News Analysis: Recent articles indicate property values are declining, foreclosures are on the rise and a tax base is shrinking, while local government continues to collect more.
As Washington pundits and politicians debate a federal "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year, Genevans may be facing a similar crisis without realizing it: the one-two punch of declining property values and increasing property tax demands by local government. Anecdotal evidence and recent articles hint that at least some Genevans are being taxed out of their homes. An excellent article in Sunday's Daily Herald points out some staggering numbers, and the headline is more than enough to capture your attention: "Local property tax levies up $3.5 billion since '05." That number again: $3.5 billion. Meanwhile, the average price of a Geneva home fell by 23.8 percent year over year for the month of October. Obviously, that's just one month, but …
In this Article:
City staff says it's prudent to OK a 3.43 percent increase in the estimated non-debt-related portion of the tax levy, for two reasons: (a) the final levy cannot exceed the estimation and (b) it allows the city to "capture" new growth.
City of Geneva staffers are asking the City Council to recommend an estimated tax levy in the amount of $6,526,710. That's an increase of about 3.91 percent over the previous tax levy. But staffers underline that it's only prudent to do so. The primary reason is that the final levy cannot exceed the estimated tax levy, so it's to the city's advantage—in terms of total dollars the city receives to run its operations—to estimate on the high side. The danger of estimating low is that the Kane County extension can—and likely will—lower the final levy, in which case the city might have to make major budget cuts to operate. It's also a scary time for municipalities as the state of Illinois continues to hold off payments and examines ways to …
7:19 am on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Just wait until the Master Plan for the east side of Geneva...and the Settler Hill project!!! Keep electing Burns and Donahue...Isn't Shodeen their big buddies?? Geneva will be taxed out of this world with the two of them running things. You ain't seen nothing yet "Shodeenville" I mean Geneva. more ›
John R
8:56 am on Thursday, November 29, 2012
It was surprising that the turnout was so low for the last school board meeting. How quickly we went from two hundred plus to a handful. Granted the teachers attending during negotiations inflated numbers it's still a bit discouraging that so many checked out of the process so quickly. I'd encourage everyone to engage the process. Regardless of your position the board needs to hear the voices of … more ›