Property tax protest deadline Sept. 10
If you’re a property owner in Winnebago County, you already know how high our property taxes are.
Last year, as our assessed property values were lowered overall around 5 percent, the Winnebago County Board raised the taxing rate twice to make up their lost revenue.
This year, again, home owners have a small window of opportunity to protest our taxes to the county assessor’s office. The deadline for filing a tax protest is Sept. 10.
Tax protest forms and information can be obtained at the Winnebago County Assessor’s Office or online at bor.winncoil.us.
If you go online, you’ll find two categories to look at: “rules and procedures” and “complaint form and instructions.”
As with many government processes, filling out the form is not easy. You may need to enlist the help of a Realtor or some professional.
You can protest a number of issues, but you’ll need to do more than just say, “My taxes are just too high.”
Not much has been publicized about this current window of tax protest time, which is why I felt it important to send this letter to the editor of this newspaper. I am just helping to make people aware of their opportunity.
Last year, thousands protested their taxes, and I expect that this year will be no different.
During my campaign this spring for the position of Winnebago County Board chairman, I said I would do my best to help lower property taxes. Though I didn’t win the campaign, I still want to try to fulfill my promises.
Mike “C” Castronovo
Rockford
From the Aug. 22-28, 2012, issue
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2 Comments
Probably a good thing Castronovo didn’t win. He is either ignorant of the property tax process or he’s deliberately misleading his audience. In either case I’d say it renders him unfit to serve. In 2012, the Winnebago County Board (led by Chairman Scott Christiansen)was one of only two Winnebago County taxing districts that did not raise their levy..the other was the Rock Valley College District. The County Board doesn’t have a thing to do with establishing the tax “rate”. The rate is established by the Winnebago County Clerk after all taxing bodies have reported their levies to the Clerk and the Winnebago County Board of Review has certified the total assessed value of the County to the IL Department of Revenue. This year the Dept. of Revenue determined the Board of Review under assessed the properties in Winnebago County and increased the values of all properties by 1.16%. While the Board of Review (all members appointed by Chairman Christiansen with the consent of the County Board) included the impact of foreclosures and short sales in their valuation analysis, the Department of Revenue discarded them. Finally, there is not Winnebago County Assessor. Assessments are functions of Township government. I suspect he is referring the the County Supervisor of Assessment which serves as the Clerk of the Winnebago County Board of Review. If a property owner would like to protest their tax assessment the will find the necessary forms, procedures, and rules at the Board of Review website.
Now it is Mr. Johnson that is being misleading. The county sets the levy based in part on the anticipated tax rate, knowing all along that the county will collect more money than last unless it adjusts its levy. So the board could have reduced the county’s portion of the tax bill by reducing the levy.
The board’s levy impacts the overall tax rate, so it does indeed “have something to do” with establishing the tax rate.
As for not raising the levy in “2012″, that vote hasn’t happened yet. The board voted on the 2012 budget and levy in 2011, no such vote has occurred in 2012 yet.
So now that both of you have been corrected, let the appeals begin.