By: Diane Benjamin Subscribers: I don’t think the Weekend comics posts was sent on Saturday (WordPress problem!). See it here: https://blnnews.com/2026/04/04/weekend-comic-truth/ Illinois has the highest property tax rates in the country: https://smartasset.com/taxes/illinois-property-tax-calculator Those rates make homes and rental units unaffordable. This year they will be increasing again. The new assessed values for taxes this year […]
By: Diane Benjamin Taxation without representation: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2026-02-13/cira-cruises-along-at-a-stable-altitude Springfield allowed CIRA to tax the County thanks to Sen Dave Koehler https://blnnews.com/2023/04/27/cira-doesnt-need-money-they-just-want-it/ Your property tax bills this year will reflect that. County property owners get yet another line item added to their bill. Bloomington-Normal gets a decrease. One of the dumbest parts of the WGLT article: “The Airport […]
By: Diane Benjamin Since some Federal Holidays are more important than others, the Bloomington City Council is delaying the Committee of the Whole meeting until tomorrow night. Remember when they met on Columbus day? https://bloomingtonil.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4125/files/agenda/9240 The Council held a retreat in November to set priorities. Of course there is no video since it wasn’t held […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night’s agenda is here: https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Organization/1482 I can’t wait for property bills next year. I can’t wait to hear how much property taxes increase because those who bothered to vote were conned into believing their property taxes would decrease if the 1% Sales Tax increase passed. Still no word from the State’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin Go to the bottom of this page: https://mcleancountyil.gov/109/Filing-an-Assessment-Complaint I believe the State of Illinois is behind raising local assessed values. In their brilliance they thought McLean County properties were undervalued. When you see numbers like 1.0918 it means your assessed value is going up 9.18%. I explained in this story how property […]
By: Diane Benjamin All of the township multipliers will be posted here soon: https://mcleancountyil.gov/109/Filing-an-Assessment-Complaint I hear Randolph Township has the highest annual property tax multiplier: 10.70 That does NOT mean your property taxes are going up. It means the people picked in local elections (that few people bother to vote for) will be deciding to […]
By: Diane benjamin McLean isn’t the only County, they are one of 62 being sued for selling property seized for non-payment of property taxes. The Edgar County Watchdogs reported the story: https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2025/06/62-counties-clerks-and-treasures-named-in-lawusit-filed-in-federal-court-alleged-property-tax-sale-violations “The Fifth Amendment to the United State Constitution bars the State of Illinois, or any county therein, from seizing property from its owners […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember when media reported Olympia tax bills were wrong? https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-05-21/olympia-school-district-frustrated-by-error-that-led-to-incorrect-mclean-county-tax-bills It wasn’t just Olympia. Ridgeview bills are wrong too. I called the McLean County Treasurer’s office to verify. Corrected bills will be sent out for the SECOND payment. It will be higher than the first payment which is due tomorrow. h/t a […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’ve been looking at property tax bills since Friday. The results will be printed tomorrow, I want time to review it one last time. Meanwhile, these two links will give you a preview. Both are also in tomorrow’s story: https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/why-property-tax-illegal https://constructioncoverage.com/research/average-property-tax-by-state-county-city
By: Diane Benjamin See this WGLT article: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-04-24/d87-optimistic-but-acknowledges-challenges-of-banning-cell-phones-at-bhs District 87 is planning to lower their property tax grab by $2 million, which is 1/3 of a revenue estimate they plan to receive from the 1% Sales Tax. Don’t expect your property taxes to go down. Your assessed values will be going up. If District 87 […]
By: Diane Benjamin No wonder trust in government is at an all time low among people who expect Public Servants to actually work for the public. Oaths of office are now meaningless. Did you know the County isn’t going to produce a report on the fundraising at the County to abolish the Auditor until March? […]
By: Diane Benjamin Few people probably know the McLean County Treasurer’s website has years of payments to every taxing district they collect property taxes for: https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/590/Taxing-Dist-Distribution-Settlement-Shee Someday if I really want a huge project I could compile tax payments to EVERY unit of government on your tax bill. If someone wants this project, or at […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://april1cent.info/ That URL is linked from the District 87 website. Probably other area schools linked it too. It claims 35% of the new tax will be paid by people who visit or commute to McLean County. It DOES NOT promise lower property taxes. It says the new revenue can be used for: […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Bloomington is number 11 on a list of the Illinois worst cities to live in: https://moneyinc.com/20-worst-places-to-live-in-illinois/#rigy9otg71l Quote: Bloomington, Illinois faces several challenges that impact residents’ quality of life. The city experiences higher crime rates compared to national averages, particularly in property crimes. Economic concerns plague Bloomington, with a struggling job market […]
By: Diane Benjamin From the Illinois Constitution: https://www.ilga.gov/commission/lrb/con10.htm . Pull out last year’s property tax bill. The State of Illinois isn’t the primary funder of public education. You are. Next year’s property tax bill will be even worse. Add to that a 1% Sales tax increase the schools want you to vote for April 1st. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Most local units of government will be on the April 1st ballot. Most of registered voters won’t both to vote. That makes theft easy. How are they stealing your money? By taxing you on unrealized gains through property taxes. The value of your house has increased but you will never see that […]
By: Diane Benjamin This slide is on the Unit 5 video from last night: See 3:33:59 https://vimeo.com/event/4378038 . What they are trying to say is the RATE of increase has slowed down while making it look like the actual increase isn’t happening. This slide is at 3:39:37 . The EAV growth amounts to an increase […]
By: Diane Benjamin Social Media is full of outrage because people recently got their property tax assessment. They see HUGE increases and think their property taxes are going up. They haven’t gone up YET, only you can stop it. The assessed value is used by all the government units on your tax bill to decide […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unless government fears you they will continue to fleece you. Taxpayers are the bottom of their food chain. They don’t care what expenses you have or that you can’t afford groceries – their needs are superior to yours. Below are a ton of comments that I redacted all identifying information for. People […]
By: Diane Benjamin Everyone’s first thought is property taxes. The fleecing of property owners on unrealized gains does contribute, that is no different than taxing you on stocks that have increased in value but you haven’t sold them. To pay taxes you would have to sell. Of course, if the value decreases you don’t get […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois is second only to New Jersey for the highest property taxes in the country: https://www.fool.com/research/property-tax-rates-by-state/ Last year many local government seized the increased assessed values of your property to collect more property taxes. They are taxing you on unrealized gains! If you don’t plan on selling your home the assessed value […]
By: Diane Benjamin According to US Census Bureau estimates both Bloomington and Normal are losing population: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/did-neighbors-leave-your-town-last-year/ With population declining, why is there a housing problem? Tonight the Bloomington City Council will discuss local housing needs: This group will think they can fix available housing with incentives or government housing. According to the McLean County […]
By: Diane Benjamin I got mine today. 🤑 I looked up some random properties to see how bad the tax increases are. Bloomington: Net taxable value for 2023 is $55,521, taxes increased $213.28 from last year (Dist 87) Net taxable value for 2023 is $136,131, taxes increase $382.70 from last year (Unit 5) Normal: Net […]
By: Diane Benjamin The McLean County Regional Planning Commission hired an Indianapolis firm to conduct a local housing survey. The draft version is available here: https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/a2/83/4592f3f04409bcdd453644d32b78/draft-final-rise-plan.pdf Comments can be made on this document until 3/14. I’m not close to going through all 97 pages, but problems are pretty easy to see. The chart on PDF […]
By: Diane Benjamin Just info: Tari Renner got the City to buy this property on North Main so the City could control what was built there. 3 Kirk Holdings was involuntarily dissolved in 2018 according to the Secretary of State website. Search corporations here: https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/business_services/business_searches.html After years of realtors unsuccessful trying to unload it, the […]
It doesn’t matter if the rate is slightly lower if your assessed value is MUCH higher!
By: Diane Benjamin The Council will take the final vote on raising your property taxes. Tis the season . . . The Finance Director will give his monthly report – he should present it before the property tax vote but won’t. The City has plans for your money. You aren’t allowed to keep and spend […]
By: Diane Benjamin Every year Normal claims property taxes have to increase to fund pensions. Last night the Council did it again. Only one person showed up to speak at the Public Hearing. Meanwhile the Cost of Living here is rising dramatically because every unit of government sees $$$$ they can steal. https://www.bnbiz.org/coli
By: Diane Benjamin Agenda for tonight: https://d3n9y02raazwpg.cloudfront.net/cityblm/65c0e1b9-7cc2-11ee-852f-0050569183fa-d969cfc2-89f9-4a31-922c-c0ff80c0370c-1700256371.pdf Remember being told local government units don’t set the Tax Rate? They don’t, but the documentation proves they know what it is going to be. Start reading on PDF page 21. Your taxes are going up to fund police and fire pensions. The rate will go down because […]
By: Diane Benjamin WGLT story on Unit 5 property taxes: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2023-11-16/unit-5-proposes-151m-tax-levy-but-plans-to-lower-tax-rate Your property taxes are going up because Unit 5 needs the money. Below is a quote showing the mentality of the people you elected: People buy homes to live in. It doesn’t matter how much more your house is worth if you aren’t planning […]
By: Diane Benjamin The regular agenda had NOTHING on it, the Consent Agenda was passed without any discussion. Since the City doesn’t want controversy at meetings, the two on one meetings held before the Council meets are used to pacify objectors. The video of the meeting is slightly over an hour, half of that was […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council was back to meeting in the Government Center last night. The Committee of the Whole last week was also back. Initially the Council was to meet at the BCPA on July 24th and all 3 August meetings. Note the work wasn’t done until the 10/15 meeting. It appears […]
By: Diane Benjamin It was worth going to a few Tri-Valley School Board meetings to ask for more transparency. I hope someday they decide to live stream meetings! Of course District 87 still doesn’t. The new transparency Tri-Valley is doing is worthless unless people READ what’s being discussed. Evidently nobody read the September 20th Superintendent’s […]
By: Diane Benjamin Keep in mind voters were scared into giving Unit 5 the right to increase tax rates. The below is using the rate Unit 5 charged property owners in 2022. They now have the right to charge you much more regardless of how much the assessed value of your property increased. The below […]
See if you can figure out why: The author is Carl Hinshaw.
By: Diane Benjamin Get ready for your PTAX-228 Notice of Assessment Change. Sit down before you open it! Thanks to the housing shortage prices have been rising fast. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t selling your house – this notice will reflect the prices of other houses that sold for inflated prices. I hear you […]
By: Diane Benjamin McLean County has a new website. I haven’t explored it enough to have an opinion yet. I did notice meetings are listed at the bottom of the Main Menu but documents pertaining to the listed meetings aren’t linked from each announcement. The County has a lot of meetings because the majority of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tax-Rates.org summarizes property taxes by state. Indiana property tax rates as a percentage of home value is less than half what Illinois is. Of course everyone knows schools drive Illinois property taxes. Indiana School Districts: The largest public school district in Indiana, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) is an agile, innovative educational organization […]
By: Diane Benjamin I received a tip a few days ago about layoffs at State Farm. Employees were blindsighted in another department, not claims. It doesn’t matter how long they have been with the company, State Farm is picking who stays and who goes by skillsets. Retaining jobs in McLean County hasn’t been mentioned much […]
By: Diane Benjamin Watch the fresh meat tossed in the water – it’s YOU. City of Bloomington, District 87, and Unit 5 are all holding property tax hearings because they want more of your money! What do all 3 of these have in common? Easy. The people who represent the citizens for all 3 are […]
