By: Diane Benjamin

I sent BNWRD another FOIA yesterday, it was answered the same day. Thanks Tim Erwin.

See the 2 previous stories here: https://blnnews.com/2025/12/12/more-on-the-bnwrd-property-purchase/

I still haven’t received a response from the Bloomington City Attorney pertaining to the property listed in the County records as owned by the City:  PIN #21-05-154-020. More on that property below.

These are the 3 properties BNWRD bought: 21-08-278-031 should be 21-06-278-031

My FOIA was for the appraisals BNWRD had done and the Evidence of Title the contract requires.

This is the response I received from Time Ervin at BNWRD:

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Please see the appraisal for parcel 21-08-278-031 and 21-05-152-004. While an appraisal was not obtained for 21-05-154-020, a similar estimate was used for this creek parcel based on square footage.  

While the title commitment is not available as of yet, in accordance with the Contract, if title is not vested in the Seller, it cannot be sold by the Seller or, under the terms of that contact, purchased by the BNWRD. Once the title commitment arrives, I will send to you. I plan to have within the next week. 

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Interesting the one property an appraisal wasn’t done on was the one listed as being owned by the City of Bloomington.

Appraisals, both can be viewed without downloading by clicking on the name:

The second one is the BIG one. Note above, BNWRD paid $503,393. It appraised for $653,000. This is what the County records show for the exact same property description:

$27,082 x 3 = is what the Assessor thought this property was worth: $81,246.

If this property was actually worth $653,000, the taxable value should have been:

$653,000 x .33 = $215,490 (taxable value) x a tax rate of .07673620 = Total Tax $16,536.

If this property was actually worth what BNWD paid, $503,393:

$503,393 x .33 = $166,120 (taxable value) x a tax rate of .07673620 = Total Tax $12,747.

See above, Carl Thomas paid $2078.

Thomas saved somewhere between $10 and $14 thousand just in what was paid in 2025 if this property is actually worth what the appraisal says it was.

If the appraisal is right, the Assessor was WAY off.

If the Assessor is wrong, this isn’t the only year. It goes back to the 2020 taxes, payable in 2021.

That means Carl Thomas might have saved $50,000 or more over 5 years because the assessed value wrong. Since the largest recipient of property taxes is Unit 5, they are the biggest losers. Of course all the other taxing bodies lost money too.

Of course, when people don’t pay their fair share everybody else pays more.

Pin #21-06-278-031 was created by combining properties. The County records aren’t clear, but it looks like 5.88 acres of the 7.14 were bought in 2011 for $119,040. 1/3 of that price is more than what the taxable value was in 2025.

The Bloomington Township Assessor is Glenn Milton. https://mcleancountyil.gov/Directory.aspx?EID=54

He’s up next for questions.