The Illinois House of Representatives postponed voting on a bill Wednesday that could control tax bills in Cook County.
But State Rep. Julie Hamos, D-Evanston, said Evanston taxpayers shouldn’t count out a future resurgence of the plan.
After four years of consecutive property-tax increases, City Manager Roger Crum’s 2004-05 budget calls for a 6.85 percent increase in the city’s portion of the property tax. But 2004 also is a reassessment year for property in the North Shore communities of Cook County — meaning future tax bills could increase dramatically as property values rise. An individual tax bill is calculated by multiplying the tax rate by the property’s assessed value.
The House bill, which was voted down 61-49, aimed to limit property assessment increases to 7 percent each year — a far cry from the 40 and 50 percent hikes reported in other parts of the county in the past few years.
Though the bill did not win enough support Wednesday, Hamos said, the vote was too close to completely kill the bill.
“(Supporters) think that — with additional information, cajoling and education — that maybe some legislators will come around,” she said. “I don’t think anybody thinks this is over.”
Hamos, who voted for the bill, said she thought the delay came from last-minute changes made by House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago. The bill originally was meant to apply to the entire state, but Hamos said Madigan’s amendments shifted the scope of the bill to only Cook County. This might have alienated representatives from downstate, Hamos said.
Though the problem mainly has been confined to Chicago, Hamos said this year’s property reassessment could hit Evanston hard.
“It hasn’t necessarily hit in the northern suburbs yet, but later this year there might be a shell shock when (residents) discover how much their assessments have increased,” she said. “My constituents haven’t cried out yet for relief, but I have a feeling that they will.”
The measure, proposed early last year, was backed by Cook County Assessor James Houlihan, who said the bill was not a permanent solution but that it might provide some respite for beleaguered taxpayers.
“It was a short-term solution, so these (residents) could make it through the fall,” said Maura Kownacki, a spokesperson for Houlihan’s office.
Diane Benjamin, deputy assessor for Evanston Township, said she is expecting an average of 33 percent increases in assessment values for the city. Properties are reassessed every three years.
“People are going to be losing their homes,” she said. “People cannot afford to live here.”
Because of Illinois tax laws, property assessment values are not figured in the budget until the following year, and thus taxpayers would feel the brunt of the reassessment in 2005.
“When it’s really going to hit is 2005,” Benjamin said, “and you’re going to feel it.”
But Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th), who previously served as township assessor, said property-tax increases in one property are relative to the surrounding ones.
“You may pay more than someone three blocks away whose neighbors have not been hit by the development craze,” he said.
