$3.1M being distributed by Lake County clerk
Collection of delinquent taxes provides revenue
School districts, cities, villages, park districts, townships and other governmental entities in Lake County will be receiving an unexpected payment of tax revenue in the aggregate amount of approximately $3.1 million over the next few weeks.
Lake County clerk Anthony Vega said he learned in late May of the collection of delinquent property taxes and money received from the foreclosure of properties where taxes were never paid over the past four years.
“I didn’t have an inkling of any of this until just after Memorial Day, when staff brought it to my attention,” Vega said. “All taxing bodies in Lake County were entitled to something.”
The Lake County Clerk’s Office started disbursing about $3.1 million on Wednesday to the more than 200 taxing districts in the county to give them their share of delinquent taxes collected from either taxpayers or through foreclosures.
A recipient of $260,640 was Waukegan Community Unit School District 60. Gwen Polk, the district’s associate superintendent of business and financial services, said in an email Thursday the found money is welcome.
“It’s nice to see that money owed to us is coming our way,” Polk said. “For a district such as ours, anytime we can receive additional money it’s a positive.
“We are a Tier 1 school district, so by the state’s admission, we are not receiving enough funding to fully educate our students.”
North Chicago Community School District 187 Superintendent John Price said in a text Thursday he is grateful for the county’s “diligence and communication.” The district received $169,459.
“These are funds that we can put to work immediately for students and families in North Chicago to increase programming in our schools,” Price said. “These updated tax receipts may result in changes to our future financial projections and increase their accuracy, helping us to budget for the future.
Though the overwhelming majority of property owners in Lake County pay their real estate taxes in a timely manner, Vega said when they do not his office becomes responsible for collecting the delinquent money and disbursing it to the proper recipients.
In some cases, Vega said, taxpayers never satisfy the taxes. Then the county must foreclose on the property and sell it at auction. The county then gets the money at the sale and sends it along to school districts, towns, park districts and others destined to receive it.
“This is a multiyear process,” Vega said.
Vega said when he took office in December he asked his management staff to conduct internal reviews of their departments to identify areas of better service and more efficient ways of doing things so he could update policies. Once he learned of the more than $3.1 million due to the county’s
“These are funds that we can put to work immediately for students and families in North Chicago to increase programming in our schools.” — North Chicago Community School District 187 Superintendent John Price
governmental entities, he began the process of disbursing the funds. The unpaid revenue goes back to the 2019 fiscal year.
The aggregate disbursements were $22,952 for fiscal year 2019, $596,495 for 2020, more than $1.5 million for 2021 and $937,228 for 2022. The fiscal year starts Dec. 1.
A total of $177,314 was disbursed to Antioch School District 34; $141,144 to Round Lake Area School
District 115; and $118,152 to Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95.
Vega said his office received help from the Lake County Assessor’s Office and the Lake County Treasurer’s Office.