Candidate Cathy Myers took homestead credit in Illinois while living, voting in Wisconsin

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Democratic congressional candidate Cathy Myers has been living in Janesville for about a decade.

But that didn't stop Myers, who is seeking to replace retiring House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, from getting a $6,000-per-year tax deduction on her home in Rockton, Ill., for nearly half that time.

Myers, 55, said in a statement that she will ask a specialist to review the issue to see if she was eligible for the tax exemption. She noted that she raised her two children at the Rockton residence.

"My taxes were filed based on the advice of a licensed tax attorney," Myers wrote. "I am seeking a second opinion to review those filings. If there are any adjustments that need to be made, I will, of course, make them. "

Myers received an "owner-occupied exemption" on her Illinois property until 2012, Winnebago County treasurer online records show. That exemption totaled $6,000 each year for her home, the records show. The house was sold in 2013.

Illinois officials estimated the exemption cut a homeowner's property taxes by up to $906 in 2017.

Myers, a Janesville School Board member, moved to Wisconsin by 2009 and began voting here in the spring election that year. She contributed to the state Democratic Party two years later, listing Janesville as her home.

An owner-occupied exemption, also known as a general homestead exemption, is meant for someone who owns and occupies a property as a primary residence as of Jan. 1 of the tax year in question, according to the website for the Rockford Township Illinois Office of the Assessor.

Property taxes are a major source of funding for schools, municipal and county governments, technical colleges and sewerage districts.

Thomas J. Walsh, supervisor of assessments for Winnebago County, Ill., said his review of the records confirmed that Myers took the tax break from 2009 to 2012.

Property owners can receive the exemption if they submit a valid lease agreement with a renter at the beginning of each tax year. He said Myers did not do this in 2011 or 2012. Records for previous years, he said, have been disposed of.

Asked if Myers could repay the county for improperly taking a tax exemption, Walsh said he didn't know.

"We don't have a procedure in place for that," Walsh said.

Myers, a public school teacher, is in a Democratic primary battle with Randy Bryce, an ironworker known as "IronStache."

The winner of the primary will face the Republican nominee in November. The GOP field includes Bryan Steil, a University of Wisconsin System regent and attorney from a powerful Janesville political family; Paul Nehlen; Nick Polce, an Army veteran from Lake Geneva; and Jeremy Ryan.

Nehlen lost to Paul Ryan by 68 percentage points in the GOP primary in 2016 and has faced criticism over racist and anti-Semitic social media posts.

Jeremy Ryan is a liberal who frequently rode a Segway around the Capitol during the 2011 protests in Madison.