UPDATE: Which Town's Residents Pay Most In Taxes and Fees?
If you think you pay a lot, see how your town ranks.
Ever been irate at how much you pay in taxes and fees to your suburb?
It's hard to get a handle on which towns charge the most, because some have lower property taxes, but they may be offset by higher fees for water, garbage, vehicle stickers and other charges.
The City of Park Ridge has come out with its annual ranking of what residents of 13 nearby towns pay annually for their municipal services. By considering all the monies residents pay, including property taxes and fees, it attempts to create an apples-to-apples comparison and determine who gets hit hardest in the pocketbook.
In this survey, Morton Grove residents clearly earn the most sympathy. The average Morton Grove family pays $1719.89 annually in municipal taxes and fees.
Patch originally reported that Morton Grove did not respond to the survey, but Barb Beil, who compiles the survey for the City of Park Ridge, confirmed at about noon Thursday that Morton Grove responded late. Beil, administrative assistant to the Park Ridge finance director, sent out a revised email with Morton Grove's information to the participating villages, but when the village of Niles compiled the pink chart accompanying this story, they did not include Morton Grove's information. The blue and white .pdf contains more complete information.
"It’s interesting to note that page 1 of the survey shows that Morton Grove is the most efficient municipality with a per capita cost of only $1,190 compared to Niles which is $2,137.34," wrote Ryan Horne, Morton Grove's finance director, in an email.
"Unfortunately Morton Grove has limited commercial business to offset or subsidize the costs for our residents. However, our residents should know that the Village of Morton Grove’s staff are dedicated to ensuring they get the most value for their money."
Evanston came in next, with the average resident paying $1,586.21 annually.
Des Plaines came in as the third highest, at $1,376.10. Next were Glenview, at $968, and Skokie, at $882.15.
Niles ranked the lowest, at $818. 25, a statistic touted by its officials.
“An efficient government structure, a solid commercial property tax base and a strong sales tax base are the major reasons Niles residents pay less,” Mayor Robert M. Callero said in a statement.
George Van Geem, the village manager for Niles, said the fact that the municipality has no sewer or garbage hauling charges saves residents money.
He agreed a key factor for the village's low charges is its large retail base, which generates sales tax revenue.
"In Illinois, we're probably ranked 12th or 13th in [sales] tax-generating communities," said Van Geem. "If you can pay police and fire out of sales tax, you don't have to have high property taxes."
Beil, of Park Ridge, said her city does not publish the results, but uses them internally when staff and officials compile the budget.
They look at comparables to other towns, she said, to see what other towns charge for various services.
victoria smith
6:34 am on Thursday, May 12, 2011
LOL, really? Evanston? It's a gloomy day and this is just another sorry topic about just what OUR TOWN is doing wrong!
Richard Schulte
1:06 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Victoria, no reason to be gloomy. Before you fix something, you have to know what's broken and why. This report tells us what's wrong, not that we needed the report to tell us. Now, it's official.
Unfortunately, with the price of gasoline going to $4/gallon, the economy is going to get worse. That's good news though. To quote James Carville, "It's the economy, stupid." The worse the economy gets, the more unlikely it is that we'll have to suffer through a second Obama Administration. Everything that this Administration has done has made the economy worse, starting with the $800 billion (emergency) stimulus program which was supposed to keep the unemployment rate below 8%. $800 billion wasted.
As I was walking to my bank in Skokie this morning (12 miles roundtrip), I was thinking that this seems like a replay of the late 1960's. You might recall that LBJ declined to run for a 2nd term as president. By next March, I think it will be painfully obvious that President Obama cannot win a 2nd term because of the economic train wreck which he has created and will decline to run. Like 1968, I am expecting that the Vice President (Hillary Clinton) will be the Democrat nominee.
"Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President." President Lyndon Johnson, March 31, 1968
I am not a fan of Hillary Clinton, but she beats the current occupant of the White House by a country mile.
Lauren O'Keefe
4:16 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
There's nothing wrong with being negative if you are being realistic.
Richard Schulte
7:54 am on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Thumbs up Pam!!! Excellent reporting.
Frank
3:37 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
"In 2008, the Bush Administration handed out a slew of economic stimulus packages.
Under President George Bush’s administration, the Federal government gave:
$29 billion to bail out Bear Stearns,
$178 billion to American taxpayers in the form of economic stimulus checks,
$300 billion to bail out American homeowners,
$200 billion to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
$150 billion to bailout AIG and
$700 billion to bail out banks (TARP).
Total Bush Administration Bailout – $1.557 trillion dollars i.e. $1 trillion and $557 billion dollars."
Obama messed up the economy? Really?
Richard Schulte
7:58 am on Friday, May 13, 2011
Mr. Heinrich, George Bush is no longer the president. I pretty much agree with your critique about the Bush Administration as stated above, but that was 2-1/2 years ago. The socialist health care scheme is ruining the economy and even though it hasn't begun yet, it's already a train wreck. The House passed a bill repealing Obamacare in January 2011, but the Senate hasn't and won't act on the repeal and the Socialist-in-Chief would veto the bill anyway.
Most Americans would like to leave the recession behind, but President Obama insists on prolonging the misery. Yesterday the House passed a law titled "Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act". Approval of this law by the Senate and signature by the President would immediately reduce the price of oil. With the price of gasoline at $4/gallon, the economy is going to sink again. Maybe you've got a job and don't give a damn about anybody else, but there are plenty of Americans who would like to go back to work.
We can't wait until November 2012 to go back to work. Blame the former president all you want, but that doesn't solve the problem. Right now the problem is the current occupant of the White House and Senator Reid.
allofus
8:10 am on Thursday, May 12, 2011
We live in a beach town AND a college town. We have great amenities. Of course we pay higher everything. I assume people factor in all the extra costs when they choose to buy a house here (or anywhere). If one cannot afford those costs, one should consider a different house. We are lucky in Evanston in that we can also choose to rent an apartment or buy a smaller condo as well.
Leia Wake
8:15 am on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Seems to me these figures still understate what citizens really pay. Property tax is not even half of what Evanston collects from residents. Almost everyone ends up paying the City to park in garages, lots, and metered spaces. I would also be curious to know how many parking tickets are handed out to Evanston residents. Evanston collects millions of dollars in fines every year, probably most of that is from us, so it's really a kind of tax. Also I think Evanston residents and businesses pay millions of dollars a year in City taxes on their electric, gas, phone and internet bills. How does that compare to other cities? And don't forget the "exit tax" when you sell your house (even if you stay in Evanston). Evanston takes $1500 on a median home sale. Perhaps some of our local muckrakers can ferret these numbers out.
Casey Faust
8:40 am on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Is it possible to see last years report and why was Morton Grove not included in this years report?
Sheila
9:00 am on Thursday, May 12, 2011
What a strange list of cities to compare. Our family walks to the train to spend time in Chicago. We walk to the beach or bike if we are staying there. Great restaurants, theaters, museums, community centers, art and history centers. So much for my kids to do that sometimes we just get overwhelmed with the decisions. The schools have fantastic opportunities for my kids (I'm originally from out of state and know how options are removed and how big class sizes can get!). Trees! Super fast fire response time. 4th of July! The best part is the people. Families are heavily involved in the schools and community and it's citizens are generous and active in the government. My out of town visitors always comment on the small town feel with the city experience. Yes, Evanston pays a lot of taxes (sewer charge always seems very high!) but we get so much for them. And Skokie is so close for all the chain and big stores that we want to go to and we love their pools in the summer (and so much more!). Anyone reading this knows I've missed their personal favorite parts of Evanston and that I couldn't know what it's like to live in the other cities. Those who live in Evanston are lucky to have the means. I love it here!
Sue Smith
9:32 am on Thursday, May 12, 2011
I'm not surprised that MG did not was not listed, they are fighting hard for more funds and that would just add to the tax-payers complaints about the costs as compared to our neighbors.
Lonnie wilson
11:52 am on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wow to hear most of the comments here one would have to say, lets thank our local government for the high cost of living in our tree lined town! Sad cause the other side of the coin is what do you get for your tax buck and who gets it? Id say we get very little bang for our top dollar buck, plus the cost is driving
out working class people! But then again that might not bother some ! HMMMM?
Lauren O'Keefe
12:14 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Well, then. I may as well move to Evanston for what I'm paying in taxes to live in DP. Then I could have access to the public beaches.
Steve
9:03 am on Saturday, May 14, 2011
Sure. You can have access to the public beaches...after you pay $25 for a token, per person. Our taxes apparently don't cover that.
Pam DeFiglio
12:36 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
In digging further this morning, I learned that Morton Grove did respond to the survey, but late, so they didn't make the initial reports of the results. We've updated the story with the new info--and Morton Grove now tops the list. Barb Beil of the Park Ridge finance department, who compiled the survey, initially thought MG did not respond, but in searching further, found they had and that she had re-issued an updated survey. She emphasized that it's a huge project to coordinate.
Clark Kent
11:50 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Did you ask Mr. Callero why the misnomered "Free Bus," which costs taxpayers 500,000 bananas per year (plus matching federal largesse) is still running with hardly any passengers? I'm on the street everyday and I never see more than three riders. Gasoline prices are up, and my tax dollar is subsidizing a few customers for Golf Mill et al.
Matt
12:42 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
I don't think $1500 a person/year is too much. Seems just fine to me. I'm pleased with the services I'm awarded in Evanston.
Jim Osburn
3:40 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Will next year's report factor in buying and cleaning (yes, my dear they must be regularly laundered to avoid poisoning your family) new shopping bags when Ald Ann has her way and bans paper & plastic?
Jim Aparo
7:25 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Seems that there's a page missing from the attachment. Morton Grove makes reference to an efficiency ranking? That would be interesting to see.
Neal Adams
7:29 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Hi Jim. The missing page can be found on Morton Grove's website. I would assume this means that while it may be cheap to live in Niles, the low cost provider is Morton Grove.
http://www.mortongroveil.org/resident/about/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=309
Gail Simone
7:33 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Does it really matter about efficiency? I'm more concerned about how much it costs me to live here.
Karen Berger
7:42 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
Yes, Gail, efficiency does matter. I'd rather know that every hard earned dollar that gets 'extracted' from me has been stretched as far as possible. I'm not I agree with the idea that as long as I'm not paying too much you can be a little wasteful. But that's just me.
Clark Kent
11:17 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
From time to time it is (I admit) perversely entertaining to be briefly amused, and subsequently bored, by "proper Evanstonians" who shriek, jump up and down, and stomp their feet because any Republican breathes and lives. Their tiresome, outdated litanies about the decisions of Bush suggests their reading is limited to ludicrous campaign propaganda and lefty blogs. Wanna know where your money went? Call Quinn, Grabel, Schoenberg, Shakowsky, Biss, Durbin, Madigan, Cullerton, Suffredin and Stroger (if he's still is around). Then get a hold of that hot bed of right-wingers called the Evanston City/Township Government. Ask them to tell you about how they pass budgets which spend most of everybody's tax dollars...all local decisions. You deserve what you get, and I hope such local governments continue to take your money--- you voted them in, you pay for it.
The history of the Socialist Peoples Republic of Evanston iterates H. L. Mencken's astute observation: "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." Get them thar right-wingers! At 'em, comrades, we gotta save humanity!"
The Blessed Savior in Washington has taxing "ideas" which transfer money and power from the few to the far fewer...and the salivating democratic Evanstonians clap from the sidelines, all secretly hoping that the alligator eats them last.
Clark Kent
11:45 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011
@ Mr. Heinrich, number cruncher:
Top org. PAC contributions to Obama’s 2008 campaign……
University of California $1,591,395
Goldman Sachs $994,795
Harvard University $854,747
Microsoft Corp $833,617
Google Inc $803,436
Citigroup Inc $701,290
JPMorgan Chase & Co $695,132
Time Warner $590,084
Sidley Austin LLP $588,598
Stanford University $586,557
National Amusements Inc $551,683
UBS AG $543,219
Wilmerhale Llp $542,618
Skadden, Arps et al $530,839
IBM Corp $528,822
Columbia University $528,302
Morgan Stanley $514,881
General Electric $499,130
US Government $494,820
Latham & Watkins $493,835
Recognize any names??? Who's lining up with whom? For the record (affidavit available if needed), Clark did not contribute one (appropriately termed) red cent to promote BO for Americans.
Richard Schulte
7:20 am on Sunday, May 15, 2011
Mr. Kent (a.k.a. Superman), you must be mistaken. Those evil big corporations only support Republicans. Democrats are the party of the poor and down-trodden. Democrats would never have anything to do with wealthy people and that's why they nominated John Kerry for president in 2004. Errr, I mean. . .
The corruption that is Cook County has been spread to the White House.
Steve
9:11 am on Saturday, May 14, 2011
Can we agree that most politicians are only worried about 1. making money and 2. getting re-elected.......regardless of party affiliations?
Evanston has always been a tax-first ask questions later community. Need some cash? BOOM. Property taxes go up. It seems to be the first avenue of approach to any problem here. But I'm sure glad that our morals and small-town feel are intact. That's WAY more important to me than shelling out more and more money that I don't have to pay for all of the businesses who are being driven out of town. It's re-assuring to know that I'll have such a quaint community to declare bankruptcy in.
(And for those about to post that if I don't like it, I can move out, just go ahead and write me a check for what I paid for my house and I'll gladly go.)
Lauren O'Keefe
8:41 pm on Saturday, May 14, 2011
Do you have to pay for the tokens now? That bites. When I lived there they used to be free to residents.
Richard Schulte
9:26 am on Monday, May 16, 2011
A good start would be to attend the screening of "Waiting for Superman" at the Evanston Public Library at 6:30 pm on May 25th. The film is a documentary about our public schools.
Richard Schulte
12:36 pm on Monday, May 16, 2011
Here's an idea to reduce the cost of public services in Evanston. If 67 percent of tax revenue goes to the public schools, why not automate the schools. Computers replaced typewriters. The internet replaced newspapers and TV news. Computers have replaced libraries and books at least to some extent. Computerized robots replaced auto workers. Why not use computers to teach our children?
Do we really need all of those expensive school buildings? Do we really need school buses to transport our children to and from schools? Do we really need all of those teachers?
In the private sector, we have webinars and online meetings. Why not do the same in our schools? Seems like this is an approach to reducing the cost of education, while at the same time improving education. Certainly a computer can teach our children to do arithmetic and geometry.
It would seem that this is a very "progressive" concept about how to deliver education to our children.
Not my idea. It's simply amazing what you can learn on the internet. The idea came from the following article on the internet titled "Government Schools: Antiques Preserved in Political Amber"
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/government_schools_antiques_pr.html
With Evanston being renowned for education, this sounds like the schools of the future. Why shouldn't Evanston be one of the first in the nation to implement "automated" education?
Debi Scholtes
12:47 pm on Monday, May 16, 2011
Does anyone know?...Is the "Tilted Kilt" coming to Morton Grove since Evanston didn't want them? That would be revenue.....
Richard Schulte
1:40 pm on Monday, May 16, 2011
Ms. Scholtes, I read somewhere, don't remember where now, that a Tilted Kilt was being planned for Morton Grove and that it had nothing to do with whether or not a Kilt was going to open in Evanston.
It is also my understanding that plastic bags will still be available in Morton Grove even if Evanston bans plastic bags. If the plastic bag ban is adopted, folks from Evanston will have to shop in Skokie, Morton Grove or Wilmette in order to get their plastic bags. Evanston is doing its very best to destroy every business in Evanston, but Evanston's loss is Morton Grove's gain. Funny how that works.
Richard Schulte
8:21 pm on Monday, May 16, 2011
Mr. Heinrich, just for the record, a study of the Obama/Pelosi $800 billion Stimulus Bill enacted in February 2009 addresses whether or not the spending spree accomplished anything.
Abstract: "We estimate the Act created/saved 450 thousand government-sector jobs and destroyed/forestalled one million private sector jobs." Timothy Conley, Univ. of Western Ontario and Bill Dupor, The Ohio State University
In other words, we spent $800 billion to lose 550, 000 jobs. Who in the heck spends taxpayer money to destroy jobs? Answer: Obama/Pelosi/Reid. What kind of president would spend taxpayer money to destroy jobs? It almost sounds like it was intentional. If it wasn't intentional, it certainly was incompetent.
Source: http://web.econ.ohio-state.edu/dupor/arra10_may11.pdf
Read it and weep. And you want to know why people in the private sector are ticked off. Well, now you know. The Obama Administration is incompetent (at best). And please don't start talking about the previous occupant of the White House-he's no longer the president.
Frank
3:05 pm on Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Mr. Schulte, you missed my point (as did a few others). Whoever took over the presidency after Bush (Repulican or Demorcrat) was going to feel the need to spend an enormous amount of money to "jump start" the economy. The majority of politicians are crooks in my eyes. That money didn't make it to everyone that it was supposed to. The point was that the Bush admin. was talking about using the money and then the Obama admin. came in and took over where they left off and spent the money. As for the health care debacle, it seems interesting how all the candidates were in favor of universial health care when they were running for office and it seemed like such a compassionate idea for politicians to want ALL of Americans to have health care! So now it hasn't gone as planned, and we all agree on that. I contend at this point that it is a lot easier to point out all the problems, but who is coming up with good solutions! Both parties have succeeded in polarizing the nation! We are so much into the whole Democrat vs. Republican debate right now and it is ridiculous! How come Dems and Rep. Senators and Congressmen don't ever cross their respective parties on issues? Politics has become a joke in this country! Obama is doing a mediorcre job, Bush did a horrible job, Reagan and Clinton did a mediocre job. Is there ever going to be a president that we all agree is doing a great job? Probably not. And... regardless of who is in the White House there is this TAXATION issue!
Richard Schulte
3:32 pm on Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Mr. Heinrich, thank you for your elaboration regarding your comments, but I beg to differ on a few points.
The $800 billion stimulus did indeed make it to its intended target. The purpose of the $800 billion stimulus was to create a "slush fund" to be used to reward supporters of one particular political party. The jobs of gov't employees were indeed saved, at the expense of private sector businesses and employees. While the employment rate of the private sector was nosediving, the employment rate of public sector workers was being increased. Yes, that's correct, governments were actually adding employees while the private sector was laying off employees. This is easily seen with what's happening in the public sector now. The stimulus has been blown and now public employees, including teachers, are learning about the recession-2 years later.
This was classic Chicago politics-reward your voters with money from the public trough and screw-over the voters from the other party. There is only one problem with politics as practiced in Chicago-the party in power in Chicago ran the city into the ground. Mayor Daley decided to get the hell out of Dodge before the financial disaster which he and his aldermen created blew-up. So far, Mayor Rahm seems like a breath of fresh air, but I wouldn't bet on things changing very much.
The problem with politics today is that nobody seems to have the nation's best interest at heart.
Richard Schulte
9:21 pm on Monday, May 16, 2011
Fuji, looks like the District 65 School Board meeting was this evening in Evanston. The next District 65 School Board meeting will be held on June 20th at 7 pm at 1500 McDaniel Avenue.
I'm a little confused about the districts. District 65 is the Evanston/Skokie District. I'm not sure how District 68 fits into all of this. Since my son went to Baker Demonstration School, I never really paid too much attention to the public schools. (I wouldn’t allow my son to go to elementary school in Evanston.) If I haven't already moved to Florida, I think I'll stop by to see our local gov't in action and see what actually goes on. Based upon your description above, "astonished, angry and heartbroken", I'm a little bit afraid to find out. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Richard Schulte
7:38 am on Tuesday, May 17, 2011
"And if my preliminary, incomplete and “ballpark” estimates are correct, according to the website information, Skokie School District 68 is spending about $20,000.00 per student or 30 students x $20,000.00= $600,000.00 per class."
Fuji, thank you for the education!!!
Deadcatbounce
12:51 pm on Wednesday, May 18, 2011
You need to look at this school's ISAT scores Skokie SD 68 ...
http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getSearchCriteria.aspx
The teachers and administrators in this school are paid more than state average. There are also more administrators than state average. I would also be concerned at why the Asian scores are below the state average too. School needs to give you answers
Lonnie wilson
4:58 pm on Wednesday, May 18, 2011
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH, all of you no know we dont get the bang for our buck whoever is to blame, I voted for Obama and he a crook too!
This story is about have and have nots and the haves have their S--t together!
No why we dont ? we are all to busy pointing fingers and not working for change!!
You know what the folks robbing us fear MOST ? when we start talking as if we are all in the dingy being towed by the Yacht!!