Assessments go up, home values down
Housing values are down an average 4.2 percent, but your tri-annual assessment from crooked Cook County is up 22 percent or more.
No matter what happens in real estate next year, your taxes will increase again.
Page 1 of the Nov. 24 Daily Herald provides a good example of why this trend will continue.
Near the bottom of the page appears the heading: "Soaring property assessments send taxpayers to Schaumburg town hall." But to the left of the same page, under "Just a new county job" is the report of Cook County Commissioner Joseph Moreno's sister (Maria Moreno-Szafarczyk) getting hired back at a salary $87,990.
She had recently been let go from another county job she wasn't qualified to have. In fact, her only qualification appears to be that her brother is a commissioner on the Cook County Board.
When you complain next tax season, remember your vote, or the lack of it, puts and keeps these people in office. And until the people of Cook County vote with a vengeance, this trend will continue.
Jim McMillan
Schaumburg