On top of having some of the highest property taxes in the country, some Lake County residents also got notices this spring billing them for the wrong amount.
Hundreds of Lake County residents received tax bills that improperly demanded too much money, thanks to new computer software that didn’t include exemptions some homeowners earned, according to the Daily Herald.
About 350 homeowners in Wauconda Township didn’t get the home-improvement exemption that should have been applied, resulting in improperly high property tax bills. Another 290 homeowners improperly received homestead exemptions, culminating in lower tax bills.
The error is mostly due to new software system the county assessor’s office rolled out in 2018. Last year, 3,200 property owners, or 1 percent of all property taxpayers, also received faulty tax assessments.
The erroneous tax bills were sent May 1, and recipients of the miscalculated assessments have been sent corrected bills and given an extension to pay them, the county’s new chief assessment officer, Bob Glueckert, told the Daily Herald.
The $8,990 tax bill for an average Lake County home is higher than almost 99 percent of U.S. counties. Lake County residents have voiced their disapproval with the tax burden, voting in November against a referendum asking about a statewide property tax.
Despite the tax burden, home sales in Lake County have been up this spring, a rare bright spot for the local housing market.
[Daily Herald] — Joe Ward