Kansas Township Admits To Meeting On Holiday – Invalidates Truth In Taxation Hearing –

Kansas, IL. (ECWd) –

The Kansas Township Board of Trustees met on October 10, 2022 (Columbus Day) for the purpose of holding a truth-in-taxation hearing – a requirement when attempting to increase its property tax levy by more than 5% from the previous year.

The Open Meetings Act (“OMA”) prohibits holding special meetings on holidays.

In response to the request for review filed with the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor, the township supervisor, Brian Harmon, admitted to violating the OMA by holding a special meeting on a holiday and indicated the township would file a revised levy so as not to fall under the requirement for holding the truth-in-taxation hearing.

While we appreciate the acknowledgment of the OMA violation and revising the property tax levy to under the 5% limitation, we are still of the opinion raising people’s taxes while faced with all of the current inflation factors is not in the taxpayer’s best interest.

We first reported on the increased tax levy issue in this article.