(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The owner of a northwest suburban garden center said he had to close after being walloped by his Cook County property tax bill.
Michael Kinsch, owner of the former Kinsch Village Florist and Garden Center in Palatine, said the property taxes on the greenhouses attached to the commercial property were re-classified from farmland to commercial land.
"After they sent the new tax bill, they deemed that everything that we had — all the land that we grew flowers on and grew plants on for the last 60 to 70 years — was now commercial land and didn't qualify,” he said.
Kinsch added that a $25,000 property tax bill ballooned to $183,000 in 2019 and to $151,000 in 2020. Kinsch initially thought it was a mistake. He said appeals were unsuccessful, and he made the decision to close the garden center in July 2020 after 82 years in business.
The greenhouses have been demolished and he's preparing to sell the land.
"There's nothing at all there anymore. It's over as far as Kinsch Village Florist, and our family's business for the last 80 years. There's just no way to survive there.”
WBBM Newsradio has reached out to the Cook County Assessor's Office for comment. A spokesperson told ABC 7 that the assessments were based on the documents that were provided.
Related
