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Taxpayer appeals on the decline
The pride of Harvard Community celebrates football team’s winning streak
State multiplier could cause increase in county assessments By KEVIN P. CRAVER
By the numbers
kcraver@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – For the first time in almost a decade, the number of property owners appealing their assessments has taken a dip. But it has yet to be seen whether the state will slap another countywide multiplier on next year’s bills. About 7,000 property owners have appealed their 2013 assessments from which next year’s property-tax bills will be calculated. The total is down from the record 10,413 appeals filed last year for 2013’s bills that taxpayers just paid, Supervisor of Assessments Robert Ross said. Thursday was the last day to file an assessment appeal for property owners in Burton Township, the last of the county’s 17 townships to publish. Owners have 30 days to appeal from the publication of their townships’ assessments. The main factor Ross attributes to the dip is that assessments have lowered enough so as not to result in significant tax bill hikes. Part of the reason for the skyrocketing number of appeals in the wake of the bursting of the housing bubble was that many owners’ bills were increasing despite plummeting home values. “I think the major reason is
number of 7,000 estimated property owners that have appealed their 2013 assessments for next year’s property taxes number of appeals filed last year, which was a record
10,413
that the three years of assessment loss have more or less caught up with the market,” Ross said. However, county taxpayers again could be hit with a state multiplier – increasing everyone’s assessment by a set percentage regardless of what they did or didn’t do with their property – if the appeals that were filed lower the county’s total assessed value by 1.5 percent or more. The Illinois Department of Revenue in 2011 raised every McHenry County property’s assessment by 3.48 percent to compensate for lost value. It was the first time since 1983 that the department imposed one for McHenry County. The number of appeals and decreased county assessment value resulted in a 1.7 percent state multiplier on 2012 property-tax bills and a 2.43 percent multiplier on this year’s bills.
Photos by Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
John Schneider (left) talks with his son Zach Schneider (right), and Paul Milanko (center) on Friday at Bopp’s Tavern in Harvard. The elder Schneider is father of Harvard Hornets quarterback Peyton Schneider, and Milanko is father of Hornets offensive tackle Anthony Milanko. The Hornets completed their fifth undefeated regular season in school history this year. By JEFF ARNOLD
More inside
jarnold@shawmedia.com HARVARD – Less than a mile past where the big wooden sign boasts Harvard as being a community where success comes naturally, the signs chronicling the town’s football accomplishments begin. It starts on the digital read-out situated along Route 14 in front of the Cash Saver food outlet, where “Good Luck Hornets” comes up in red lights. Next door, Harvard State Bank’s sign displays a similar message, wishing Harvard’s beloved Hittin’
After grinding out regular season victories, Harvard has rolled through the Class 4A playoffs so far. PAGE C1
A football with the 2013 Harvard Hornets signatures sits on the counter at Bopp’s Tavern in Harvard. Bopp’s is a frequent hangout for Hornets fans and is owned by John Schneider. Hornets good luck in their next game. The love continues up
the road at the local Subway, where “Good Luck Harvard Hornets Football
Team” is spelled out underneath the chain sandwich shop’s familiar green and yellow sign. Harvard – population 9,500 according to the metal green sign that sits on the town’s eastern border – has always been a football town. For the fifth time in
See FOOTBALL, page A7
See ASSESSMENTS, page A4
McHenry girl recovering after hit-and-run
Morgan Cassidy (left), 10, of McHenry is helping take care of her sister Lola, 7, who still is recovering after being hit by a driver last weekend who fled the scene. McHenry police still are looking for the dark green sedan.
By JIM DALLKE jdallke@shawmedia.com McHENRY – Rebecca Cassidy was driving to her McHenry home when she got the call no mother ever wants to receive. Her daughter, Lola, 7, had been hit by a car while she was walking with her 10-year-old sister, Morgan, to a friend’s house. “My very first thought was that I didn’t hear [Morgan]
Photo provided by Rebecca Cassidy
LOCALLY SPEAKING
“My very first thought was that I didn’t hear [Morgan] right. She was just screaming that Lola got hit. … In the two minutes it took me to get there I honestly thought I was going to find Lola dead.” Rebecca Cassidy, mother of Lola Cassidy, who was hit by a car Nov. 9 right,” Cassidy said. “She was just screaming that Lola got hit. … In the two minutes it took me to get there I honestly thought I was going to find
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FAMILY COORDINATES GIFT EFFORTS The Gibbs family hosts a local collection site for a nationwide effort called Operation Christmas Child. Since 1993, people across the country have packed shoeboxes with small gifts, hygiene items and school supplies for children in more than 130 countries. For more, see page B1.
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Lola dead.” Lola was hit by what Morgan described as a dark green sedan on the 4100 block of West Veterans Parkway on
Nov. 9. Lola suffered a broken tibia, a concussion and several other bruises and scrapes. She was released from the hospital with a cast from her ankle to her groin, and she returned to school for the first time on Thursday. The dark green sedan fled the scene without stopping, and McHenry police still are searching for the driver. Cassidy said her daughters,
See HIT-AND-RUN, page A4