No surprise when property taxes go up

With the first installment of our property tax bills due on June 1, the media has become eerily quiet with the pending crisis in DuPage County. Why? Because we all have a big surprise coming: Higher property taxes than the previous year. With many homeowners hanging by a thread in 2009 due to the declining home values, stagnant wages, loss of jobs, elimination of pension programs, tightening of credit and the overall downturn of the economy, our local and state governing bodies have not addressed the issue of holding down property taxes. With the continued escalation of property taxes, struggling homeowners will be left with even less income for mortgage payments, making them even more vulnerable to foreclosure. As Peter Sepp, a spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union has stated, "For governing bodies not to consider property tax relief is bad enough; for them to go in the reverse would be unconscionable." Property tax relief is required immediately, not two years from now, to help lessen the financial burden of property owners. Property Taxes, collected mostly for public schools, have escaped serious scrutiny and in some cases public education is one of the few sectors of the economy still adding jobs. Also, is it fair for taxpayers of DuPage County to pay for 11 different pension programs every year, when they themselves have lost their own pension programs or their employer will no longer contribute to their 401k program? In the State of Illinois we have never experienced a downturn in home values as we have in 2008-2009. If the correct valuations were used, our property taxes would drop dramatically, but this would also impact local governments' fiscal woes. Taxing bodies must follow to offset the downturn in local revenue. And if they don't, voters must push back and say, "Enough is enough."

Ron Stacy

Bloomingdale