By: Diane Benjamin
Even though Heartland Community College is tax exempt, if they own property that isn’t being used for a tax exempt purpose they pay property taxes. Below is the list of properties they paid taxes on for 2017:
14-17-300-013 $132.92 (did not pay taxes prior to 2017)
9.67 acres commercial vacant land http://normaltownship.org//parcelinfo.php?SearchPIN=1417300013
14-17-300-001 $3,126.10 (Paid taxes in 2016 and 2017)
1718 N Parkside Rd, Normal, IL is a single family home.
14-17-300-010 $11,546.76
77.4 Acres farm land and buildings http://normaltownship.org//parcelinfo.php?SearchPIN=1417300010
14-17-300-011 $308.22 (did not pay taxes prior to 2017)
9.67 acres farm land http://normaltownship.org//parcelinfo.php?SearchPIN=1417300011
14-17-300-012 $3,203.62 (did not pay taxes prior to 2017)
9.83 acres Commercial 1600 W Raab Rd http://normaltownship.org//parcelinfo.php?SearchPIN=1417300012
This is the one I was looking for:
14-17-400-005 $35,169.04 Taxable Value $406,446 x 3.33 = Total Value $1,353,465
The Corn Crib property http://normaltownship.org//parcelinfo.php?SearchPIN=1417400005
HCC is listed as the owner. This PIN number does not exist on the Recorder’s website
According to this article from March of 2009, Normal Professional Baseball spent $12 million building it: https://adamnielsen.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/baseball-stadiums-straightforward-conceptual-design-to-complement-heartlands-architectural-style/
I have lots of questions!
What are yours?
Petitions are available now for the HCC Board elections early next year.
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1) Why does HCC own and maintain so much property that remains unused and/or is not used for education as evidenced by non-exempt status? Wouldn’t it be best to sell this property before raising tuition?
2) Why is HCC paying taxes on several properties on which it was exempt in past years? What changes at HCC caused this to occur?
3) How has the decline in enrollment contributed to the reduction of properties needed for education?
4) Given the movement away from campuses to online and other alternatives to learning, what adjustments has HCC made? What steps will HCC take in 2019? 2020?
5) How does HCC plan to defray the operational cost of the Corncrib considering the continued lack of interest in the Cornbelters and the loses incurred by hosting concerts and other events?
It’s going to get worse since they are moving to a college league.
Yes they are leaving… So what happens now? Can we store corn in the Corn Crib?
Yup. Some front office talent left just before the announcement. It was only a matter of time. The vast majority of seats are empty during Cornbelters games. It is so sad. Those in attendance hold tickets that are part of advertising deals. Many just hand them off to clients as a “thank you” because they have no interest in going. It’s a nice looking stadium and ballpark with all the amenities, but no interest. Build it and they won’t come.
You are asking some pretty straight forward questions which will never be asked by anyone in the mainstream media here. You are asking HCC to do what a real business would do in the situation that they are currently in? But since no one at HCC or the Town of Normal knows anything about operating a real business… I imagine these questions will be listened to….like they were written in Latin or Greek. They will just continue their “plan” until the money runs out and then they will come back to the students, their families and the taxpayers for more money. Real fiscal operational responsibility is something they really don’t know anything about. They have no real intention of changing the wasteful college that they have built. We will be treated before long to more “Give to help the kids.” It’s all BS and it needs to stop!
Plenty of pensioners and public employee voters feeding from the trough at HCC. Do we really think that the establishment is going to stick up for the taxpayer? Hahahahahaha!
Heartland Community College has been a scourge upon the taxpayers since its inception.
Are there back taxes due ? If so, get your wallets and purses out fellow citizens.
If the Nation Socialist Workers Peoples Party (the new democratic party) is looking for a cause
how about over taxation. For more on this type of politics look up N.S.D.A.P.
Maybe Mr KOOS ought to take a LONG hard look at HCC and see if they are no longer “the right fit” Since they seem to like that term so much..
Buddies are always the right fit!
It’s a big club and we are not in it…
Where does the money to pay these HCC property taxes come from? Certainly not out of the pockets of the Board or President. It is extracted from the general property taxes paid by the ordinary tax payers.