DuPage residents livid over property tax increases

George Mavropoulos' property tax bill has nearly tripled, to $10,374, in the 22 years he's owned his Bloomingdale home.

But it's the $300 increase on his latest bill that has the 73-year-old questioning whether he's eventually going to get taxed out of town. Mavropoulos said he thought his taxes would “at least stay the same” after the value of his four-bedroom house dropped.

He's not alone.

DuPage County Treasurer Gwen Henry said her office last week was inundated with calls from hundreds of taxpayers stunned by the fact that tax bills increased an average of 4.55 percent at a time when property values plunged.

“It was pretty bad on Monday and Tuesday,” she said. “The phone just never stopped ringing.”

Henry couldn't provide an estimate of how many total calls the office received on its multiple phone lines. However, she said one worker handled 191 calls on a single day.

The property tax bill shock comes after land values countywide fell almost 6 percent, a historic drop not seen in decades.

Officials are telling upset property owners what township assessors have been saying for months: Lower property values don't mean lower taxes.

In fact, property taxes increased because local taxing bodies requested — and received — more money.

“As long as the districts are asking for more, the law allows them to get a little more,” said Paul Hinds, DuPage's chief deputy clerk.

Local taxing bodies get specific amounts of property tax dollars each year through their levies. Since 1991, a state-imposed cap has limited the amount many taxing bodies can increase their levies to the rate of inflation or 5 percent, whichever is lower.

But even with the cap, tax rates still can increase if the overall taxable value of property drops. The average tax rate for 2010 taxes was $6.31 cents per each $100 of assessed value, an increase of more than 10 percent compared to the prior year.

“In some cases, we've told people that they need to find out who their representatives are and hold them accountable,” Henry said.

Hinds said there's one problem with asking a taxing district to reduce its levy. “They are going to tell you that everything they spend to run their government costs more,” he said.

In addition to increasing operating expenses, Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 officials say school districts must meet high service expectations while the state continues to be “unreliable in payments.”

“The current tax cap law sets each year's levy as the limiting number for subsequent years,” said Rosemary Swanson, president of the District 200 school board. “To thus limit our communities' ability to fund our schools in the future would be to increase our future reliance on the state, which does not seem prudent given the state's track record.”

That's little comfort to Wheaton resident Keith Watts, who saw his tax bill increase by about 4 percent.

“It seems like the taxing bodies aren't getting it,” he said. “They just keep raising and raising the taxes. Where are we supposed to get all this money from?”

Bloomingdale's Mavropoulos said he got frustrated when he picked up the phone and started calling elected officials.

“Everybody you talk to says they're not the one responsible,” he said. “They say it's somebody else.”

Meanwhile, the retired electrical engineer says he's struggling to make ends meet with what he earns from a modest pension and Social Security benefits.

“They are going to force me to sell my home,” he said, “to leave the town where I raised my kids.”

Henry said her office has been contacted by many seniors wanting to know how they are going to pay their bill. “The seniors are the ones having a hard time,” she said.

Officials in the treasurer's office are doing what they can to help seniors by making sure they are receiving all appropriate exemptions.

DuPage taxpayers with questions can call the treasurer's office at (630) 407-5900. Help also is available at treasurer.dupageco.org.

Property taxes are due in two equal installments. The first is due by June 1 and the second by Sept. 1.

In the meantime, longtime Medinah resident John Kubit, 62, said he has a request for all local elected officials.

“Honestly look at your spending,” he said. “You have to tighten it up. Please let me keep some of my money. I'm suffering.”