1. Understanding Your Property Tax Bill Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 6:00pm Thornton Room T-107 Thornton Township High School District 205

2. What do property taxes support? Property taxes support many different taxing entities and are broken into categories on your tax bill Miscellaneous Taxes Mosquito Abatement Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Local Park Districts School Taxes Community College High School District Elementary School District

3. What do property taxes support? (continued) Municipality/Township Taxes Library City/Village Mental Health Facility Road and Bridge Fund Municipal General Assistance Local Township Cook County Taxes Forest Preserve District Election Board County County Public Safety County Health Facilities

4. Property tax changes A law passed by the Illinois Legislature in 2009 raises the first installment tax from 50% to 55% of the prior year’s total tax 10/25 Ordinance – Last year the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed a new law simplifying assessments. Residential property is now assessed at 10% of the market value and commercial or industrial property is assessed at 25% of its market value

5. Property tax changes The second installment bills for 2009 were mailed on November 10, 2010, and became due on December 13, 2010. The Illinois Legislature changed the first installment due date for 2011 from March 1 st to April 1 st. This is a one time change and will revert back to March 1 st in following years. The first installment bills for 2010 bills were mailed on January 31, 2011, and are due on April 1 st.

6. Who to contact? Problems with Assessment Cook County Assessor – Joseph Berrios www.cookcountyassessor.com (312) 443-7550 118 North Clark Street, Room #320, Chicago, IL, 60602 Problems with Calculation Cook County Treasurer – Maria Pappas www.cookcountytreasurer.com (312) 443-5100 118 North Clark Street, Suite 112, Chicago, IL, 60602

7. Who to contact? (continued) Problems with State Illinois Department of Revenue www.revenue.state.il.us/localgovernment/propertytax/ (800) 732-8866 James R. Thompson Center Concourse Level, 100 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL, 60601

8. How is a tax bill calculated? Once rates have been set, the County Clerk must add up rates which apply to particular areas of the county Different parts of the county are under different combinations of taxing districts Bills are calculated by multiplying the equalized assessed value (EAV) of a property (less exemptions) by the total rate for all of the tax rates applicable to that property

9. Assessed Value Because of its size, Cook County reviews the assessed value of property once every three years, on a tri-annual basis. The 2011 property taxes are based on the 2010 assessed value of property, which was determined by the Cook County Assessors Office during 2008.

10. Equalized Assessed Value (EAV) What is it? The equalized assessed value, or EAV, is the result of applying the state equalization factor to the assessed value of a parcel of property. Tax bills are calculated by multiplying the EAV (after any deductions for homesteads) by the tax rate. Who determines it? The county assessor sets the assessed value, and the equalized assessed value can be calculated from the assessed value and the state equalization factor (set by the State Department of Revenue).

11. How to calculate an estimated bill $100,000Estimated Market Value x.10Assessment Level (10%) $10,000Proposed Assessed Valuation x 3.37012009 State Equalization Factor $33,701Equalized Assessed Value - $5,500Homeowner Exemption $28,201Adjusted Equalized Value x.15Sample Tax Rate $4,230Estimated Tax Bill in Dollars

12. Property Tax Extension Limitation Law In 1994 the property tax extension limitation law was extended to Cook County. This law limited the increase in property taxes to the lesser of 5% of the previous year’s extension or the increase in the consumer price index. For the 2011 tax year the consumer price index increase was 2.7%, which results in a maximum increase in taxes for District 205 for 2011 of $1,544,970 (excluding any newly developed property).

13. District 205’s portion of the bill Each year District 205 develops a tentative levy and presents it during the November Board meeting. The tentative levy is developed by reviewing the current budget and estimating the needs of District 205 for the upcoming year. This tentative levy sits on display for at least 20 days before it is up for approval during the December Board meeting. The levy must be filed with the County Clerk on or before the last Tuesday in December each year.

14. District 205’s 2010 Levy Illinois Municipal Retirement - $600,000 Social Security - $600,000 Liability Insurance - $500,000 Transportation - $6,000,000 Education - $35,717,825 Building - $9,161,140 Working Cash - $832,830 Life Safety - $1,000 Special Education - $6,662,645 Leasing Facilities - $1,000 Total - $60,076,440

15. District 205’s Levy Although District 205 requested a 4.99% increase from the prior year extension, the maximum that the District will receive is a 2.7% increase over the previous year collections. The county treasurer will reduce the amount requested so that it does not exceed a 2.7% increase. If the amount of taxpayers who do not pay their tax bill in 2011 exceeds the amount from 2010 by more than $1,544,970 District 205 will receive less in property tax dollars in 2011 than were received in 2010.

16. District 205 Percentage of the Tax Bill 2009 36.08% 2008 38.96% 2007 39.50% 2006 39.56% 2005 40.09% 2004 37.86% 2003 36.56% 2002 41.74% 2001 42.29%

17. Questions