Schaumburg likely to keep tax levy flat for third straight year

Schaumburg trustees plan to keep the village's property tax levy at the same level for a third year in a row, despite some temptation to return to the earlier practice of lowering it.

Since Schaumburg's first levy in 2009, village board members have vowed to continue reducing the levy to the degree they responsibly can.

A levy determines the total amount of property tax a local government seeks for its next budget year. That amount is proportionately divided among all the property value within the jurisdiction.

Village staff are recommending the 2017 levy remain steady at the 2014 amount of $20.7 million.

Village Manager Brian Townsend said although Schaumburg's levy has remained flat for three straight years, it doesn't necessarily mean it's reached its lowest possible level.

Village staff considered a recommendation to lower the levy this year because the required contributions to the police and fire pension funds fell by $351,376. Investment returns in those funds also were unusually high this year.

However, in September, the state of Illinois implemented a 2-percent administrative fee on municipalities' home rule sales tax. That cost Schaumburg $415,000.

The village's finance department ultimately recommended keeping the 2017 levy flat and using the reduction in pension costs to help offset the loss of sales tax revenue.

Trustees are scheduled to approve the levy at their meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12.

Among local-government tax levies, Schaumburg's history is shorter and more interesting than most.

While many property tax levies have seen a gradual - or even non-gradual - increase for decades, the village of Schaumburg didn't have a property tax at all until eight years ago.

That's when the recession took a severe toll on the village's sales tax and other consumer-driven revenue sources it had previously been able to rely on exclusively.

Since then, however, the annual levy amount has only been reduced or kept flat.

With Schaumburg's original levy at $23.7 million, the village subsequently reduced it 4.4 percent in 2010, 6.1 percent in 2011, and 1 percent every year from 2012 to 2014.