District 47 board to vote Monday on tax levy, abatement

The Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 school board is expected to vote Monday on a proposed property tax levy increase for 2016 and abating taxes.

The roughly $3.5 million proposed 2016 levy, including a potential tax abatement of $1 million, represents a 4.21 percent increase over the previous year's extension for all funds, including capped funds and debt service.

To ease taxpayers' financial burden, the District 47 school board approved a $1 million tax abatement in 2015 from the district's debt service levy. It kept District 47's portion of the property tax bill relatively flat in 2016 compared with the previous year.

This year, another abatement for $1 million is being proposed. If approved by the school board, the net amount requested for 2016 will be $3,542,926. Without the tax abatement the levy increase would be 5.6 percent.

The school board meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Bernotas Middle School, 170 N. Oak St., Crystal Lake. For more information click on the Property Tax FAQs on the District 47 website, d47.org.