County Delays Tax Changes

Macomb, IL 61455 – The McDonough County Board delayed for a month taking action on problems with tax exemptions for some owner-occupied homes. The delay is to give the state's attorney time to check what the county can legally do. An overflow crowd at the board meeting heard from people who should have received the tax exemption for an owner-occupied home, but didn't. Several reasons were suggested for the errors, including incomplete preparation of forms by bankers or realtors and the misplacing of applications in the courthouse. A move to issue a credit now on next year's taxes was voted down due to questions about its legality. Board Chairman Bob Harwick says the county expects to decide next month whether it will issue refund checks, or how it will recompense people who paid more taxes than they should have.