McHenry Times

McHenry County issued the following announcement on July 3.

McHenry County homeowners have four weeks left to join almost 39,500 households that have already applied for a rebate from the Valley Hi Nursing Home fund. surplus.

Homeowners have until July 31 to apply for the rebate, which allows them to recoup just under 30 percent of county government’s share of last year’s property tax bill. As of Wednesday, July 3, almost $6.9 million of the $15 million rebate approved by the County Board has been applied for.

“Everywhere I go, people have enthusiastically applied for the rebate or are just now learning about it and intend to do so. The response is overwhelming,” County Board Chairman Jack Franks, D-Marengo, said. “The fact that almost half of the $15 million allocated by the County Board has been applied for with the application period only halfway over is amazing.”

To be eligible for the rebate, homeowners had to have taken the homestead exemption during the 2017 tax year for bills payable in 2018, had to have paid their taxes, and had to have occupied the house on April 16, 2019. The amount of the rebate will be calculated by a formula based on the amount the homeowner paid in taxes to county government in 2018. About 88,000 properties in McHenry County potentially qualify. For example, a homeowner who last year paid $500 in property taxes to county government would get just under $150 back.

People can apply online from the county website at www.mchenrycountyil.gov, and hard copies of the application are available during regular business hours at the McHenry County Treasurer’s Office, 2100 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock. The website includes a list of frequently asked questions, and people who have additional questions can email them to VHRebate@mchenrycountyil.gov.

Qualifying homeowners can expect to receive their check in the mail in late September or early October. Unclaimed funds from the rebate will go back to Valley Hi.

The County Board approved the rebate to responsibly reduce a fund surplus of about $40 million, which is enough to cover almost four years of Valley Hi’s operations. The rebate will not harm Valley Hi, and the County Board has begun studying expanding its services with the addition of more beds and a dementia wing.

Original source can be found here.