Sunday, May 26, 2013

Dan Rutherford - Illinois State Treasurer

State of Illinois is holding more than a 100 lost or forgotten military medals in its vaults under the capitol and is trying to return them to the families of veterans.

State Treasurer Dan Rutherford is asking people to take a moment over Memorial Day weekend to see if they recognize the names on a list of veterans whose military honors are held by the state.

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Click on the following if you can help:  Dan Rutherford - Illinois State Treasurer

Northwest Herald | McHenry County continues to lack affordable housing

By BRETT ROWLAND -

The fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in McHenry County was $958 in 2012, according to the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice study. That would require earning $38,320 a year – or about $18 an hour – to afford without spending more than the recommended 30 percent of income on housing

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From 2000 to 2009, the county lost nearly a third of its housing units that cost less than $500 a month. During the same period, the number of units renting for more than $1,000 a month increased by nearly 200 percent, according to the housing study…..

High property taxes and limited space for affordable developments have contributed to the county’s dearth of affordable housing.

The annual median property-tax levy for a home at the county’s median value is nearly $5,000, or 6 percent of median household income, according the study. Only 30 other counties in the country have a higher property tax as percentage of median income, according to the report

 

Click on the following for more details  Northwest Herald | McHenry County continues to lack affordable housing

Taxes go way up and way down in 2 Boone County taxing districts - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Jennifer Wheeler
 
Decreased property values have not stopped most of Boone County’s taxing bodies from requesting more money from property owners.

Thirty-five of the 51 taxing bodies – 68 percent – asked for more money than they did last year while just 14 asked for less, according to a Rockford Register Star analysis. Two entities were unchanged.

Here’s a look at two compelling rising and falling tax trends in the county, and the reasons behind those changes.

BELVIDERE TOWNSHIP

Township leaders gave residents a financial break this year by drastically lowering property taxes by more than 15 percent.

BELVIDERE

A 2012 computing error that cost Belvidere leaders hundreds of thousands of dollars in property tax revenue will hit residents’ wallets this year.

The city only received $4.1 million of its $4.3 million levy request last year. Leaders expected to receive the full amount since it was no longer under tax caps.

To make up for the shortfall, officials agreed to levy the lost $202,000 and an additional $140,000 to cover this cycle’s expenses.

Click on the following for all of the detailsTaxes go way up and way down in 2 Boone County taxing districts - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star