From Sunday’s print edition:
160,000 homeowners forgo small rebates
Property-tax refunds, linked to parking meter sale, drew only
36,600 applications
More than 160,000 Chicago homeowners left money on the table — in
some cases, as much as $200 — by failing to apply for a property-tax
relief program that Mayor Richard Daley pushed to be included in this
year’s budget.
City Hall said about 200,000 homeowners could apply
for the money, but records show only 36,621 applications were filed by
the March 31 deadline.
That means the city stands to pay out less
than $4.5 million of the $35 million set aside for the payments, which
start at $25. There also will be promotional and administrative costs.
So far, less than $900,000 has been paid out to 6,991 homeowners,
officials said.
The money is coming from Daley’s much-criticized
$1.15 billion lease of the city parking meter system. When Daley
promoted the property-tax relief idea last fall, some aldermen
questioned the value of spending millions on a program they said would
do little, if anything, to help cash-strapped homeowners.
"It was a
political gimmick, and the voters saw it for what it was," said Ald.
Joe Moore, 49th. "Most people didn’t even see any value in taking the
time to apply for it."
Daley has been criticized by some aldermen
and budget watchdogs for relying too heavily on the parking meter
proceeds to balance recent budgets. Much of the one-time windfall was
supposed to be set aside. So, some aldermen aren’t lamenting the small
number of property-tax rebate applications.
"I guess the good news
is that we didn’t spend as much of our reserves on this gimmick," Moore
said. "The bad news is the mayor probably has more to raid for next
year."
The administration, however, is satisfied with the number
of applicants to the heavily promoted program, said a spokesman for the
Office of Budget and Management.
"You can’t expect everyone who is
potentially eligible to make an application, and we’re satisfied with
the results," spokesman Pete Scales said. "Thousands of people got
property-tax relief."
Aldermen initially balked at approving the
program, but the opposition withered after Daley suggested homeowners
could politically punish aldermen who voted against it.
Daley said
it is designed to blunt the impact of the phasing out of a state law
that limited property-tax increases caused, in part, by rising home
values.
That break, which ended this year in Chicago, was recently
reauthorized by the General Assembly, in an effort fraught with
political implications as November elections approach. It awaits the
signature of Gov. Pat Quinn.