Like many other St. Clair County, Illinois, homeowners, Kent Swagler believes the county overassessed his house, leaving him with a tax bill that's too high.
And like many others before him, Swagler exercised the one option he has for relief: He appealed to the state Property Tax Appeal Board in Springfield.
That was in early June. Since then, Swagler has been waiting for the board to assign his case a docket number.
And he has resigned himself to a long wait.
That's because of two factors: the sharp upsurge in appeals filed this year from St. Clair County, and the deep cuts in the appeal board's staff resulting from the state budget crisis.
"Here we are three months later, and I've yet to get a control number so I can track the status of my appeal," said Swagler, who lives on Joel Drive in Swansea. "I'm discouraged and frustrated, yeah."
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