If tax cap is this arbitrary, Rolling Meadows should repeal it

After seeing a recent news story that Rolling Meadows was planning a 15 percent increase in its property tax levy, I called my son, Mark, who used to be on the city council. I recalled that the city had adopted a 5 percent tax cap in his days and wondered what happened to it. He then did a little research that I thought was worth sharing with the Daily Herald readers.

The city still has its "Property Tax Levy Limitation" law on its books, limiting increases to 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is more. However, the city apparently chooses to abide by it only when it doesn't need to raise its levy by more than 5 percent.

Take last year for example. On Dec. 1 the council adopted the current levy, representing a 15.5 percent increase. In one sentence of the Levy Ordinance it simply stated "The property tax levy limitation so imposed by section 2-407 of the Codified Code of City Ordinances is hereby waived."

Funny, I never heard in the paper the fact that the tax cap was waived. The minutes of that meeting don't reflect any mention of it either. All this can be found and easily examined on the city's website.

While I am not taking a position one way or the other regarding the merits of a tax cap, I do have an opinion on this issue. If the city does not want to adhere to its tax cap in bad times as well as good then it should simply repeal it altogether. What good is a tax cap when it can be "waived" without so much as a whisper whenever it is convenient?

Edward Evenson

Rolling Meadows