DuPage: Between a cap and a hard place

By Robert Sanchez Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Monday, July 26, 2004


It's supposed to provide tax relief for homeowners dealing with escalating property values.

But many township assessors in DuPage County offer only gloomy predictions about a proposed 7 percent cap on residential assessments.

While such a limitation would help some residents in areas where land values are skyrocketing, others would be forced to make up the difference, the assessors say.

"It's just going to shift the tax burden to businesses, seniors and lower-priced homes," York Township Assessor Deanna Wilkins said.

That would do more than create an unfair and inequitable property tax situation, says Downers Grove Township Assessor Theresa Cockrell.

"It will, eventually, hurt," Cockrell said. "If we vote this into DuPage, we are going to be begging to get out of it."

Cook County's idea

A new property tax-relief law was barely a day old when Cook County politicians adopted the assessment cap.

It wasn't a surprise, considering Cook County Assessor James Houlihan championed the statewide plan after Chicago homeowners saw a median increase of 32 percent on their 2003 assessments.

Houlihan proclaimed in a written statement that the new law "fulfills our initial goal of providing Illinois homeowners and their families with immediate property tax relief."

But unlike most of the plan's provisions, including increases for several property tax exemptions, the 7 percent cap can only take effect where it's approved by a county board.

And DuPage County board members aren't as quick to embrace the cap as their Cook counterparts.

Instead, Chairman Robert Schillerstrom formed a panel to study the cap's short- and long-term consequences. The advisory group's first meeting is slated for Tuesday.

"We have to keep our eyes wide open," said Craig Dovel, DuPage supervisor of assessments. "We just can't make a flippant decision one way or another."

Among the factors leaders must consider are the differences between Cook and DuPage, Dovel said. "Maybe (a cap) will work extremely well for them," he said. "That doesn't mean it's going to work here."

The full DuPage board has less than six months to make a decision. If it adopts the cap, officials said, it would be in place for three years.

The shell game

Addison Township Assessor Chris Kachiroubas is in the minority when he says DuPage should approve the cap, and even his endorsement is less than glowing.

"This is a horrible, convoluted bill," Kachiroubas said. "If I was a county board member, I would hold my nose and vote for it."

Even though the existing state-mandated property tax cap limits the amount many governments can levy, rising assessments often mean higher tax bills, anyway. Meanwhile, the assessed value of some DuPage homes shot up more than 30 percent from 2002 to 2003.

"Any form of tax relief for property taxpayers is good relief," Kachiroubas said. "An (assessment) cap is going to help people."

But the 7 percent assessment cap wouldn't limit how much money a taxing body could raise.

"Until taxing bodies start spending less money, there won't be tax savings," Winfield Township Assessor Mark Malay said. "It's just a tax shift.

"So when spending stays the same and someone's taxes goes down, somebody else's taxes are going up."

Kachiroubas said the property tax burden would shift more toward businesses and landlords, whose properties wouldn't be protected by the assessment cap.

The problem for DuPage is that roughly 85 percent of its properties are residential, county officials said.

"The theory behind this cap is that you put more of the burden on commercial and industrial properties," Malay said. "We have some, but nothing to take away the total burden."

So who pays?

Without enough businesses to absorb all the cost of giving some homeowners tax breaks, assessors are predicting a jump in tax rates.

"The asking amounts of the taxing bodies are not going to decrease," Milton Township Assessor Jim Gumm said. "So if the assessed value falls, then they are going to have to increase their rate to get the same revenue."

That could mean bigger property tax bills for the owners of lower-priced homes and seniors who have their property assessments frozen.

"Capping the assessments will increase the tax rates," said Naperville Township Assessor Warren Dixon Jr. "And, therefore, it will increase taxes for seniors who are on a freeze."

Dixon said the owners of moderate- and lower-priced homes wouldn't benefit from an assessment cap because the value of their properties generally don't increase more than 7 percent per year.

Coupled with a higher tax rate, he said, those homeowners could end up paying more property taxes than they would without an assessment cap.

"They should just leave the assessment system the way it is," Dixon said.

Still, Cockrell concedes, an assessment cap would save some homeowners money on their property taxes. So politically, it might be harder for county board members to vote against it.

"On its surface, it sounds very good," she said. "That's going to be a problem for any county voting against this particular bill."