Lake County Treasurer John Petalas said tax collections again will exceed 90 percent of the hundreds of millions of dollars owed this year by county property owners.
"As of now, its at 90.6 percent," Petalas said Monday.
"Last year it was about 91 percent, but I still have mail coming in from stragglers so I'm probably a week away from a final total," Petalas said.
That collection rate is good news compared with 2010, when collections dipped to only 89 percent and county officials were concerned there wouldn't be enough revenue to meet their spending goals. State tax stream increases replaced the property tax shortfall.
However, county officials still will be forced to borrow $15 million to avoid a 2013 budget deficit, much of which will go to finance improvements at the Lake County Jail. The upgrades are required by the U.S. Department of Justice, which cited the lockup for sanitation and medical care that was below federal standards.
But even a healthy property tax collection rate cannot overcome spending demands connected with the county jail and shrinkage of county government revenues. The falling revenues are driven by limits on how much the county can tax a single property, a state-mandated freeze in Lake County's overall property tax levy and depressed tax assessments after the 2009 collapse of the housing market.
Petalas said the county is still offering an amnesty program that waives all late fees against anyone who failed to pay taxes in prior years. Those property owners must make arrangements to pay the old taxes and special assessments in full and all taxes due this year and in the spring of 2013.
