Recently the Landmark posted an article about discrepancies on referenda ballot questions for Suburban Cook County. The article informed readers about how the Riverside-Brookfield Township High School District 208 referendum ballot estimates an annual real estate tax increase substantially lower than what it would be in actuality.
Chapman and Cutler, the law firm hired to write the referendum ballot question, did not use the state equalizer in the calculations. Following is a formula for calculating residential real estate taxes based on information provided by District 208 and confirmed by the Township Assessor’s Association.
Market Value $100,000
Multiplied by
Level of Assessment 10%
Equals
Assessed Value $10,000
Multiplied by
State Equalizer 3.3701
Equals
Equalized Assessed Value $33,701
Multiplied by
Increase in Tax Rate .44%
Equals
Tax Increase without Exemptions $148.28
Referendum law provides that tax estimates on ballots are to be calculated “without regard to any property tax exemptions.” For practical purposes, we can make an adjustment to include the minimum amount of homeowner exemption in Cook County:
Equalized Assessed Value from above $33,701
Less
Homeowner Exemption $ 6,000
Equals
Equalized Assessed Value After exemptions $27,701
Multiplied by
Increase in Tax Rate .44%
Equals
Tax Increase with Homeowner Exemption $121.88
Remember exemptions vary for every homeowner. The amount of additional tax would decrease with additional exemptions like the senior or extended homeowner exemptions as they would further reduce the equalized assessed value.
I hope this information will be helpful to the voters of Riverside Township. I encourage all registered voters to vote in this and every election.
Fran Sitkiewicz
Riverside Township Assessor
