August 21, 2010 Newsletter

IT’S AN OLD PROBLEM. As you undoubtedly know, the earstwhile genii at the Cook County Assessor’s office have sent out their proposed assessments for 2010. Ignoring these is one of the greatest sources of tax increase there is.

There is no secret that property values have continued going down, especially if you are in a flood plain. We have until September 20th to file appeals with the Assessor’s office. After that, we still have the avenue of the Board of Review for the appeals process. The monster in all of this is the State Equalization Factor. You can get your assessments reduced, but still pay significantly more taxes because of an increase in the State multiplier.

So if your proposed assessment is 4% less than last year, it doesn’t mean your taxes are going down. My suggestion is to appeal anyway because the State multiplier is used against the final assessment. If you look at your assessments over the past three or four years, I promise you that any reduction in assessment is incremental compared to the drop in value you experienced. If you experienced a 50% drop in value (not surprising in a flood plain), the assessments, at the highest moment, may have dropped 10%. Then the State multiplier puts you in the position of actually paying more taxes. The State multiplier is a stealth device, plain and simply. Supposedly, the Illinois Department of Revenue has public hearings before setting these amounts, but I challenge you to get any information from the Department about when and where these public hearings are held. Your Cook County Assessor is supposed to assess around 16%, and the State multiplier is supposed to bring the assessment up to 32%. But the State multiplier is close to three, not two. That is brutal and unconscionable, but also true.

What we need to know is how many of you want to diligently appeal your property tax assessments. If you are interested in appealing your assessment, please email Mike at mike@bestclients.com. I must tell you that it takes a lot of work from a lot of people to help you. In this case, we are probably talking about two appeals…one to the Assessor’s office, and one with the Board of Appeals. Remember, if you want to do your own appeal, the deadline is September 20th for the Assessor’s office. If you want help from the Action Group, we have to organize quickly. By the way, I have no idea why this issue never comes up in any political discussion or debate. I would think the Republicans would have a field day with this issue. Please note that on your property bill are eighteen taxing bodies, including the Mosquito Abatement District, Cook County Forest Preserve, City of Des Plaines, etc. etc. Can you imagine the political pressure on the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Governor to increase the multiplier? That way, they get their tax increases without being accountable for it. That is truly stealth politics, and both parties are to blame for it.

Please contact us as soon as possible. In addition to contacting me at the email above, you can also contact any of our Board members. Overall, we’d like to get assessment reductions for anyone living in a flood plain, but that is for the future.

We should comment that there is a tax increase this year to fund expediting the stormwater management plan. That was done up front, and it shows much courage on the part of our mayor and aldermen. Increasing taxes is not popular, especially in this environment, and they know that. But they also believed that expediting the Stormwater Management Plan is critical, and they chose doing what they think is best………knowing that the criticism won’t abate, and they will hear about increasing taxes at election time. That takes courage.

More later….we are working on an update on levee 37 and Heritage Park! Funding the National Flood Insurance Program comes up in September, and that has been a political mess. By the way, our next membership meeting is October 5th in City Council chambers at 7:00 P.M. Please save the date!!!!

Mark Walsten's 8/13 update on Generator Rebate

If you wish to respond to this or contact Mark email him at mail: mewalsten@hotmail.com

Residents,


There was a engineering committee meeting last night ( I'm not on that committee) to discuss the Mayors proposal to offer a $250 rebate to DP residents when they purchase a generator. $15,000 would be offered for the year.  I did attend the meeting, there was some 6th ward residents in attendance.

I found the program that staff proposed, flawed.
I'm not saying that I support giving tax payers money away for this program, but if I supported it I would make changes.

1. Many resident Like Sue on Birch St. have already bought generators during the 07 outage and before, they should be compensated first.

2. I would not offer $250 for a generator, at $15,000, that only covers 60 people.

3. I would offer a percentage, 50% of the $250 would cover 120 people,  30% would cover 200 people.

4. Should we really be offering any money for generators anyway? When I put my new picture window in, it (the window, I did the labor) cost me around $800. Should I expect the tax payers to pay for $250 of it?

As it turned out, Chairman Bogusz proposed that looking into 'Groupon' is a better alternative, the other committee members and myself agreed. Go to ww.groupon.com_ (http://www.groupon.com/) to see it.

Basically, if enough people sign up to purchase a certain product, they get dramatic discounts. A $400 generator could be $300 or less.

I am interested in seeing where this goes before spending tax payers money on generators.

If you already have a generator, please answer the following questions:

1. How many Watts is it.

2. What do you run on it, IE ejector pump, sump pump, refrigerator, T.V.,
lights. Some of these, all of these?

Thank you and have a great week end!
Mark

Senator Durbin reply's about the NFIP

Thank you for contacting me about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).  I appreciate hearing from you.

For the past five years, the NFIP has been challenged by higher numbers of flood claims. These claims have exceeded what the NFIP collects in annual premiums and its borrowing authority from the U.S. Treasury. To help meet these increased claims, Congress increased the NFIP's borrowing authority in 2005 and again in 2006.

With my support, Congress passed and the President signed into law the National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act on July 2, 2010.  This law ensures that basic NFIP authorities remain in force by retroactively reauthorizing the program from June 1, 2010, through September 30, 2010.

Congress is working to reform the entire program. On July 15, 2010, the House of Representatives passed the Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act (H.R. 5114). This measure would reauthorize the NFIP through Fiscal Year 2015 and make major reforms to the program. This bill has been referred to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. While I am not a member of this Committee, I am committed to ensuring the Flood Insurance program remains strong and viable for years to come.

Again,thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to keep in touch.

Sincerely,
RichardJ. Durbin
UnitedStates Senator

River Road Construction At Touhy

According to Alderman Mark Walsten Here is what's taking place on River Rd.  North of Touhy. Phase II is to start next year. The current work is part of the reconstruction of River Road from Devon to just north of Touhy. The end of the new pavement for Phase I will be 100’ north of Sherwin. Phase II will pick at this point north of Sherwin and continue to Rand Road. The work they are currently doing is to prepare for the 1st stage of construction that requires temporary pavement up to a point north of Welwyn. This is all for the lane transitions into a single lane in each direction.
If you have any other questions direct them to:

Jon Duddles, P.E.
Assistant Director of Public Works and Engineering
City of Des Plaines
1420 Miner Street
Des Plaines, IL 60016
Phone: 847-391-6127
Fax: 847-391-5619
(http://www.desplaines.org/)