Today's Daily Herald has a great article on exactly how your tax dollars from your home are spent. There is a chart and a table that I can't find online but I will see if I can make into a PDF file for this blog tommorrow. I am copying the article into this post below.
Tax rates slip; what you owe might not
By Bob Susnjara
Posted Thursday, May 05, 2005
That’s because while tax rates slide, property values in the county are rising. Whether you’ll catch a break this year depends on where you live.
For example, typical tax bills should be down in Vernon Hills and Wauconda. Residents in Grayslake and Antioch are among those who should receive higher bills.Tax bills were sent to Lake County residents Wednesday, with the first equal installment due June 6 and the second Sept. 6. Some property owners pay their taxes as part of monthly mortgages, so not everyone forks out twice a year.Bills might not go up as much this year — or even drop — due to the new $5,000 homestead exemption, said Wayne Wasylko, Lake County’s director of tax extension. The exemption had been $3,500 in Lake County, until a change in state law last July.
Wasylko said tax-cap regulations mostly ensure declining rates when assessed valuations rise. And, a declining tax rate doesn’t always ensure a slimmer bill, he added.
Here’s how it would work under a hypothetical situation:
A government might cut its tax rate from 35 cents to 33 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. But any potential savings could be negated if a home were to rise in value from $200,000 to $250,000.
“Every year, the assessed value of property goes up,” Wasylko said.
One example of rising land value and a declining tax rate combining to produce more revenue is at the Vernon Hills Park District.
District residents will pay 34 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation in the 2004 tax year. That figure is down 7 percent compared with the 37 cents charged in 2003.
“I think it’s pretty amazing,” Vernon Hills parks Executive Director Larry DeGraaf said of his district’s declining tax rate. “In spite of all the growth and things we have accomplished, our tax rate goes down.”
Land value within Vernon Hills park system boundaries jumped from $930 million to $1 billion. The park district will receive about $3.4 million in property taxes.
Meanwhile, some Lake County residents must prepare to pay for tax increases they approved just last month.
Grass Lake Elementary District 36 and Deerfield Elementary District 109 already have increases on the new 2004 tax bills.
In the Antioch area, the owner of a $200,000 home in District 36 will pay an extra $400 to the school district.
Questions about property taxes may be directed to the Lake County clerk’s office at (847) 377-2400.
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