District 34 Approves Annual Property Tax Levy
Amount is approximately $43.9 million, but Equalized Assessed Value of each property is a factor as well.
Glenview Public School District 34 approved its annual property tax levy earlier this week following a brief public hearing on the matter.
The amount of the overall levy they are asking taxpayers for is $43,972,292, which represents a 3.6 percent increase over the amount of money D34 officials received from taxpayers this year.
There is a tax cap in place that limits the amount a district can increase its levy from one year to the next, under Illinois law. However, new homes that are assessed for the first time do not fall under that law.
According to District 34 Executive Director of Communications and Strategic Planning, Brett Clark, an owner of a $500,000 home can expect to see their property tax bill increase by about $89.
District 34 officials used what is known as a "balloon levy," which means they have inflated the amount of money they are asking for in the levy, because if they did not, they would risk losing money they could otherwise have for the school district.
This is because at the time a levy is passed, school districts do not know, and can only estimate, how many additional people may have moved into their school district compared to the prior year.
A tax levy is the amount of money a school district is asking taxpayers to raise or contribute to the district in any given year. According to D34 officials, about 90 percent of their revenue comes from property tax receipts.
Meanwhile, D34 is anticpating a $2.5 million defecit for the coming fiscal year.
According to D34 Superintendent Dr. Gerald Hill, part of the reason is due to the value of homes declining, plus, additional students entering the district.
The state of Illinois is also in arrears on money it owes to D34.
"The EAV (Equalized Assesed Value) of homes in Glenview fell by 10 percent this year," Hill said at the meeting. "If the EAV of your home didn't go down, you could see a bigger (property tax) burden."
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Deadcatbounce
5:51 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Wait, the value of my home went down, but my rate went up and so did my tax amount, 22%. So what is DR. Hill talking about. The district can collect the same amount in taxes as the year before with an increase based on the CPI, plus an additional amount for new construction. Please, anyone know what this Dr. Hill means when he says the deficit is caused by declining home values?
.
10:28 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
If the average value of homes drops, Dr. Hill simply mentioned that COULD be one factor that contributes to a defecit. Perhaps your tax bill went up because of other things that were raised, or added to it, despite your EAV going down, as there are a lot of different taxing bodies that take money from your property tax bill.
Dr. Hill didn't say the defecit was only from declining home values. If you re-read the article, he only said he felt this was part of the reason. Whether or not you believe him is up to you.
Hope that clarifies some. During the board meeting, they explained in detail so great just how complex a process this can be, that it actually took almost a half an hour. It even involves complex mathematical formulas that have a slew of different factors, not just one or two.
There were only two people that went to the meeting to ask questions or complain about the tax levy last night. Please know, I am not taking sides, I am simply explaining it further. I know there are a lot of people, especially in this economy, that feel they are greatly overtaxed.
But the fact remains, if communities keep building and building, more and more people will eventually overburden these districts, so some of the blame lies within the municipalities themselves for inadequate long-term planning. I am not blaming Glenview, specifically, but it is the reality of the situation.
Anyhow, thanks for your comment and for reading.
Deadcatbounce
7:47 am on Thursday, December 15, 2011
The value of homes dropping has nothing to do with the total amount of tax levy a district approves. I've gone to plenty of school board meetings where this has been explained and will be at one tonight, 6:15! The school district will receive the same amount as the prior year with an increase for the CPI plus any new construction. Home values can decline, but the tax levy will not decrease. I wasn't at this meeting, but maybe the good Dr. Was referring to The amount refunded in Tax appeals. As for my tax bill, the portion that went to schools went up 22%. The other taxing bodies such as library, village, cook county, their increases were less than 6%
David S. Janschutz
6:44 am on Thursday, December 15, 2011
It is called, Liberal math. Liberal"s never saw a tax, they did"nt like.
.
9:03 am on Thursday, December 15, 2011
Again, @Deadcatbounce, please read what I wrote. I nor Dr. Hill never said the value of homes dropping is the reason for a tax levy in this article.
Deadcatbounce
10:52 am on Thursday, December 15, 2011
No, you wrote according to Dr. Hill, the reason for the deficit is due to declining value of homes, which is not correct. One of the reasons may be due to refunds on Property tax appeals, which then begs the question, how much was refunded last fiscal year?
.
11:11 am on Thursday, December 15, 2011
And again, @Deadcatbounce, why would those property tax refunds be issued? Because there would be a reassessment, and those homes would then be found to have a lower assed value (hence, declining property values) than the original assessment, causing the refund, which completely validates Dr. Hill's statement. And he never said it was the only cause, which the article clearly states.
If you would like to contact district 34 and ask them how much was refunded, you can contact District 34 or the Cook County Assessor's office and they would be happy to tell you I'm sure. But I am not going to debate you over the fact you are upset that the district has levied this tax when only two people showed up at the meeting to oppose it.
I know in some area counties this year, property tax appeals were at a record high. If there were a lot of refunds issued, it is fair to say it could have had an impact on a deficit.
I stand by what was written above.