By ALEX ORTIZ Email May 8, 2020
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Will County Board members have begun discussing options for providing some property tax relief for residents hit hard by the economic downturn caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
As property tax bills already have been sent out to residents, it’s proving difficult for the county to do much to lessen the burden either because of state law or logistics.
The Will County Treasurer’s Office processes and collects property tax bills not only for the county but for more than 270 other taxing bodies, so the majority of the money the county collects is not its own. School districts, other municipalities, fire protection districts, townships and others also tax properties to get revenue.
Treasurer Tim Brophy said he hears from residents everyday inquiring about possible relief, but he’s told them it’s not that simple.
“The tax itself can’t be discounted,” Brophy said. “[The county] can’t give away other people’s money.”
The board also is not legally allowed to implement policies that target only homeowners and not large businesses for relief.
The county does control imposing late fees on residents who miss the first installment deadline June 3. So the Finance Committee on Tuesday voted to recommend waiving late fees on the first installment for taxpayers who meet one of four conditions:
• The taxpayer must have been terminated from a job after March 9 after having been employed there for at least 90 days.
• The taxpayer experienced a 20% or greater reduction in income.
• The taxpayer has been unable to collect at least 80% or more of rent for property they own from March 1 through May 31.
• The taxpayer has businesses that have had to shut down as nonessential and did not receive federal aid through the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program.
Any resident seeking the relief likely would have to sign an affidavit. This change also requires approval from the full Will County Board, which has a virtual meeting scheduled for May 21 and could change specific provisions.
Mary Tatroe, chief of the civil division of the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, warned the committee that such authority was not explicitly given to county governments in state statute. The law does allow for relief if property were damaged or adversely affected, she said.
The warning appears to have given pause to some board members.
Will County Board Speaker Denise Winfrey, D-Joliet, said she was “not in favor of putting anything in place that’s not in line” with advice from the state’s attorney’s office.
Minority Leader Mike Fricilone, R-Homer Glen, said he was worried about legal trouble and saw multiple potential pitfalls with such a policy. He said large businesses can be “smart” and find ways to get out of paying their taxes on time. If that leads to losses or delays in revenue, government bodies anticipating the revenue might suffer.
While Fricilone didn’t know if he’d vote for the recommendation at the full board meeting, he argued the larger point is that residents simply want lower property taxes in general. He said the board’s Republican caucus would continue to work to lower property taxes going forward.
“[Residents are] asking for their taxes to go down,” he said. “That’s where you vote for the people who want taxes to go down.”
However, some members, such as Jackie Traynere, D-Bolingbrook, thought such a narrow change made sense because residents are hurting during such tough economic times.
“It’s a minor amount of relief,” she said. “It’s the most we can do.”
