With property taxes, I can’t win for losing

Like many other frustrated taxpayers, I went to the Wheeling (Twp.) Assessor’s office to find out just how my homeowner exemption was computed as it was cut $1,600 and my taxes went up 17 percent.

I also qualify for the longtime homeowner and I won an evaluation reduction appeal.

What I surprisingly found out from the county’s calculations, if I had not “won” this lowered appeal, I would have received $400 more exemptions and my tax bill would have been exactly the same!

I don’t know why we are even told to appeal? My evaluation was lowered $1,600 and I did not save a cent as my exemption was just lowered accordingly.

Again, appealing doesn’t seem to work as the county will juggle exemptions and be cautious with those letters promising to lower your evaluations and save you money. What they didn’t tell me up front, only on the bill with an asterisk, is that if you have exemptions there will be no actual tax savings.

But, from their calculation, sans exemptions, it looks as if I saved $400 and owed them half. It cost me $200 for nothing. Lesson learned ... you just can’t win!

And, in breaking down my tax bill, the school portion went up 70 percent. Now District 214 wants iPads for all 12,000 students. This is a personal item, like a mini laptop, and can be used for fun and games by the whole family. It’s not like the expensive math-only scientific calculators I had to buy for my children 15 and 17 years ago.

If the parents can’t pay all $498 for a freshman, let them pay $50 per month and the iPad is theirs. That is a much better deal than the county gives us if we can’t pay our ever increasing taxes when due.

Carol Bachar

Arlington Heights