I think these robberies are being kept way too quiet. I haven’t seen anything in the NW Herald about them or in other news media.
Why isn’t Del Webb organizing a Neighborhood Watch Group?
What about hiring a security guard to patrol the area?Â
Now these robberies have become more frequent. That means the robbers are becoming complacent. And arrogant, as they (the robberies) are done in broad daylight!
Diane Farina
Sun City Resident
Excessive Taxation
As a resident of Del Webb for 11 years, I find I must speak out against what has become excessive, unfair, and usurious property taxation on residents of this 55+ community.
Excessive: Property values on Del Webb homes are down a minimum of 15% from what we originally paid. On some homes that percentage reaches 30%. Property market values have declined for each of the last three years. Yet our assessed values have increased each of those three years. Where is the logic in that?
Unfair: The same size home, and in some cases identical model homes, are taxed differently in McHenry and Kane counties. Where is the fairness of that?
Usurious: Has Del Webb become the cash cow of the larger community? People who have retired, most of whom are living on whatâs left of pensions, profit sharing, and Social Security seem to me to be the least able to bear this kind of tax burden. Much has been said about our civic responsibilities to support schools, even when we no longer have school-aged children and have already contributed our share. I personally believe we all need to contribute, just not disproportionately. My mother lived in Sun City, AZ, where that community was able to engineer a tax exemption regarding schools, and consequently real estate taxes for seniors are less than a quarter of what we are paying on same size homes. Perhaps we need to look into that if the taxing bodies are unable to work out something more equitable.
Results of excessive taxation are visible. There has been an increase in foreclosures and short sales of homes. Clearly a number of people who bought here were not able to sustain living here. And home sales are more sluggish here than anywhere else in northern Illinois. I have had my house on the market since March. In almost six months I have had exactly two showings and no offers. During open houses and in phone inquiries to my real estate agent, the first question is, âWhat are the taxes?â Upon hearing the answer, many chose not to even come out or look through the house. Who would want to buy into such an expensive community, tax-wise? Long-term implications would point to the decline of Del Webb. Witness the surge of houses that went on the market immediately following the receipt of our last tax bill! It would seem to me that the trajectory we are on leads exactly to that outcome. Is that the intent of the taxing bodies? A recent AARP Magazine article ranked the top 10 worst states to retire in. Illinois was #1, followed closely by California. It cited corruption, mismanagement, and excessive taxation as the reasons. It seems to me the taxing bodies of this retirement community are perpetuating that image.
To those who have not looked into this as I have had to do in order to sell my house, I urge you to go to www.graftontownship.us or to the Rutland Township website and compare the assessed value of your home to what you paid, and then look at recent sales of homes similar to yours and see what your potential market value is. It might surprise you.
We need more fair taxation that is reflective of current market values. We need that NOW.
Kathleen M. Voss
I don’t know where to begin with my response to Herman Faubl’s letter regarding the Grafton Township assessments. First of all, it’s the McHenry County assessor who increased the assessments for Grafton Township. When Mr. Faubl says, “let there be peace and acceptance of a correction of an error” – that is absurd. There is no correction of an error when my total tax bill goes up more than 10 percent for 2010, and I can now look forward to another increase based on my current assessment of more than 10 percent for this year.
Comparing tax bills to a gas bill was also more than ludicrous. I did not underpay my taxes in 2011. I paid more than my share, and any increase is not due to any underpayment for this year. I could go on and on with more facts and figures, but the bottom line is people should perhaps do a little more research before telling me that I will in effect have to “suck it up” with regards to property taxes.
My advice to all Grafton Township residents is to “Protest, protest, protest!”
Len Di Iorio
Neighborhood 11
Dear Fellow Resident,
I am a realtor who lives here in Sun City, and I conduct most of my work within the community. For more than three years, our community has seen a continuous erosion of pricing. I mention all of this because the assessments for 2011 in Grafton Township, McHenry County, have been published. After years of steady increases in assessments, the Assessor, and more importantly McHenry County, has seen fit to increase assessments in 2011. In the past, I have heard by way of explanation from the Assessorâs office that assessments are done on a three-year average. But by the end of this year, Sun City homes will have seen four continuous years of price declines on the re-sale market. As a further explanation, I have heard from the county assessorâs office that there was a problem with the way assessments were determined in the Kane County portion of our community. Yes, I am aware of the problem in Rutland and Hampshire township assessments last year. However, I and many of my neighbors in Grafton Township also saw an increase in taxes for 2010. During some of the heated discussions regarding the Kane County increases, the fact that there were few decreases in assessments in the Grafton portion of our subdivision was overlooked. I find it an outrage that we in Sun City are seeing an increase in our assessments for the current year when prices have been dropping for four years. I suggest each homeowner visit the Grafton Township website at www.graftontownship.us/assessor and review what the county feels the value of their home is and remember that homes/townhomes are selling for less than the original price paid. If you find that your home is over assessed, click on the âformâ tab and print the complaint form (Pages 1 â 3 only). Complete the form, following the instructions carefully. Organize your neighborhood to protest. Talk to your neighborhood representative about having a special meeting with tax assessments being the sole topic. Let the county assessor know that what they are doing to our community is not right.
Thank you in advance,
Rob Auld
Resident/Realtor
Hi, neighbors –
We wanted to distribute to the residents of N9 what information we have about the recent break-ins in the community. A total of five break-ins exhibiting the same M.O. have occurred so far this year.
Commencing in April, there has been one in each of the last five months. All have occurred between the 18th and the 22nd, all between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Access has been attempted through windows but generally has been through the front door, which was forcibly opened while the deadbolt was set. The intruder has concentrated primarily on the master bedroom, with their target being cash, jewelry, and watches. In every case, neither owners nor pets have been in residence. The latest was in N4 on August 18, when the owners returned from a brief shopping trip to Walmart to find their home burglarized. The circumstances seem to indicate that an element of reconnaissance and surveillance is present or that the burglar has been extremely lucky in his timing. The regularity of the incidents is striking.
Given this regularity and uniformity, there are at least a few things we can do to make our homes a more difficult target. Since all burglaries have occurred in the middle of the day, the first instinct of installing motion activated security lighting would not seem to be effective. Beefing up the security of front doors and windows would, instead, be more relevant. An inspection of our own entrance reveals screws little more than a half-inch long anchored into a light piece of wood trim. These offer little resistance but could easily be replaced with screws long enough to anchor into the wood framing around the door unit, providing additional strength.
One behavioral change we can all make is simply to increase our vigilance. When leaving your home, don’t just get in your car and drive off. Go to the end of your block and turn around in the cul-de-sac. Watch for anything unusual or out of place. If you see something that appears suspicious, call the Huntley police at 847-515-5311 to report it. Our HPD liaison, Sgt. Michael Hewitt, would be agreeable to attend a neighborhood meeting to address this issue if there is sufficient community interest.
Above all, let’s try to keep this in perspective. In our community of more than 5400 homes, 5 have been targeted – a ratio of approximately 0.0009. Rather than an organized gang of ruthless predators, it may well be the work of one troubled individual driven to desperate measures by some personal issues. It may run its course and remain a mystery, or the obvious pattern may lead to detection and arrest. Also – not to minimize the shock and trauma of having one’s home and sanctum invaded – no one has been killed, injured, or even confronted. No major damage has occurred. The personal property lost is only what would fit in one’s pocket and, aside from the sentimental value that some jewelry undoubtedly holds, may be replaced. Give the difficult economic times we seem to be facing, greater challenges may yet be in store. Let’s use this as a lesson and an opportunity to think about what is really important to us and how we may better protect it. Let’s try to come together and figure out how we can help our neighbors, so we can all enjoy and protect the things we cherish. Let’s remember that we are not alone and that if we reach out a hand for help it will be answered. Thank you all.
Bill Clanton
Neighborhood 9 Representative
