County gets taxes; where are services?

About a month ago I received, as many of us did, the first installment of my property tax bill. Since it did not show where our tax dollars will be spent, I went back to the preceding installment, which did. I was amazed at how my tax dollars were allocated. In one instance, I felt I was receiving little or no benefits from taxes paid, while in other areas I felt my tax dollars were well-spent.

For instance, under “Cook County taxes” 6.21 percent of my total tax bill was paid to them, and I receive little in return. On the other hand, my park district received as much as the county at 6.57 percent, and my local library received even less at 4.11 percent. I felt these tax dollars serve me and my community well.

Meanwhile, Cook County at 6.21 percent gave meager amounts back to my community via monitoring our elections and staffing our county courts and jail. I found that the county should be putting more of our tax dollars to work in my community by, for instance, building us a decent bicycle path through the forest preserves connecting us to those south and east of us (Glenview, Morton Grove, etc.) and to paths in Lake County. Also, keep up the few county roads in my community.

Our tax dollars allocated to my local library, Indian Trails (hosting nearly 40,000 visits per month) and our park district (hosting over 30,000 patrons per month) are both growing in popularity due to economic conditions and the outstanding service they provide. In contrast, Cook County, with the same amount of tax dollars, provides us with very little.

Please, Cook County, spend some of the monies we send to you back to our communities. We too have needs during these difficult economic times.

Richard Rosen

Wheeling