$30 million dollar bond

[markberwyn]

What do you feel is an appropriate tax rate for you to pay? You're tracking tax rates very closely, so you must have an idea in your head.

One that doesn't rise so much that I will soon be taxed out of a home I lived in for almost 23 years.  Riverside's tax rate went from 10.947 in 2012 to 12.563 in 2016.  Brookfield's went from 11.589 in 2012 to 13.279 in 2016.  Again, in that same time frame Berwyn's went from 12.337 to 15.471.

If this is the logic you're going to cling to, move to Winnetka. The rate there is 7.899.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

What do you feel is an appropriate tax rate for you to pay? You're tracking tax rates very closely, so you must have an idea in your head.

One that doesn't rise so much that I will soon be taxed out of a home I lived in for almost 23 years.  Riverside's tax rate went from 10.947 in 2012 to 12.563 in 2016.  Brookfield's went from 11.589 in 2012 to 13.279 in 2016.  Again, in that same time frame Berwyn's went from 12.337 to 15.471.

If this is the logic you're going to cling to, move to Winnetka. The rate there is 7.899.

For the vast majority of middle class families, that is the logic.  Income certainly not rising anywhere near what the taxes are rising.  Winnetka, really?  Yes, I've been living in Berwyn all this time when I could have been living on the North Shore.

[markberwyn]

Winnetka, really?  Yes, I've been living in Berwyn all this time when I could have been living on the North Shore.

You get my point, then.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

Mrs. N,  one cannot look at tax rates in a vacuum. Tax rates alone are not going to give you the full picture without knowing collective EAV of a taxing body (rather than an individual house) or without knowing the levy.

  Let me repeat - The levy and the collective assessed value of the taxing body determine the tax rate. 

Here is the example - Assume two towns levy $20 million dollars and both towns have 10,000 residents.  That is an average of $2,000 per house.

  Also assume that the average house in Town A is assessed at $150,000 and the average house in Town B is assessed at $100,000.  Town A has an EAV of $1.5 billion and Town B has a assessed value of $1 billion.    Town A will have a tax rate that is 66% of the tax rate of Town B even though the average tax per household is the same.

What is the PIN # of this house in Brookfield?  What is the average assessed value of a house in Brookfield versus the assessed value of a house in Berwyn?

  FYI, I worked with someone who grew up in Brookfield (near 47th street near the Lyons border) in a small 2 bedroom raised ranch.  The homes in that part of Brookfield are similar to homes in south Berwyn (if not smaller).

She doesn't care about any of this, Ted, not really---she just resents paying for education. She's said on this board before that having to pay for her own daughter's education made her sick to her stomach.

FYI, I voted yes on the District 100 referendum. 

[markberwyn]

FYI, I voted yes on the District 100 referendum.

And you've done nothing but whine about how much you're taxed ever since.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

FYI, I voted yes on the District 100 referendum.

And you've done nothing but whine about how much you're taxed ever since.

I'm certainly not the only homeowner who is perturbed over the ever increasing taxes.  I can't wait to see what will happen when some of the new homeowners on my block get their new tax bills.  The hospital owned the houses and had the assessed valuation reduced to a ridiculously low amount because of course a for profit entity certainly couldn't afford what the rest of us have to pay.  One of the newly rehabbed homes which previously had taxes of $2900 now has 2016 taxes of a little over $10000.  Another up for sale is showing taxes of $2200 when the taxes due are $7200.  Those are without a homeowners exemption but that is only about $1100.  The new assessment with taxes due next August has gone way up on these homes.  I wonder how many new foreclosures I will be seeing within a year or two.

[markberwyn]

Unbelievable, this attitude. Real Berwynites used to take pride in taking care of their communities and their schools. Now there's this weak-kneed "lowur muh taxes!" keening and whining about paying into the system, and scaremongering about foreclosures whenever the tax rate ticks up, even a little---this after decades of the community's refusal to pay into the schools.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

Unbelievable, this attitude. Real Berwynites used to take pride in taking care of their communities and their schools. Now there's this weak-kneed "lowur muh taxes!" keening and whining about paying into the system, and scaremongering about foreclosures whenever the tax rate ticks up, even a little---this after decades of the community's refusal to pay into the schools.

Wow, now I know how full of BS you are and you know nothing of REAL BERWYNITES.  Real Berwynites when I moved here were people who saved their money, went out to eat not often and bought stuff on sale and had gardens full of stuff they canned.  The community's refusal to pay into the schools stems from a mistrust of the people who were elected and their real masters.  Obviously, that chain has been broken in District 100.  When will it be broken in District 201? 

[markberwyn]

Unbelievable, this attitude. Real Berwynites used to take pride in taking care of their communities and their schools. Now there's this weak-kneed "lowur muh taxes!" keening and whining about paying into the system, and scaremongering about foreclosures whenever the tax rate ticks up, even a little---this after decades of the community's refusal to pay into the schools.

Wow, now I know how full of BS you are and you know nothing of REAL BERWYNITES.  Real Berwynites when I moved here were people who saved their money, went out to eat not often and bought stuff on sale and had gardens full of stuff they canned.  The community's refusal to pay into the schools stems from a mistrust of the people who were elected and their real masters.  Obviously, that chain has been broken in District 100.  When will it be broken in District 201?

I know, I know....when the elected officials in Berwyn and Cicero are absolutely perfect, the citizens---who elected those same people---will stop treating nickels like manhole covers and help the schools. In the meantime, kids' education needs to be back-burnered, and supporting it must be done in a spirit of grudging resentment.

What was the tax rate in Berwyn in the good old days when all the restaurants failed because nobody went to them? Did people resent educating their children back then, too?

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

Unbelievable, this attitude. Real Berwynites used to take pride in taking care of their communities and their schools. Now there's this weak-kneed "lowur muh taxes!" keening and whining about paying into the system, and scaremongering about foreclosures whenever the tax rate ticks up, even a little---this after decades of the community's refusal to pay into the schools.

Wow, now I know how full of BS you are and you know nothing of REAL BERWYNITES.  Real Berwynites when I moved here were people who saved their money, went out to eat not often and bought stuff on sale and had gardens full of stuff they canned.  The community's refusal to pay into the schools stems from a mistrust of the people who were elected and their real masters.  Obviously, that chain has been broken in District 100.  When will it be broken in District 201?

I know, I know....when the elected officials in Berwyn and Cicero are absolutely perfect, the citizens---who elected those same people---will stop treating nickels like manhole covers and help the schools. In the meantime, kids' education needs to be back-burnered, and supporting it must be done in a spirit of grudging resentment.

What was the tax rate in Berwyn in the good old days when all the restaurants failed because nobody went to them? Did people resent educating their children back then, too?

Restaurants and schools in the same equation?  WTF are you talking about?  Obviously, you have a personal grudge here.  If you went to school in Berwyn back in the day, I would say your parents obviously get their tax dollars worth.

[Ted]

What do you feel is an appropriate tax rate for you to pay? You're tracking tax rates very closely, so you must have an idea in your head.

One that doesn't rise so much that I will soon be taxed out of a home I lived in for almost 23 years.  Riverside's tax rate went from 10.947 in 2012 to 12.563 in 2016.  Brookfield's went from 11.589 in 2012 to 13.279 in 2016.  Again, in that same time frame Berwyn's went from 12.337 to 15.471.

If this is the logic you're going to cling to, move to Winnetka. The rate there is 7.899.

For the vast majority of middle class families, that is the logic.  Income certainly not rising anywhere near what the taxes are rising.  Winnetka, really?  Yes, I've been living in Berwyn all this time when I could have been living on the North Shore.

Mrs. N, MarkBerwyn's  example is the point I am trying to make.  More affluent communities have lower tax rates and poorer communities have higher tax rates because tax rates are in inverse proportion (for the most part) to property values.

  The fallacy of looking at assessements alone and then multiplying by the tax rate in a township is that it is not valid to compare assessments across townships.  Even within a township it is dicey.

  What $140,000 will buy in Berwyn is not the same as what $140,000 will buy in Oak Park or Riverside.

  I will use my house as an example.  The assessor's office fair market value for my house is $140,000.  It is a corner house with a 2 and 1/2 car garage, a quarter lot next to it, a finished basement, a walk up upstairs and two bathrooms.  It is a block from the metra station.  That is what is worth $140,000 in Berwyn in the area where I live.

  How much do you think I can get for $140,000 in Oak Park or Riverside.  Not much.  I doubt I could even get a studio condo in Oak Park for $140,000, much less a corner house with a 2 and 1/2 car garage near the metra for $140,000.

  So, if you want to say an assessed property with the same assessed value in Oak Park pays less than a property with the same assessed value in Berwyn because of the tax rate, you have to realize that that property in Oak Park does not have the same characteristics and is probably much smaller.

  Does that make sense?  The Trib did an article about 3 to 4 weeks ago about the goofy way the assessor's office does assessments.

But, again, the fallacy of your argument is that $140,000 in Berwyn buys a bigger house that what you can get for $140,000 in Oak Park or Riverside.

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

What do you feel is an appropriate tax rate for you to pay? You're tracking tax rates very closely, so you must have an idea in your head.

One that doesn't rise so much that I will soon be taxed out of a home I lived in for almost 23 years.  Riverside's tax rate went from 10.947 in 2012 to 12.563 in 2016.  Brookfield's went from 11.589 in 2012 to 13.279 in 2016.  Again, in that same time frame Berwyn's went from 12.337 to 15.471.

If this is the logic you're going to cling to, move to Winnetka. The rate there is 7.899.

For the vast majority of middle class families, that is the logic.  Income certainly not rising anywhere near what the taxes are rising.  Winnetka, really?  Yes, I've been living in Berwyn all this time when I could have been living on the North Shore.

Mrs. N, MarkBerwyn's  example is the point I am trying to make.  More affluent communities have lower tax rates and poorer communities have higher tax rates because tax rates are in inverse proportion (for the most part) to property values.

  The fallacy of looking at assessements alone and then multiplying by the tax rate in a township is that it is not valid to compare assessments across townships.  Even within a township it is dicey.

  What $140,000 will buy in Berwyn is not the same as what $140,000 will buy in Oak Park or Riverside.

  I will use my house as an example.  The assessor's office fair market value for my house is $140,000.  It is a corner house with a 2 and 1/2 car garage, a quarter lot next to it, a finished basement, a walk up upstairs and two bathrooms.  It is a block from the metra station.  That is what is worth $140,000 in Berwyn in the area where I live.

  How much do you think I can get for $140,000 in Oak Park or Riverside.  Not much.  I doubt I could even get a studio condo in Oak Park for $140,000, much less a corner house with a 2 and 1/2 car garage near the metra for $140,000.

  So, if you want to say an assessed property with the same assessed value in Oak Park pays less than a property with the same assessed value in Berwyn because of the tax rate, you have to realize that that property in Oak Park does not have the same characteristics and is probably much smaller.

  Does that make sense?  The Trib did an article about 3 to 4 weeks ago about the goofy way the assessor's office does assessments.

But, again, the fallacy of your argument is that $140,000 in Berwyn buys a bigger house that what you can get for $140,000 in Oak Park or Riverside.

The truth of my argument is no matter what my $140,000 assessment is in Berwyn it does not buy me Oak Park or Riverside schools, does it?  However much the assessments goes up here, I'm sure I still live in Berwyn.

[Ted]

The truth of my argument is no matter what my $140,000 assessment is in Berwyn it does not buy me Oak Park or Riverside schools, does it?  However much the assessments goes up here, I'm sure I still live in Berwyn.

I agree.  But, we don't pay the high taxes that Riverside or Oak Park levy for their school districts either.

[markberwyn]

I guess Mrs. Northsider's dream that a Morton grad getting into Harvard would help improve the schools didn't quite pan out. Maybe the schools actually need money.

[berwyn senator]

I have a hard time believing money is always the answer togged schools.May be politics should be removed period!

[chandasz]

I have a hard time believing money is always the answer togged schools.May be politics should be removed period!

Hard to hire and retain quality teachers without money.... right?

[berwyn senator]

Sorry for the mistake! Teachers teach because they want to not because of pay levels.Plenty of good teachers are run out of the public school system.Why do they go into teaching at a private school? I have spoken to many and the majority have the same answer I love to teach. Not having to deal with Unions,politics,the children come first.

[markberwyn]

Sorry for the mistake! Teachers teach because they want to not because of pay levels.Plenty of good teachers are run out of the public school system.Why do they go into teaching at a private school?

I know! I know! It's because teachers get paid less at private schools, right? They simply get to indulge their love of teaching without the distractions of money.

[markberwyn]

Which private, nonunionized school awarded you your Master's Degree, senator?

[berwyn senator]

Don't be an asshole!!!!!!!! Grow up!!!!!!