A loooong 4th weekend...

[Mugwump]

.....what's everyone doing?......picnics?...fireworks?.....loaf'n?.......water changes ?......LOL

[Ron Sower]

...just hanging around here...nothing special...

[waterboy]

Loafing, water changes and Italians on the grill for the fourth. Probably go out and sit on the patio and watch all the neighbors fireworks. Then of course more loafing.

[Mugwump]

Loafing, water changes and Italians on the grill for the fourth. Probably go out and sit on the patio and watch all the neighbors fireworks. Then of course more loafing.

...just hanging around here...nothing special...

.....cool beans.....likely the same thing here for us...

[wsantia1]

I have company coming from out of town. This is the first time I am hosting anything in this new place so it should be a load of fun. I need to get the grill ready, It will be used extensively.

[Mugwump]

I have company coming from out of town. This is the first time I am hosting anything in this new place so it should be a load of fun. I need to get the grill ready, It will be used extensively.

..is the new place bigger than the last one?....bigger yard?...

[wsantia1]

I have company coming from out of town. This is the first time I am hosting anything in this new place so it should be a load of fun. I need to get the grill ready, It will be used extensively.

..is the new place bigger than the last one?....bigger yard?...

Yes. Both are bigger. In fact I technically didn't have a yard at the other place because it was all considered community property.  Here the little bit of land I have is all mine. The back yard is not huge but it's big enough for Kobe to get some exercise.

[Mugwump]

I have company coming from out of town. This is the first time I am hosting anything in this new place so it should be a load of fun. I need to get the grill ready, It will be used extensively.

..is the new place bigger than the last one?....bigger yard?...

Yes. Both are bigger. In fact I technically didn't have a yard at the other place because it was all considered community property.  Here the little bit of land I have is all mine. The back yard is not huge but it's big enough for Kobe to get some exercise.

...nice....will they allow you to fence it, if you want?......

[wallace]

I might do some fishing over at the ocean. One of the kids could come home for a few days, so it depends. No. 2 son will probably be on wildfires, the fire season is starting after some recent lightning.

[wsantia1]

I have company coming from out of town. This is the first time I am hosting anything in this new place so it should be a load of fun. I need to get the grill ready, It will be used extensively.

..is the new place bigger than the last one?....bigger yard?...

Yes. Both are bigger. In fact I technically didn't have a yard at the other place because it was all considered community property.  Here the little bit of land I have is all mine. The back yard is not huge but it's big enough for Kobe to get some exercise.

...nice....will they allow you to fence it, if you want?......

Yes they will but I need to put in a patio first.

[Mugwump]

I have company coming from out of town. This is the first time I am hosting anything in this new place so it should be a load of fun. I need to get the grill ready, It will be used extensively.

..is the new place bigger than the last one?....bigger yard?...

Yes. Both are bigger. In fact I technically didn't have a yard at the other place because it was all considered community property.  Here the little bit of land I have is all mine. The back yard is not huge but it's big enough for Kobe to get some exercise.

...nice....will they allow you to fence it, if you want?......

Yes they will but I need to put in a patio first.

......is a deck cheaper?.....concrete can get expensive...and here, concrete drives and patios are seen as permanent fixtures to your house, thus can increase taxes.....

[wsantia1]

I have company coming from out of town. This is the first time I am hosting anything in this new place so it should be a load of fun. I need to get the grill ready, It will be used extensively.

..is the new place bigger than the last one?....bigger yard?...

Yes. Both are bigger. In fact I technically didn't have a yard at the other place because it was all considered community property.  Here the little bit of land I have is all mine. The back yard is not huge but it's big enough for Kobe to get some exercise.

...nice....will they allow you to fence it, if you want?......

Yes they will but I need to put in a patio first.

......is a deck cheaper?.....concrete can get expensive...and here, concrete drives and patios are seen as permanent fixtures to your house, thus can increase taxes.....

I'm going to do pavers. Over here I don't even have to pull a permit for the work if the patio is less than 7 inches high. Weird but that's the was the code is written. Maybe that's for the walls. No wall for me. I just want a flat place to put my grill.

When I lived in Elgin, they didn't raise my taxes for the patio. Is that a DeKalb thing? lol

[Mugwump]

...by the by.....who has their fireworks already ?.....

[Mugwump]

I have company coming from out of town. This is the first time I am hosting anything in this new place so it should be a load of fun. I need to get the grill ready, It will be used extensively.

..is the new place bigger than the last one?....bigger yard?...

Yes. Both are bigger. In fact I technically didn't have a yard at the other place because it was all considered community property.  Here the little bit of land I have is all mine. The back yard is not huge but it's big enough for Kobe to get some exercise.

...nice....will they allow you to fence it, if you want?......

Yes they will but I need to put in a patio first.

......is a deck cheaper?.....concrete can get expensive...and here, concrete drives and patios are seen as permanent fixtures to your house, thus can increase taxes.....

I'm going to do pavers. Over here I don't even have to pull a permit for the work if the patio is less than 7 inches high. Weird but that's the was the code is written. Maybe that's for the walls. No wall for me. I just want a flat place to put my grill.

When I lived in Elgin, they didn't raise my taxes for the patio. Is that a DeKalb thing? lol

...no an Illinois thingy......if you have an asphalt driveway, it's not considered permanent....but a concrete driveway is...and factors as permanent.....Illinois figures taxes on land used....

Perhaps your patio was already calculated into your taxes if it was existing....not added on later.....

[Mugwump]

Illinois

It makes no difference how the numbers are crunched or who does it. If you want to know why ask the Assessor. They can tell you whether a certain item used to compile your tax bill is set by the state or not. County taxes are cheaper because you do no pay for city services.

In my county, if I pave my driveway my tax bill increases. The same thing happens if I build a garage. The tax bill increases with every improvement because the property is reassessed with every improvlement. Blackton, gravel, crushed rock - makes no difference, it is not an improvement, but a concreted driveway is. If you buy a house with a double car garage and paved driveway, the garaged and driveway was included with the first appraisal. If you build a second garage that is an improvement too. Taxes are reassessed periodically. In my county if you have questions you ask the tax assessor, county treasurer, city building or the county board.

Again, and this has nothing to do with taxation, per se, if you are disabled and need to be near medical services, the trade off is you will pay higher taxes for city property and the convenience of knowing the ambulance is 5 minutes from you and you won't wait 30 minutes on a snowy night. This is the only reason I must live in the city. Where I live the hospital is owned by the city. and my taxes do support it as well as the other city services.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forum/illinois/920442-please-explain-illinois-property-taxes-me.html#ixzz4lFP4uEsM