Tax Break For Hinsdale Historic House Criticized

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale's village president on Tuesday debated with a former trustee on whether a tax break for a historic house would affect other taxpayers.

The Village Board was considering whether to give the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house at 121 S. County Line Road – known as the Bagley House – historic landmark status.

Such a designation may mean the owners could get a property tax freeze for eight years under state law.

During public comments, former Trustee Bob Lennox questioned the benefit of such a tax break for residents. He said other taxpayers would pick up the slack for the tax break.

Village President Tom Cauley disputed that point. He said the village has no effect on property tax rates.

"I disagree with the proposition that if they get a tax freeze, your taxes go up," Cauley said. "First of all, I don't know that it works that way. It's not as though the state of Illinois wants a certain amount of property taxes and if they don't get them, they move on to somebody else. I don't know that this actually affects your tax rates."

Cauley's statements did not reflect the reality of the way property taxes work in Illinois.

Each public body enacts a property tax levy every year. A levy is the total amount of property tax money each body needs.

In other words, if one taxpayer gets a break, others pick up the slack. This is so that each public body gets the amount of money it is seeking.

Lennox kept pointing this out, but Cauley disagreed.

Last year, the house on County Line Road was put up for sale. The owner suggested it needed to be demolished. This sparked a wave of opposition.

"The day this was put on the market to be torn down, I probably got 500 emails from all around the country from as far away as Seattle, Florida, California," Cauley said. "They said, 'Do what you can do to save this house.'"

Both Cauley and Trustee Luke Stifflear said they believed a majority of Hinsdale residents supported local historic preservation efforts. They said the new owners planned to make major investments in the house.

"The governing board wants to do what it can do to incentivize historic preservation, rather than have everything be a teardown," Stifflear said.

Lennox said he grew up in a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oak Park and loved the famous architect's work. But he said he thought the village's preservation efforts have been a "mixed bag."

The Village Board voted unanimously for the historic designation. Village staff said 23 other houses in town have such a status.