F ) Unusual tax assessment shift between parcels absent any sale or physical change to property / Ronald E. Osman and Gary Mayer
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In July of 2005, Ronald E. Osman ( City Of Marion attorney and a land developer ) and Gary Mayer ( auto dealership and golf course developer ) purchased a tract of land comprised of three tax parcels in Marion, Illinois from Stephen J. Pessin, Trustee of River Land Trust. ( see documents referred to as Exhibit F )
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The property included the Blue Cross/Blue Shield building and is located on the corner of Skyline Drive and Route 13 on the west side of Marion.
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Courthouse documents reflect a purchase price of $ 800,000.00 for this property, although court recorded mortgages filed on this property the same date reflect a much higher amount. (Two of the three parcels transferred ownership from a Wohlwend, but deeds were not readily uncovered.)
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The assessed fair cash value for the 2005/2006 tax year totaled $ 1,313,319.00.
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The Williamson County Tax Assessor did not reassess the property. In fact, the tax assessor never reassessed this property from 2005 through the 2010/2011 tax year.
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In February of 2008, Osman and Mayer transferred the property into the name of one of their limited liability corporations. ( CERRADO, LLC. )
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In March of 2008 the City of Marion entered into a twelve million dollar TIF district development agreement with Ronald E. Osman and Gary Mayer and created the SKYLINE TIF district for this property. This development agreement sets aside into a special account for the developer 75% of TIF funds, in this case, for Ronald E.Osman and Gary Mayer.
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In 2011/2012 the Williamson County Tax Assessor inexplicably shifted the assessed value of one of the parcels ( PIN 06-15-101-001 from a fair cash value at $ 1,468,020.00 to a fair cash value of $ 566,553.00 ), and shifted the assessed value of another of the parcels ( PIN 06-15-101-004 from fair cash value of $ 102,240.00 to a fair cash value of $ 574,962.00 ) and shifted the assessed value of the remaining parcel ( PIN 06-15-101-002 from a fair cash value of $ 60,150.00 to a fair cash value of $ 78,105.00 ). This effectively reduced the total assessed fair cash value of the property to only $ 1,219,620.00 for the 2011/2012 tax year.
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As Google aerial photos verify, there do not appear to be any physical changes in the property in 2011.. The large building was still in place.
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However, the percentage of tax monies deflecting to TIF skyrockets from a very negligible 1% to 55% on one parcel and to an unexplained 84% on another in both the 2011/2012 and the 2012/2013 tax bills.
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In 2013 the huge Blue Cross/Blue Shield building has been demolished. A new frontage road is in the works and Route 13 has been widened to six lanes by IDOT.
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Outside of the obvious, ( school district being cut from $ 18,000.00 in tax revenue down to $ 9,000.00 in tax revenue from this highly unusual and unexplained shifting of fair cash value assessments by the tax assessor for this developer’s property ) the total damage to the taxpayers of Williamson County is unclear.
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