"....overpaying for the cost of an education." As are the taxpayers who have never had/do not have/or will never have children in the schools, but want to live in a decent community.

Death and taxes. The only two certainties in life as it's said. Some people here need a serious diaper change.

Just a quick comment regarding the cost of educating students in D203 and D204. The numbers reported on the Illinois State Report Card are $9,881 in D203 an $8,639 in D204. HOWEVER this is not the total cost as it is more of a "educational" cost figure and does not include the costs pertaining to "Bricks and Mortar". 203 and 204 is a good example of why the state reports in this manner. It reports the amount spent on education activities, I assume because they are interested in parents knowing how much is being spent on the educational component.

204 has much higher total costs because of all the new schools. So 204 actually is spending more when you include the cost for all those new schools. I don't know what 204's total cost is but I think 203's is closer to $11-12K per student. I have to believe that 204's has to be significantly higher.

To John Q. Public,

It became apparent by your post that you must have been in a great hurry to write. You are very informed and mostly right on with your posts, but I must respectfully disagree with you regarding your last post. There are many within our community that are struggling with not only high real-estate taxes but also other ever escalating costs. The cost of a public education in this area ranges from $8500 to $9500 per student per year. Thus proving that part of your statement is correct. What was left out was the fact that most of us will be paying real-estate taxes before -- during--& after our children are in the school district. Another all important fact is the idea that many non student entities are subject to real-estate taxes that help support our community (i.e. businesses, and families that choose to home school or attend private schools).

Maybe the model you outlined is more in line with attending "private pay as you go" schools. As for many of us working parents we are grateful that the huge cost of education is spread out over many decades. And yes we are also grateful that the tax is spread out over many entities and does affect those more so with the higher ability to pay, assuming that those folks live in higher value homes.

As to your sympathy towards a struggling tax payer I would note that the $2500 towards education is a significant portion of the total cost (30%+/-). I would also suspect that the amount this tax payer is paying is substantially more as a "percentage of total income" when compared to many in our affluent community.

When you have commented in the past JQP you have had the unique capacity to put things in perspective. I will give it a try. This taxpayer with $2500 going towards the education system is paying the same as a family with 3 children in school system paying just under $11,000 in total real-estate taxes( $11,000 x 70% to school dist. = $7700). Take the total of $7700 divide by 3 children = $2566 each child.

In conclusion I applaud this hard working taxpayer that finds herself struggling in our present economical environment. Rest assured she is paying a fair share and most likely "then some".

By John Q. Public on May 14, 2008 7:31 PM
Diane G wrote:

"I have 1 child in D204 schools. My RE tax bill is over $2,500 for just the schools."

While I sympathize with the difficulty you have meeting your tax obligations, the $2500 that goes to District 204 doesn't begin to cover the annual cost of educating your child.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

There are many 4 million dollar mansions in Naperville that are paying 80k in real estate taxes and overpaying for the cost of an education.

Diane G. is paying enough. She may pay taxes for 60 years while her kid only goes to school for 12 years.

Thus she is really paying 12,500 a year for her kid to go to school which should more than cover her one child. She will be paying tax for 48 years while her one child is not even in the school system.

Let us not be harsh John Q. Public.

You are very repected on these blogs sites.

I would hate to see you lumped in with T.B., Joe, and Ken. You are much better than them.

Diane G. is doing great. The 4 million mansion guy is paying for her kid which is how it should be since he has plenty of excess. She is paying for her kid the years her kid is not in the school system.

Let us focus on the City of Naperville and the School Districts trimming some excess fat. Diane G has no excess fat to trim. She is doing her best to make ends meet. May God Bless her for doing her best in these trying times as a single Mom, I assume!

JQP,

Thank god for other sources of funding, huh?

To John Q Public: Do you think the 46 years my mom paid taxes on her house and was finally taxed out of it covered the expenses of my child and my sister and myself? Don't forget, I also pay state income tax - part of that goes to education too? Right?

I agree with anonymous above that it seems like Naperville is only too happy to see all middle class folks pushed out (even those of us or our family members who have called this city home for over 100 years).

Sure, I could live somewhere else, but then I wouldn't have the back-up of family members readily available. And why shouldn't my kid be allowed the education that Naperville schools has to offer? After all, I went to these schools.

The bottom line, for me, is that government (city, county, state and fed) needs to cut back just like the working man.

I think Taxes--Shmaxes is on to something here. Just in reading this thread alone, it's obvious that Naperville's citizens clearly don't give a damn about anyone other than themselves.

They could buy less ostentatious homes, less gas-guzzling luxury SUV's (I'm looking at you, clueless soccer-mom Escalade drivers playing chicken with pedestrians on Washington Street - cellphone in one hand and Starbucks half-caf skim sugarfree vanilla latte in the other), and instead donate their excess to charitable institutions, buy locally, and live reasonably within their means, but gosh, if they did that, then they'd have to give up the SUPER AWESOME STATUS SYMBOLS expected of a Naperville Resident.

What makes me smile are the signs I see around this area advertising foreclosure tours by bus. By bus! That means that there are so many local foreclosures it's a day's sporting event! I wish I could say that it surprised me how some snooty locals have bitten off far more than they could chew. But it doesn't.

Diane G wrote:

"I have 1 child in D204 schools. My RE tax bill is over $2,500 for just the schools."

While I sympathize with the difficulty you have meeting your tax obligations, the $2500 that goes to District 204 doesn't begin to cover the annual cost of educating your child.

What bothers me is the City of Naperville is making no attempt to reduce any expenses that would result in reduced taxes.

I am beginning to suspect they want very high taxes to eliminate the entire middle class in town. They want this to be an upper class elitish town where only the rich, wealthy and famous can afford to live. It seems obvious to me.

If the speculation that the Napergatians are middle class folks trying to make ends meet is accurate, this would eliminate the Napergatians in the process.

It would bring Naperville back to a One Party Rule...The Establishment Party!

I guess with all the Napergatians gone, it will be back to the Napergate Man vs. the Establishment instead of the Napergate Man plus the Napergatians and Tax Revolters vs. the Establishment which is proving to be an epic battle at least on these blog sites.

We will have to see what happens in the election booths.

If the Establishment is not successful in getting rid of the Napergatians before the next election, the Napergatians in conjunction with the Tax Revolters, may just jointly get rid of the Establishment Party.

Citizens do vote when they feel taxes have gone throught the roof. I sense citizens in my neighborhood are feeling taxes have gone to the roof. And to add insult to injury most residents in my subdivision feel their homes are down about 100k from the days of the bubble. Home Equity Loans are no longer readily available to tap into to pay these escalating Real Estate Tax Bills and other out of control expenses like college tuition, gas and food!

All I would say is Beware Establishment!!! The situation may just be ripe for the Napergatians to take over! Don't underestimate them!

If you think your property tax increases are bad, wait till you see what the Fed has to do to Fix Social Security and Medicare....

Ah yes, Republicans - low taxes, little government; we should vote them in in DuPage County and Naperville instead of the Democrats that have been running things for decades :-)

It's simple.

Free will. Use it. No one is forcing anyone to live here. It's the higher taxes that in part help to make this community a nicer one.

-------------------------------------------

To Anonymous on May 13, 2008 11:59 AM

That's the way I see it. I didn't move to this community to feel like I live among thugs.

I grew up here in Naperville, graduating from NNHS in 1979 after attending Beebe Elementary and Jefferson JHS. Too many people have moved here because of the "status" of the riverwalk, the schools and the Naperville address. I live here because this is where my family is. No one in my family is well off. My mother sold her house in the last 12 months (after living there 46 years) because she couldn't afford to pay the taxes anymore. I could NEVER dream of owning a $1.2+ million home. I live in a 2 bedroom/2.5 bath TH. I don't own a single blade of grass. I just purchased this place in March 2007 for $207,000 -- a place across the street from me closed yesterday for $197,500. Oops, I guess I just lost $10,000. But hey, my taxes went up 7%. Everything has gone up recently: food, train fare (10% increase), sales tax, gasoline. I think I live relatively frugally -- but I'm at my breaking point. The increases have to stop. The government, i.e., county, city, state, etc., has got to cut back. There is just too much waste. I know in trying to balance my budget we are cutting back here at home. I also am an independent sales rep for MK and I deliver flowers on major holidays for a local florist for the extra $$$.

I have 1 child in D204 schools. My RE tax bill is over $2,500 for just the schools. And yet, the schools are constantly complaining they need money; more fundraisers: market day, pizza days, donut days, fun fair, etc., but they'll still ask for $2.75 for an in-school field trip so they can pay some guy $275 to talk to the kids in the multi-purpose room about his travels in Illinois. Maybe I should put together something about growing up here in Naperville, charge $275 to show it to the kids . . . at least I could put it towards my RE taxes.

I have a 3665 s.f. house I bought 20 years ago on one acre. My tax was only 4400 dollars. My tax is now 21,320.12 cents. My only crime is a few of my neighbors who also have acre lots sold their homes casuing my assessment and my taxes to skyrocket due to comparison assessments.

Outraged could have a similar situation. My house is valued at $1,202,000 and as a retiree, I simply can no longer afford it. I love Naperville and did not buy my home for speculative purposes. But I can no longer afford my house of 20 years. Unlike, Outraged my appeal failed.

If all the taxing bodies would have watched their budgets a little, I may have not had to consider selling.

Like Outraged, my City of Naperville portion excluding pension is up over 15.5%. This is many times more than any other taxing body from a percentage increase. As Blogger AJC stated above, it is time to start plain cutting without raising anything!

I support Outraged 100% and agree with him. He is a victim of heavy taxation due to corruption and cronyism. Just as the Napergatians have been telling us time and again. It finally came to us in writing!

To Joe: "Back to RE taxes. Life just gets more expensive. Simple fact. You have the choice to move if it costs too much to live here. You can move to a smaller place, you can rent or leave the area entirely. Eventually, I will reach that point and I'll just up and leave and find some other town for another chapter in life (probably with far fewer people) and I won't whine and cry about how it's the Police Chief's and his star-chamber secret society's fault."

I always thought it was noted that Naperville was an excellent place to raise kids - it certainly doesn't say the best place to retire.

We're with you Joe. We bought low and a long time ago, swore never to move to bigger and better (even though we loss 9 out of 10 neighbors to that line of thinking). Once the kids get out of high school, we're outta here!

Retiring here was never an option, we're gettin' the "blankety blank" out of here.

Just a plan we planned 12 years ago. Reap the benefits and run to the hills.

Of course Neuqua's (small college) enrollment may make our move much sooner.

Since we are all in the spirit of giving maybe someone would like to share their experience of giving on the Sun thread which has been up for a week + with no comments. That is a comment about our giving community!

Hey outraged, get used to it. It's only going to get worse in Illinois. Oh and by the way, the city of Naperville is a drop in the bucket compared to the school district. That's where the real crime lies. I will be moving out of Illinois soon anyway. Why stick around the midwest? It's dying due to the unions anyway. Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, etc. are all going down the tubes slowly but surely. I'm outta here.

Why talk about taxes they are so boring---so dry like toast. Lets talk about everything but taxes. Complain about the guy with the 1.8 mil. house, complain about the police force, complain about the city council, nothing about the school district? Wait its coming--rest assured.

We live in Maplebrook II and our taxes were right at $6000 (up $500 from last year), although we moved within our neighborhood last July so we probably have not absorbed the full impact. We moved into the common four bedroom colonial with a full basement. The three bedroom split-level on a crawl space we left after 8 years was $5300 and change last year. When we started out in that house back in 1999, the taxes were $3500 so they went up over $1800 over during that period. That is about a 53% increase due to the D203 referendum of 2002 and combined reassessments. As nice as the other house was after work we did on it, it was not worth no $5300 in taxes with the limited living space we had and no sub-basement.

My folks, who are still the original owners of their colonial style house now 30 years (in Naperville), crossed the $7000 border on their taxes even with their exemptions. They are seniors and retired. Both my folks and us live in DuPage County and District 203.

As much as we get aggravated with the property tax issue for various reasons in this town, and I am no different, we could have it worse. District 204 has been hit hard with one new high school and another on the way and I have heard (but cannot confirm) that their taxes overall are higher than 203. If you go out further west to Oswego or Yorkville, you are not going to escape paying. In both towns, taxes are largely supported by homes because there is not much in the way of businesses to support the base. The same can somewhat be said for D204. In addition, water and electric are more expensive out west because these bill are paid separately. We here in Naperville pay far less on our bill from the City and get Lake Michigan water, which is far better than the well water they have to treat for radium. Also, we do not have to deal with ComEd directly so that is saving us as well.

I am not advocating that I am satisfied with my tax bill, I'm not. We do not escrow so I have to budget for paying the installments, and I do not enjoy parting with $3000 on each due date.

Everything is going up and all the while government is not cutting any spending. They always say that if they do cut in one area, they have to "make it up" somewhere else. How about just plain cutting and not raising anything?

Wishful thinking.

To: Outraged about my Real Estate Tax Bill on May 11, 2008 4:41 PM

I have a hard time feeling sorry for you in regards to your tax bill. You can cut your losses downsize to a house that is still above average in Naperville and live a very comfortable lifestyle and afford your new taxes at any rate.

Think about the folks who live in very modest homes whose taxes went up and are having a hard time filling up their gas tank. Where do they go from there? An apartment/condo.

Before you complain first ask yourself do I need this big house? That's the problem with Naperville, everybody wants what they want but they don't want to pay for it. Makes you wonder how many of you in your McMansions can truly afford them.

Live smart, at your means and you won't have to worry about property tax increases. What a wonderful life lesson to teach your kids. Just because you can doesn't mean you have too (again, maybe you really can't).

I get it.

Gang banging music = rap music
rap music = black people
black people = 12 police officers neccessary to contain those savages, because every last one of them is in a gang, they couldn't have possibly been enjoying the music without gang affiliation

To: A little math education.
Your post was of much interest to me so I did some calculating on my tax bill, here goes. I reside in the Will county area of Naperville, my city part of tax bill increase from 0.4617 (2006) to .4887 (2007)
which is an increase of approx. 5.5%. This amounts to an increase of of just less than $40.00 on a house being taxed at appraised value of just under a half a million dollars.

You may consider putting your math in proper perspective to your total tax bill. If yours is close to the norm it would seem that the city portion of your tax bill only makes up about 7%-8% of your total bill. so if your city portion went up 15% (note mine only went up 5.5%) your total tax bill would have gone up the 15% multiplied by the the 7%-8% which equals +/_ .0012(factor), then plug in this factor to Equalized value(1/3 of total value) and you get the total increase.

In conclusion if you took a 500,000 house get equalized value (1/3) is 165,000 x factor of .0012 = $198. this assumes your assessed value has stayed constant, (another topic entirely). The fact is this area of ones tax bill is very minor when compared to the ever increasing assessed values many have experienced in the Chicago area.

As to voting out the city council, I am sorry but your simple math just does not cut the mustard, to have the increases you have discussed the initial rate would have to go up by over 10 fold and then continue to increase at over 20% a year.

Just a suggestion, don't rely on headline news,rather get a calculator and pencil and do the simple math-- I have found this method to be very enlightening.

I see that the Napergatians (see Caroline) have injected themselves into this topic as well. Same old story about the 12 downtown cops and the NW Plaza. Big sigh.

To: By Outraged about my Real Estate Tax Bill on May 11, 2008 4:41 PM

Wait a second, let me make sure I understand....

You have a 1.8 million dollar house and you live in Illinois?

Illinois?

Why would you live in Illinois?

You are not very smart!!

And don't say it's because of your job. If you have such an expensive house you can get a different job and live somewhere better!

Outraged and everyone else, please complain more. I am sure you all have 3 or more children you are supporting with your "upper class" salary. What do you think you are paying for?

I don't have kids at all but live in a modest house and I still pay outrageous taxes for all of you to complain about McMansion taxes that pay for YOUR kids to go to good, safe, quality schools.

About 40 kids in Chicago have gotten shot on school grounds this school year alone in Chicago. One of the reasons why that's not happening here because you pay taxes to make sure it doesn't.

I can bet if 30+ kids in Naperville had gotten shot dead on school grounds Upper Class Outraged would have a lot more to complain about.

You get what you pay for. Be happy your kids are safe, and if you don't like it go somewhere else.

Walter,

Don't worry, I don't have any desire to lead a party of adults. If they are adults and need a leader, then I usually don't want anything to do with them because they are typically lacking initiative and self confidence and just want to be told what to do. I already have children, thank you.

Before you go accusing anyone of being selfish I think you need to stop and consider how much someone may give away of their time and money to a multitude of organizations and institutions. The years of the 6 digits, over half was literally given away in this and several surrounding communities to organizations that do great work out there.

When I was growing up my mom had to pour two cans of water into the tomato soup so there would be enough for everyone. The desire to want better in the world for my family and persistence did the rest.

There are those who need help in the world, but the fact that many just sit on here and whine and complain clearly demonstrates to me they are not those people. They choose to sit on here blogging and blame everyone else for their problems. "Oh, it's THEIR fault this bad stuff happens to me"... "It was THEM" Give me a break. You are in control of you. No one else is.

Back to RE taxes. Life just gets more expensive. Simple fact. You have the choice to move if it costs too much to live here. You can move to a smaller place, you can rent or leave the area entirely. Eventually, I will reach that point and I'll just up and leave and find some other town for another chapter in life (probably with far fewer people) and I won't whine and cry about how it's the Police Chief's and his star-chamber secret society's fault.

Oh, boo hoo, Outraged. You chose to buy the house you did, where you did. Get over it or cut your losses and move on if you think Naperville is so horrendous. Go ahead - live in an unincorporated area and see what it's like to wait for the county police to respond to an emergency. How about walking in the streets (plowed last in the winter, fixed last on any list, no shoulders) because there aren't sidewalks because no one wants to pay for them? Better yet, have a few semis living next door to you, firing up those engines at 3:30 in the morning! Or even the old, rusted out dead cars parked next to Airbus next to your precious million 7? Then, you just might have something to itch about.

So, for us, our tax rates went down, our assessment went up (not by leaps, but up) and our overall tax for the year is down. Not too bad for what the economy is in the country right now. For the monthly rate paid, appreciated are the schools, police and fire protection services, libraries, low crime, decent roads, snow removal, what the city has to offer that makes our house worth what it is, forest/park services, and much more.

I'm with you "Taxes," really just a drop in the bucket for a safe place to live and raise a family.

Moderator Jim,

Thanks for putting this thread up. This is the big topic in my subdivision. I think we are all just getting over the shock of receiving our latest real estate bills.

In the past no one analyzed them. We looked at them as one big bill and paid them. This year everyone is dissecting these real estate tax bills and trying to understand them. They are never easy to understand.

I believe there are 19 different tax entities on my R. E. Tax Bill. Naperville was by far the worse offender as far as PERCENTAGE INCREASE! No one was even in the ball park with Naperville. I think all my increases were in the 3% to 6% range except for Naperville which was in the middle to upper double teen digits. It was really ridiculous. I am speaking from memory but I believe I am close with my numbers.

I guess the Sun Blog Site was an educational experience in government spending. We finally saw how it all ties together.

Those parking garages turned out to be very costly. That police OT turned out to be very costly. The DF Lawsuit turned out to be costly. All the regular pay of the police, fire, water, electricity and streets depts. turned out to be way to excessive let alone all the OT in those respective departments.

In the end the City of Naperville has to admit it has some excess fat and find a way to trim it. Everyone can work a little harder in tough economic times. Everyone can take on more responsibility. Everyone can be more efficient.

I have never ran into a Naperville Police Officer who seemed to be the least bit stressed. I have never met a Naperville Police Officer who had ever broken a sweat. In other towns I have seen stressed and sweating police officers. I have never seen that in Naperville.

Police Officers in this town have it way too easy. They have cozy jobs. There is little to no risk on their lives. They work at a leisurely pace all day long...maybe working at a leisurely pace is how they manage so much OT. Just speculating!

I have noticed a substantial decline on police presence in Chicago Ave. Maybe Chief Dial is getting the message or maybe the School Cops just have not been deployed. Only time will tell.

I hope he got the message and that the School Cops will relieve officers to comp them in lieu of OT. To see a dozen of them on Chicago Ave again this summer is something the residents will not tolerate especially after we saw the devastating effect on our real estate tax bills.

In the end if the NW Plaza with 4 liquor establishments can function with little to no problems with no permanent police presence, the downtown Chicago Ave nightclubs can do the same. I am sure the NW Plaza nightclubs spend more for private security and they manage at no cost to taxpayers. It is time that the downtown nightclubs also spent more for private security at no cost to taxpayers.

The only time I saw a serious problem downtown was when one nightclub was promoting gang bang style music on one of the radio stations. He filled the downtown with over 200 gang bangers. The 12 officers that evening did an excellent job controlling the gang bangers.

But that night club learned a lesson. It has not happened again. Maybe the police talked to him about playing and promoting gang banging music. The problem was resolved and hopefully will not repeat. There is no need to have 12 police officers.

If a night club owner is stupid enough to cater to gang bangers, his liquor license should be revoked...it is that simple!

Outraged about my Real Estate Tax Bill,

My husband and I did not appeal. I wish we had! We experienced an 11.5% increase in our total real estate tax bill.

The Naperville City portion was up 28.35% over last year.

When we moved here we did not expect these kinds of increases.

We are looking for a cheaper home or at least one with less taxes in Lisle, Woodridge, or Downer's Grove.

We simply can no longer afford subsidizing downtown Naperville with 4 children. Since our council does not even care about police OT, we feel the situation is just getting worse and the quicker we leave the more affordable life will be for us.

Just as we are swapping in our SUVs for smaller cars with better mileage, we are swapping our city for one that is cost conscious and considerate of its residents!

We will miss all our Naperville friends and neighbors! We wish them all luck with their future real estate tax bills which we suspect will only be getting worse since our city council does not appear to care!

Joe,
Napergatians have been running in elections since 1995. They know how to file the forms. I am sure Dick Furstenau and Darlene Senger would not mind helping a few new candidates go through the motions.

DF is going to help anyone get into office to replace those who censured him.

The Napergatians did not file the FOIA on the downtown incident because they already knew the answer. It is not going to effect change the way a new slate of Napergate Candidates will. Keep in mind Diana offered to do it, if Jim or Ted would promise to publish her findings, but she got no response. It is inaccurate to say that you are waiting on the Napergatians. The Napergatians are awaiting an answer from the Naperville Sun! Thus you are really waiting on the Naperville Sun who may have no interest in an old case!

I do think in the end it is a good idea to drop that incident since the Napergate Man never was interested in pursuing it. His record shows he knew how to pursue what he wanted when he wanted.
This appears to have been a petty incident to him and I doubt he is going to let the taxpayers encounter 1 million dollars in legal expenese over a petty incident. He does care about the taxpayers!

Back to you Joe! With 6 figures you pay in Federal Taxes, you are not a typical Napervillian. You obviously have no financial problems but you show extreme selfishness towards those who are less fortunate than you, Joe!

D. Bone once admitted he was self-centered and that the world revolves around him. He even voted himself the best blogger on Jim's Blogs. It would be nice if you admitted you are also self centered, selfish and that the world revolves around you.

I think you are being insensitive to those who are receiving a rebate check from Uncle Sam to stimulate the economy but instead are using it to help defray the massive increase in real estate taxes of which the greatest percentage increase was from Naperville!

You would make a very poor democratic leader Joe as you are so egotistically self centered with no shame. Iraq's Saddam Hussein was also egotistical and self centered. We know what happened to him!

Many people may not realize the devasting long term difference between a 3% increase in taxes and a 15.7% increase in taxes as we just experienced with the City of Naperville portion of our Dupage Real Estate Tax Bill.

The formula of 72 suggests a 3% tax increase will take 24 years to double your Real Estate Tax Bill. For example if your tax is 10,000 it will double to 20,000 in 24 years. Something we can all live with! Something that is the standard with most normal government bodies outside of the City of Naperville.

However this same forumla known widely in banking circles, indicates at 15.7% your real estate tax bill will double in 4.59 years. Under Naperville's current tax rate increase our real estate taxes will double from 10k to 20k in about 4 and a half years.

Under this unimaginage rate increase we experienced this year our real estate taxes can and will increase 5.24 times in 24 years.

If you can tolerate your $10,000 current tax bill becoming $52,402 in 24 years, vote for the current City Council to keep all their seats. If you can't, vote them out! We are not talking about rocket science here! Very simple math is all we are talking about it!

It just seems to me when people say 15.5% increases are a drop in the bucket, they are on the receiving end of these increases...meaning policemen or City Officials.

If you are not on the receiving end of this kind of increase, you simply can not be happy. If you are on the receiving end benefiting from raises and huge pensions to the tune of 75% of your salary, you will be very happy.

I think the bottom line is when election time comes around, more people will be upset than happy about these horrendous real estates taxes. They may not have time to blog but they may have time to vote.

The city needs to be careful....pigs get fat...hogs get slaughtered!

This proverb never fails...City Officials are getting very hoggish and may be slaughtered in the next election! Napergate or no Nagergate may not be a factor....taxes may be the dooming and overriding factor!

To: Outraged about my Real Estate Tax Bill on May 11, 2008 4:41 PM

Do you really need to live in such an expensive home?

I don't fell sorry for you at all.

$4000 last year, $4500 this year/$375 mo. really a drop in the bucket.

I bought new a long time ago. I have every necessary room a house needs. The kids have their own room. I live in Naperville, close to all the amenities. Also, I enjoy the increase market value, since I bought.

I prefer others who choose to pay more for the same amenities that I enjoy, to do so.

Nothing to complain about here, except gas prices.

What i`m really curious about the tax question that if some smart people want to remodel their Toronto houses to be more eco-friendly how it will affect the property tax bill. That`s a real burning question recently as no firm decision has been made yet about this issue. Definitely the value of the house will rise next to the fact that you can save more as well.

I wouldn't hold my breath for a slate of candidates just yet. That involves filling out paperwork and filing legal documents. We're still waiting on them to file a FOIA for something almost two years ago that they want answers to.

My bill went up too, but so did my assessment. It's still cheaper than any tax bill I paid to Uncle Sam, so for me it's all a matter of perspective.

To Outraged

I can see why you are so upset. I would be stroking out if I hit a 32K property tax bill.

I believe our property tax bills are the highest in the country (exception being New Jersey). Of all the states and cities in which I have lived, Western Suburbs of Chicagoland (for me it is Naperville as well) are BY FAR THE MOST EXPENSIVE.

Bill Gates property taxes on his 60-80 million dollar estate are around 500,000 a year. A 6 million waterfront house in Seattle/Bellevue Washington would be roughly 40K or 50K a year. Your 1.5M house would be maybe 10K to 15K a year. The downside, is that 1.5M doesnt go too far in Seattle and I think you would be very underwhelmed with what you would get (compared to what you are accustomed to) if you moved there and you probably would be missing ALOT of squarefootage and location in the tradeoff.

I am currently paying almost triple the property taxes in Naperville than I did in the Seattle Metro area when I lived there. My House/property value is roughly the same between the two cities (not amenities of course as houses are MUCH more expensive in Seattle than in western suburbs and I have a ton more goodies here than I could have ever dreamed of having in Seattle)

When I moved here three years ago, I GOT STICKER SHOCK not on the house prices (they are very reasonable) but on the yearly property taxes. Property taxes are assisting in keeping a lid on residential real estate appreciation here in the western suburbs in my opinion.

Damn, 3K a month just for property taxes, that is truly a crime!!

Sounds like you should build or buy a mansion in unincorporated Lisle.
Many people move to Naperville for the prestige address, the downtown yuppie haven, and other amenities of a well to do community. Why are they shocked when they have to pay for them?

My real estate tax bill last year was $30,665.52. This year it is $31,980.36. This is a 4.29% increase. However, I should mention I did appeal this year. Before my appeal, my tax was targeted at $36,012. That would have been a 17.43% increase. I did have some success with my appeal but not total success.

While the county states my home has a value of $1,796,700, 2 realtors I consulted with, state they would not list it for more than $1,295,000 in this market and it probably will sell for less than that if I could find a buyer in this trying market.

Of course the county is basing my higher assessment on their speculated increase from 2004-2006. The next assessment will be based on 2007-2009.

Despite my fight in Dupage my City of Naperville portion still increased from $1,806.15 to $2087.28 or 15.57% compared to only an increase of 4.29% on my overall total bill after an exhaustive fight before the Appeals Board.

It has been stated here that only the Napergatians who are allegedly middle class are upset about their real estate taxes. I consider myself upper class as far as income and wealth and I am just as upset as the Napergatians....probably more so!

I find it inexcusable that the City of Naperville would have an increase 4 times the rate of other entities in Dupage County. This indicates serious incompetence in City Hall.

While I am not a Napergatian, if those folks put up a slate that would stop government waste and bring the City of Naperville back to reasonable expenses and taxes, I would vote for their slate.

It seems like our City Officials have lost total control of their expenses. One of my friends in Lisle who lives in unincorporated Dupage actually had a tax decrease of $700 dollars on his 15,000 real estate tax bill. I asked him to double check it and get back to me since I found this hard to believe considering mine would have gone up over 5,000 dollars, if not for an appeal.

One can conclude that not all government bodies are as wasteful as the City of Naperville. Maybe this excessive Police OT combined with our subsidizing of downtown Naperville amongst other ineffiencies, is finally bringing serious consequences to our Real Estate Tax bills.

City of Naperille Officials have little time to repair all this damage before the next election. A 5% reduction of only Police OT will not unfortunately result in any significant decrease in our real estate tax bills. The City of Naperville must get serious and do a complete overhaul of our budgets. I think lay-offs are also in order. No city as large as Naperville does not have some excess fat somewhere laying around!

The City Council must find this excess fat and trim it...time is running out on them if they want to retain their seats!

Thank You!