Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld set the stage for a town hall meeting at the Homewood Auditorium on Saturday, July 20, with an observation that proved to be shared by many of the more than 200 area residents in attendance.

“Like many of you, my home’s assessed value rose 52% and my tax bill increased 39%,” he said. “Mr. Kaegi, I’m not happy either.”

Hofeld noted that the biggest driver of high tax bills is school funding, which accounts for about 70% of most residents’ bills. He said the state constitution specifies that the state should provide 50% of public school funding but currently falls far short of that.

State Rep. Will Davis, D-Homewood, addressed the role state funding of public education plays in the property tax system, acknowledging that inadequate state funding remains a problem. He said the situation has begun to improve since the passage of the evidence based funding formula in 2017.

Education funding

Davis, chairperson of the Illinois House’s Appropriations Committee for Elementary and Secondary Education School Funding, said since the evidence based formula was created, the state has added $300 million in new funding every year, except one year during the COVID-19 pandemic. The formula has led to a total of $2.5 billion in new education dollars. 

He said funding is approaching the 40% mark.

“Now we need to do more? Absolutely,” Davis said, noting that he has advocated for increasing new funding to the $400 million level and would like it to eventually reach more than $500 million in order to get to the 50% threshold more quickly.

Davis said the improvement in state funding would eventually take some pressure off local property owners.

System imbalance

Kaegi shifted the focus of the meeting to the way the tax system works and how it can become imbalanced.

He said part of the challenge for homeowners is that the system is complex, with multiple government entities contributing to the final tax bill they receive.

The process starts with local government organizations setting their levies, which help determine the amount of money they need to operate. The assessed value of property is used as a basis for dividing up the bill among taxpayers. The treasurer’s office sends out the bills and collects the tax money.

But the process also is influenced by the appeal process that allows property owners to correct problems with assessed value. Kaegi’s office handles some appeals, but property owners also can take their cases to the Board of Review, which effectively has the final say.

When assessments are reduced for some property owners, the amount their bills are reduced gets spread to other property owners.

He said the Board of Review cut assessments for commercial properties in the South Suburbs by 18% and cut residential properties by 1%.

“It’s things like that that fill me with a sense of indignation,” he said.

Available tools

During the Q&A portion of the meeting, Kaegi fielded a number of questions from area residents who, like Hofeld, reported large increases in assessment and tax bills. 

He said the two main tools taxpayers have to reduce their tax obligations are exemptions and appeals. 

The first thing homeowners should check is whether they are getting all the exemptions they are entitled to. Kaegi’s staff members consulted with people at the meeting who reported high bills.

The appeals process works to correct assessment errors. Kaegi said his office has too many properties to evaluate to get a detailed look at current conditions, so when things have changed or a mistake was made, his staff depends on homeowners to help get things right.

“We know that you are the world’s biggest expert on your own home. You know more about it than we do,” he said.