Lead plaintiff, Michael Black, was one of the residents overtaxed in Melrose. He says he received his check in the mail and has since deposited it, marking an end to the nearly 3-year tax battle.
QUINCY, ILL. -- Checks are in the mail to about 400 residents in the Ellington and Melrose townships in Adams County.
These checks are a result of residents within the two townships who were overtaxed on their real estate property taxes because their properties should have been located within the Quincy Township. Click here for a map of area townships.
"Back in about 2009, that's when I was talking to my neighbors. That's when we realized the property taxes were different from here to right across the street," Michael Black said. "That's when I found out I was in the Melrose Township and the guys right across the street were in the Quincy Township."
Black immediately started notifying area residents of the problem and filed a lawsuit and won.
"It'd happened for about 10 years before that, but it took someone to come up with a lawsuit to make that change," Adams County Treasurer Terry Asher said.
The 2010 lawsuit stemming from the overtaxing for the 2009 year led to refund checks for 112 residents, those apart of the lawsuit. The checks currently in the mail are for the 2010 year and encompass all residents in the townships who were effectively taxed twice.
Asher says he distributed all refund checks to the 32 property owners in the Ellington Township, beginning Jan. 24. He's now in the process of writing checks for the 380 property owners affected in Melrose. A little more than 300 have been sent in the mail.
"Ellington was our easy one, with only 33 properties and around $29,000 to refund. The rest of it, 380 properties in Melrose, is about $140,000 that we're refunding there," Asher said.
Black says he received his check in the mail and has since deposited it, marking an end to the nearly 3-year tax battle. Click here to view a copy of what residents like Black received in the mail along with their checks.
The total refund will be approximately $170,360.58.
"2011, we're good to go, and these 400 or more property owners are going to see for the first time in their life and last time in their life a decrease in their property taxes," Black said.
Asher says, beginning with the 2011 tax year, residents in both townships will pay taxes to the city of Quincy and Quincy Township. They will no longer pay taxes to Ellington and Melrose (along with the two Melrose Road Districts).
If you are a property owner expecting a refund check and have yet to receive one, you can call the Adams County Treasurer's Office at (217) 277-2223. You can also contact Michael Black with questions at quincytaxes@gmail.com.
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