Appalled by size of property tax hike

We would like to thank the owners of The Riviera Restaurant (Neighbor Fencepost, Oct. 27, 2008) for their honest and sincere letter regarding the unfair tax increase on their Arlington Heights property.

We too, are living with this unfair taxation and wondering what to do. We've decided the public forum is the only way left to voice our concerns.

We live on the south side of Arlington Heights in a modest home and have just received the second installment of our property tax bill with a 28.2 percent increase! After discussing this with our neighbors we are realizing we are not alone. The increases go anywhere from 20 percent to 30 percent!

This is taxation without representation. What is a homeowner to do? The Wheeling Township Assessor's Office has informed us there is "nothing we can do about this bill, but in November we can file an appeal for the next installment." (Did we mention we filed an appeal last November?) Do you suppose if we just decide to not just pay the increased amount that some action would be taken - you bet, we'll be fined even more and dragged to court.

So, in our effort to go public with this concern we're interested in any feedback anyone has to help us find a solution for this problem that is plaguing so many of our peers and their young families.

So many of us are drawn to Arlington Heights as an ideal place to live and raise a family, but the idea of fair taxation must be addressed. Perhaps the mayor (Arlene Mulder) could offer some suggestions or initiate some action from her position to help us alleviate this problem.

We would like to thank the Daily Herald for giving us this opportunity to express our concerns with the hope it will reach the other residents of Arlington Heights that are also being so unfairly taxed.

Mr. and Mrs. R. Greenbury

Arlington Heights