ECC bumps up property tax request

Elgin Community College plans to request $55.6 million in property taxes this year, an 8.3 percent increase from the $51 million requested in 2007.

The state tax cap that limits levy hikes to the rate of inflation or 5 percent, whichever is lower, will prevent the college from collecting the entire levy.

But officials say levying that amount is necessary to insure the college gets the maximum allowed bylaw.

With an economic downturn and plummeting home values in the area, ECC controller Heather Scholl said the college can't estimate yet how much it expects to collect. That will depend on property values and tax rates set next spring in DuPage, DeKalb, Kane and McHenry counties and next fall in Cook County.

"We know it will be less (than the 8.3 percent)," she said.

The request asks for $50 million in property taxes, plus an additional $5.6 million to pay off debt.

The biggest increase comes in the educational purposes fund, which would grow by $4.25 million, or 13.5 percent.

The college's operations and maintenance fund would grow by $1.9 million or 19 percent, but several other funds will shrink under the proposal.

The liability, insurance, workers compensation, unemployment insurance and property insurance fund would be reduced from $3.4 million to $1.7 million. Social security would be reduced $204,000, or 25 percent.

The college's debt, Scholl said, has remained relatively flat in the last year, increasing by just $78,000.

A hearing about the levy will take place at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at ECC's Siegle Auditorium, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin.