Commentary
From Phil Kadner at the Southtown Star, an article every senior in the state of Illinois should read:
This is a column about a stupid state law inspired by petty politics.
Because of the law, 300,000 booklets were mailed this week to the homes of Cook County senior citizens who qualify for a property tax break.
If they don’t fill out a form in those booklets and return it to the Cook County assessor’s office, they are going to have to pay hundreds of dollars more in property tax this year than they should.
In the past, once a senior citizen qualified for the tax break and was approved, it was automatically renewed unless he died or sold his home. But last year, the Illinois Legislature passed a law forcing seniors to reapply for the exemption each year.
Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios estimates that it’s costing his office $250,000 to print and mail the booklets.
Yet, every elected official knows that thousands of seniors will toss the booklets out, lose them or fail to receive them.
