that the taxpayers give up their voting rights.  How can taxpayers hold the political sub-divisions accountable, if we can no longer vote for levies?

Regarding the Housing Affordability Threshold % – We remind everyone that to determine approximately how much annual income you would need to pay for the taxes in your respective taxing district, you would divide the total annual costs by 30%.  For example: the total annual “out of pocket” costs for Madison Township [TD #1] living in a $100,000 home is $119.00.  To determine the annual income needed to pay for that tax amount:  $119.00 divided by .3 =  ~$396.66.  That number increases dramatically if you live in a home valued at more than $100,000.  [A $300,000 home value = ($119 x 3) / .3 = $1,190.00 in annual income]

We remind everyone to please get out and vote on November 6th.

If you continue to vote for property tax levies, and you live on fixed incomes, you will, in effect, be “self-evicting” yourself out of your home.  Seniors will be impacted first, but others will be in the same predicament in a few years at the rate the political sub-divisions are increasing their demands for more money.   It is not sustainable!

Categories: Real Estate Taxes, Tax Levies

Tags: FT