Tax mix-up could cost newly elected District 25 board member

A property tax mix-up involving new Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 board member Anisha Patel's home resulted in her family saving more than $12,000 by paying taxes to the wrong school district since at least 2008.

A Daily Herald analysis of property tax records shows the Patel family paid about $44,000 in taxes to Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59 since 2008 but should have paid closer to $56,000 during that time to District 25.

Researchers at Cook County Clerk David Orr's office discovered Patel's home was wrongly listed within District 59's taxing boundaries even though Patel sends her children to schools in District 25. The mistake came to light after Patel won election to the District 25 board April 4. Patel and owners of two neighboring homes - and ultimately their property tax bills - are affected by the revelation.

Patel and one of the neighbors said they weren't aware they were paying taxes to the wrong school district. The other neighbor could not be reached.

Cook County property tax bills list all the agencies that receive funds from any given property, even if the taxes are paid through a homeowner's mortgage company. The three households will now begin paying taxes at District 25's higher rate, Orr's office indicated.

District 25 also might be able to regain some of the tax revenue it lost over the years.

State law allows property owners and government agencies to appeal tax collection for a maximum of two years in arrears. Officials at Orr's office said that means District 25 likely is only legally eligible to recoup two years' worth of property taxes.

District 25 could seek the money accidentally paid to District 59 for the past two years by Patel and her neighbors as well as the difference between how much the homeowners actually paid District 59 and how much they should have paid District 25. In Patel's case, that's roughly $2,100 for the two years combined, according to the analysis.

That's because over the past two years, District 59 received about $11,400 from the Patels. If the property had been taxed at District 25's higher rate, the family would have paid almost $13,500, according to the analysis.

"I will wait to hear from the county about their decision," Patel wrote in an email response when asked about the issue.

Tatia Gibbons, the county clerk's director of real estate and tax services, said District 25 would have to file an appeal with the clerk's office in order to recoup any misdirected tax revenue or shortfalls. Meanwhile, Gibbons said property taxes collected from the three properties in the second installment of this year's billing due Aug. 1 will be directed to the correct school district.

District 59 Superintendent Art Fessler said he is aware of the issue, but the district is still investigating the error.

District 25 officials said they are examining their options about the previously paid taxes District 59 received and shortfalls owed by the three property owners.

"The district is certainly interested in receiving all tax dollars that it is entitled to and we are in the initial stages of figuring out how that would be done in this situation considering incorrect tax coding on three properties since 1937," District 25 spokesman Adam Harris said.

The three homes are on the 500 block of East Lincoln Street, southeast of downtown Arlington Heights. At least one of Patel's neighbors was also unaware that he had been paying taxes to the wrong school district and could be on the hook for two years of shortfalls.

"I pay a lot of property tax," said James Gerardi, who lives two houses away from Patel.