West Dundee tax rate expected to remain steady despite proposed levy hike

Though the property tax levy in West Dundee might slightly increase next year, village officials do not expect much change on residents' tax bills.

The village board Monday favored raising the tax levy about 1.1 percent, from $3.63 million to $3.67 million. Trustees must adopt the 2015 tax levy ordinance before the end of the year, per state law.

The overall $40,000 increase is modest compared to recent years, in which the tax levy saw large hikes to cover police and fire pension liabilities, Finance Director David Danielson said.

"This is a good year for us," he said.

While the police pensions would increase by $42,431, the 2015 levy includes a $68,196 reduction in pensions for firefighters, making the overall pension levy slightly lower than the previous year.

West Dundee's property values - equalized assessed valuation or EAV - are expected to increase about 7 percent. It's the village's first increase since 2008, Danielson said.

Since taxes are levied over a greater EAV, West Dundee's tax rate could remain the same, or possibly even decline, he said.

The proposed tax levy hike would generate $42,689 more in revenues in the general corporate category. The money will be used to cover overall salary increases and additional costs for refuse and recycling.

Trustee Dan Wilbrandt, who voted against the measure, said he would like to keep the general corporate amount consistent with the 2014 levy and freeze property taxes.

"This would be the perfect opportunity to instill back in the residents a little confidence that we are looking to keep them where they are or save them some money in property taxes," he said. "At a value of $42,000, that's not small change, but that's also not an astronomical figure that we couldn't cut back somewhere else and work through to meet that goal."

Trustees Michelle Kembitzky disagreed, saying West Dundee doesn't have much "fluff" to cut from its budget.

"Just as everything else, our costs go up," Village Manager Joe Cavallaro said. Residents aren't billed for refuse and recycling collection, he said, but the village's costs for those services increase annually. "So we have to find that additional $10,000 from somewhere."

Trustees noted that the levy can always be lowered, but it can't be raised if the village falls short during budget season.

"It's always just a little bit, a little bit, but it's always going in one direction. It never stops, it never goes in reverse," Wilbrandt said. "This would be a time we could at least freeze it, and I think that's a great step."

Trustee Billy Pflanz said Wilbrandt's goal may be obtainable for the 2015 levy, but "it could set us up to fall behind in future years."

"Overall, people are going to see a relatively stable tax bill, and I think people are looking more at that number than the (levy) increase," he said.