Dan Patlak's Letter To The Editor In The Southtown Star

Two property tax changes should be repealed.

Two changes recently made to the property tax code by Gov. Pat Quinn and the state Legislature are bad for taxpayers and should be repealed.

The first change is a "Senior Penalty" requiring that Senior Exemptions be renewed every year. Evidently, our lawmakers believe that once homeowners turn 65 they may get younger. The requirement for seniors to renew each year is an unnecessary burden on seniors as well as the county assessor's office, which must process paperwork year after year for taxpayers who already have proven they are eligible for the exemption. The result is more administrative expenses, more missed exemptions, more refund applications and more confusion for seniors.

The second change is a reduction in the time for overdue property taxes to be sold to property tax buyers. Until the recent change, property owners in distress had a full year before their taxes were sold. Now that time period has been reduced to 90 days. In a time when the official unemployment rate is hovering at 10 percent and the real unemployment rate is closer to 15 percent, our lawmakers have made it easier for a homeowner to lose his residence for failure to fully pay his property taxes.

While this legislation may provide taxing districts with more revenue more quickly and provide professional tax buyers an opportunity to make more money, it also places an unfair burden on citizens who already are under tremendous financial stress because of declining market values and an inhospitable economy.

The first order of business for our Legislature when it reconvenes should be to do right by its constituents and repeal these two errors in judgment.

Dan Patlak
Candidate for Cook County Board of Review
Wheeling Township assessor
http://www.electpatlak.com
http://www.facebook.com/DanPatlak

A Note from Dan Patlak

With unprecedented control of county government, the Chicago Democrat Machine has been in a position for many years to manipulate the property tax system in order to promote their political agenda. The Board of Review has three Democrat Machine commissioners running its' operations. Taxpayers need a "Canary in the Coal Mine" (a Board Commissioner from the minority Party) to sound a warning when our property tax system is being used to reward political supporters and punish adversaries.

Please join me in this endeavor by contributing to my campaign and signing up as a volunteer.

Sincerely, Dan Patlak