I sent out a mass email to my constituents this past Friday that spoke about some of my efforts towards government consolidation and lowering our property tax burden. I also included a flyer for our next property tax appeal seminar as the picture for this post.
For those of you who are not signed up for the email blast, I wanted to include it on my website as well. If you would like to be included in future emails, please go to my website
scroll to the bottom, and fill out the “Stay Informed” section. Thank you.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
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Friends,
My name is Jonathan Carroll, and I’m your State Representative. Thank you for signing up for our email service, I hope to continue to use this newsletter as a way of consistently updating my constituents on what is going on in Springfield and around our district. The 57th District is comprised of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Glenview, Mount Prospect, Northbrook, Palatine, Prospect Heights, and Wheeling. We have been doing a lot of exciting things around property taxes, and I wanted to write you today to let you know what I’ve been working on with my colleagues.
As many of your are aware, a miscalculation in the Senior Tax Freeze negatively impacted low-income seniors in Wheeling Township. Hoping to help remedy this, I would like to inform our Wheeling Township residents that we are hosting a Property Tax Appeal seminar on July 24th, at 6pm. This will be at the Prospect Heights Public Library, we should have plenty of room, but please show up early for sign-in and seating. Please be sure to bring your latest property tax bill, as well as a valid state ID. Experts from the Township & County Assessor’s offices will be on-hand to answer your questions, and walk you through the process of filing a successful appeal. If you bring the required documentation, you will walk out of the event having submitted your own appeal! This cuts out the lawyers, and maximize your tax savings. These events are wonderful, we just hosted another for Northfield township a few weeks ago. There will be a promotional flyer for the event at the bottom of this email.
Also, our Springfield team has informed me that we have over five-hundred constituents who are eligible for the Senior Property Tax Exemption, but did not sign up to receive it. My team and I are working on a letter, to go out next week, to each and every senior who is eligible. I’m doing everything I can to lower property taxes, so I want to make sure that we are maximizing what is already available to my constituents. For ease of use, I’m including a link to the Cook County Treasurer’s website that lists seniors that are eligible, but are not currently signed up for either the Senior Homestead Exemption or the Senior Freeze Exemptions. This is specific to our House District, but please let your friends know to go to the Cook County Treasurer’s website and check their status.
https://cookcountytreasurer.com/pdfs/exemptionanalysis/StateRep/57.pdf
I’m also excited to tell you about some bipartisan legislation that is currently sitting on the Governor’s desk. House Bill 348 is one of our first big victories towards government consolidation. This bill amends the Township Code. Using McHenry County as a pilot program, we’re allowing voters to share their voice on whether or not they deem layers of government to be redundant. I need to get into the weeds, for a moment, and share with you some data. Texas currently has the second most individual units of government, sitting at approximately 5,000. Illinois, despite having less than half of the population of Texas, has nearly 7,000 individual units of government. These are contributing to our spending issues, our pension issues, and arguably, are unnecessary. McHenry County voters will now have the opportunity to decide, presuming Governor Pritzker signs the bill into law.
I pride myself on being able to reach across the aisle, and build support on common sense legislation. I worked tirelessly with all of my colleagues, regardless of party, to get House Bill 348 passed through both houses. My Republican colleague from Barrington Hills, State Representative David McSweeney, was kind enough to say the following, shortly after the bill passed. “Rep. Jonathan Carroll is a true champion for property tax relief for his residents and the rest of Illinois’ taxpayers. I have worked closely with him on important reforms that consolidate unnecessary units of local government and cut property taxes. I look forward to our continued work to solve Illinois’ biggest problems.” I would now ask that you reach out to the Governor, and ask him to sign this important, common sense legislation.
Thank you for taking the time to read our update. I hope my writing has conveyed to you that I am very excited about some of the reforms that we have been proposing and passing. I came to this office, like you, getting increasingly dismayed by our share of taxes. I will continue to work with my colleagues towards lowering our property tax burden, and making sure that our state is on the right financial path forward.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
