By Carol McGowan
Property taxes. Just the mention of them can fire up a conversation quicker than you can start a nice one in a fire pit on a cool night.
Many understand them, but some have no idea where their money is going.
A lot of people think that the town, village or city where they live is responsible for their increasing property tax bill. Many folks are just wondering where all the money is being spent.
Lyons Township Assessor Patrick Hynes and his staff have heard it all and are trying, and willing to help people make sense of it all.
Your township assessor’s office is a voice between you and the Cook County property tax system.
Hynes is taking it further, and welcoming any municipality, or group, to have him come out and explain to try and make sense of it all.
Hynes said the best part is that at just about every place he goes, he leaves saving at least one taxpayer money.
“I’m willing to go wherever people in the township want to listen to me. If there’s a municipality, or community group, I’d love to come out and try and help people save money. It’s what we’re here for.”
Hynes then joked and pointed to a note hanging near his desk.
“We (he and his staff) keep a running total of who saves taxpayers the most money. We love to watch the numbers going up!”
The Township Assessor’s office has recently started offering Mobile Taxpayer Services.
Beyond regular hours at their office in the Lyons Township building on Joliet Road in Countryside, they have recently been in Indian Head Park, Countryside, Willow Springs, Summit, and Bridgeview.
At just one of those stops, Hynes was able to save one taxpayer in attendance over $5,000 in property tax payments.
At another, he informed a family of exemptions they were missing out on, and saved them thousands.
Those are just a couple of examples, and there are many more.
When I went to meet with Hynes to get more information about the mobile services they are offering, he was finishing up a Zoom with others on how they can save folks money.
Hynes knows that many properties in Lyons Township aren’t assessed or valued properly, and that costs the taxpayer much more than it should.
“We can go back a few years to help taxpayers recoup some of that if possible.”
Hynes showed me a tax bill that had $0.00 payment due on a property in Burr Ridge. The homeowner would not have known, or have gotten credit had he not had the assessor’s office look into it and help him.
Many have the notion that there’s nothing that can be done for them, and that’s not always true.
Some believe they have to hire an attorney to help them, that’s also false.
“We love to advocate for our township residents, it’s what we are here for,” said Hynes.
“I go out and knock on doors, but some people are leery of that. We strongly encourage any Lyons Township taxpayer that may have questions to call our office in Countryside, or come by and see us. Better yet, if you have a group, let us come out and see you.”
Hynes’ office sent out a release last week saying the next installment for Cook County taxes are expected to be mailed out next month.
“For the first time in years, second installment property tax bills in Cook County are expected to be on time! Tax bills are expected to mail July 1 with an August 1 due date. Please plan accordingly as this may come as a surprise to some taxpayers who have come to expect due dates that have been considerably later than the August 1 statutory deadline.”
Nice to see a government office that works for the citizens!