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(Originally appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 4, 2001) By Barbara Head and Andrea Raila The question generated by the news story Oct. 28 ["Playing the property tax game"] is: "Why should we have to play a game to have our properties assessed fairly and equitably?" The news story clearly points out the two glaring problems with the current system. In a report issued this year by the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission, the over-reliance on property taxes for revenue exceeds the national average of 28.1 percent by a whopping 10.7 percent. The state and local governments keep coming back to real estate as the main source for filling their coffers year after year. This approach is directly responsible for changing the face of our neighborhoods as more and more people are forced to move because of the unbridled escalation of property taxes. The second problem with the current system that the news story addresses is the unfairness and the arbitrary nature of the system. The current assessment process is unequal and unfair. The assessment process of establishing a higher value on one property because the average sales price in the neighborhood has soared is taxing the current owner on a capital gain that he or she has yet to realize. Even Cook County Assessor James Houlihan suggested at a summit meeting on Oct. 3 that maybe a better approach would be to tax on the actual sale price of each property. What a novel concept. A real number! There would be no room for the mistakes or subjective decisions uncovered in the news story. The system is broken. It needs to be fixed now. The state officials who are all running for office next year need to know that this issue will not go away. The voters want a change to a fair, equitable and predictable system now. No more "studies," No more commissions. Fix the system now. Barbara Head, President, Tax Reform Action Coalition Andrea Raila, board member, Citizens for Fair Assessments and Taxes CFAT News Source news@fairtaxes.net Time to fix property tax system |
