'Phantom Tax Burden' For Willow Springs Woman

WILLOW SPRINGS, IL – Lorri Alsot lives in one house in Willow Springs. But the Cook County Assessor's Office is taxing her as if she has three, more than tripling her property tax bill, the Lyons Township assessor says.

Alsot's property in the 100 block of Park Street is made up of three lots. When she bought it in 2020, her house was prorated on each lot at 20 percent, 80 percent and 20 percent, Lyons Township Assessor Patrick Hynes said in an email to Patch. That adds up to 120 percent, obviously an incorrect calculation.

Alsot filed an appeal in 2022, asking Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi's office to correct the math error. Then things got worse.

Her 2022 property tax bill skyrocketed to $16,129, from $4,610. That's for a house that Alsot bought for $303,000.

Alsot went to the Cook County Board of Review, but was refused relief, Hynes said.

In a February email to Patch, Hynes said he told an official in the Cook County Assessor's Office that he would take the story about Alsot to the media. In response, the official agreed to issue a certificate of error for Alsot, Hynes said. (The Cook County office said it never received a threat that Hynes would go to the media.)

Hynes, whose job is to advocate for taxpayers, contacted County Treasurer Maria Pappas' office about the situation. In a response, the office told Hynes it could not adjust the bill or stop the county from charging interest for late payments, unless it gets a notice of error.

Alsot owes $8,871 for the first half of her tax bill this year, which Hynes called a "phantom tax burden."

Alsot has not paid the money, which was due March 1, according to the treasurer's office records.

In an email to Patch, Christian Belanger, the county assessor's office's spokesman, said Alsot is not being counted as if she has houses on all three lots. He confirmed his office has processed a certificate of error in Alsot's case.

Hynes said Wednesday, "Lorri Alsot is almost done. The Cook County Treasurer is willing to correct her first installment bill and waive interest after receiving direction to do so from the Cook County Assessor’s Office last week. Working on helping Lorri coordinate with the treasurer’s office."

Alsot could not be reached for comment.

Her higher tax bill does not mean more money for local taxing bodies. Other taxpayers pay proportionately less.

Over the last couple of years, Patch has found repeated examples in Lyons Township of properties that are uncounted or under-assessed in tax rolls:

• A well-known investigative reporter paid just a few thousand in property taxes for years on his $1.9 million house.
• A La Grange house was valued at $56,820, but it sold for $200,000 a few years before. The land was assessed, but not the house.
• Eighteen new townhomes were missing from tax rolls in La Grange.
• A Burr Ridge business paid no property taxes on its building for 13 years. The structure was not assessed.
• A Hinsdale house sold for $3.9 million, yet its property tax bill was just $17,114. The assessment was based on a smaller house that was leveled years earlier.
• A La Grange house sold for $675,000 in 2016. But eight years later, Cook County's assessment remains far lower.