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A hike from 15% to 35% of sportsbook revenue is a slam dunk to generate an extra $200 million for the cash-strapped state, according to the Illinois governor. But major gambling corporations say it will block growth in a market that has ballooned into one of the nation’s biggest.
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Voters chose to approve two tax referendums in the Olympia school district Tuesday that will help fund renovations of its aging high school swimming pool and cut into the district’s education fund deficit.
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The City of Bloomington has begun condemnation proceedings on the long-vacant Front N Center building downtown. The former Montgomery Ward department store building has been deteriorating for decades and been a matter of concern during the administrations of the last three mayors.
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The more than 11 million Illinoisans who claim the standard exemption each year will not see an inflation-indexed bump for the 2023 tax year.
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The McLean County Board of Review has reduced the assessed value of Eastland Mall by a couple million dollars — from $8.7 million to $6.7 million. The assessed value is one third of the estimated market value of a property and is used to compute property taxes owed to governmental bodies such as municipalities, townships, and school districts.
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At the last Bloomington City Council meeting, Mayor Mboka Mwilambwe tried to push the council to keep a $1.1 million increase in the property tax levy as the staff had presented. He called it a good compromise that would still result in a tax rate reduction. The attempt failed. The vote was to keep the levy flat.
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The Normal Township Board has picked a new township aasessor. Kent DePew, who has 30 years of experience in assessor offices, has been deputy assessor in Normal for 21 years and has been a deputy assessor in Bloomington.
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A dispute over the tax value of Eastland Mall in Bloomington suggests school district and local governments are frustrated with inaction by mall owners and with the retail center's decline. That came through in arguments made before the McLean County Board of Review in an appeal of the 36-acre mall's assessed value.
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Normal Township needs a new assessor. Longtime Assessor Rob Cranston died recently after a long illness, and the elected office is temporarily vacant.
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The property tax levy for the Heartland Community College district will likely go up 12.6% next year. That's only slightly more than the expected increase in property values for the district.