Because state and federal funding has not kept up with cost increases, Indian Prairie School District 204 is planning to ask for more money from property taxpayers next year, officials said during the most recent school board meeting.
The district’s total property tax levy is proposed at $387 million for operating expenses, plus bond and interest payments. This reflects an increase of $15.9 million, or 4.28%, from last year’s $371 million total levy, said Matt Shipley, chief school business official.
Tax rate projected to decrease nearly 2008 level
Property values in the district are projected to increase, and there have been an estimated $70 million of new properties built within the district this year. So Shipley said the district anticipates issuing a lower tax rate to its now-broader base of properties to wind up with the $387 million in total payments.
The projected overall tax rate is 4.54%, which is nearly back to the level from before the Great Recession in 2008, which was 4.48%. The district’s property tax rate peaked in 2014 at 6% and has been slowly decreasing for about the past decade.
Average 2.9% property tax increase projected
The levy is estimated to cause an increase of $187 to the amount owed to the district, for the owner of a $507,000 home, which is the average within District 204. This results in an estimated 2.9% increase over this year’s payments due to the district.
School board members did not offer much comment or ask many questions about the proposed levy; they’ve been through these types of discussions before.
However, school board member Mark Rising brought up one point for clarification, since he said he often hears from residents who question why their individual payments rise more in a given year than the estimated amount. So he asked why and how this could be the case.
Shipley said the effect of the projected levy will differ from homeowner to homeowner based on changes in the specific assessed value of each property.
“We do not control the assessment process of properties or how that total levy is spread across our tens of thousands of properties in the district,” Shipley said. “We’re estimating an average 2.9% increase, so some (homeowners) will see higher and some will see lower.”
Tax levy vote set for Dec. 15
The board is scheduled to host a public hearing about the proposed tax levy, followed by a vote to approve it, during its Dec. 15 meeting.
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