Batavia schools go for level tax bills, not rate

The Batavia school board decided Tuesday to break its 2007 promise to keep a level property tax rate, but said it will try instead to keep tax bills level.

The board decided to let the district’s tax rate rise to as high as $5 per $100 of equalized assessed valuation for the 2010 levy, which taxpayers will pay this spring, instead of the $4.69 it promised when it asked voters to approve borrowing money in 2007.

The $75 million from the 2007 referendum was used to expand Batavia High School and Rotolo Middle School, and improve the district’s elementary school buildings. Technically, the board voted to abate some of the taxes collected for debt service and use operating revenue to make part of the payment instead, a measure it has done with the 2007 debt and other loans in years past.

The problem was that, with property values in the district declining during the housing market crash and recession, and the amount it can increase the tax levy each year less than what was projected at the time of the referendum, the district found itself dipping in to its reserves to make the payments while holding the tax rate steady.

The Kane County clerk won’t release the final equalized assessed valuation of the district until sometime in mid- to late March, after the March 15 deadline for filing abatements.

So the board approved a resolution allowing an undetermined abatement, as long as that abatement keeps tax bills at what they were in 2010 and does not cause the rate to rise above $5.

Kris Monn, the assistant superintendent for business, projects property value overall will have declined 2.5 percent, and that the rate will end up about $4.84.

School board President Ron Link was the only trustee to vote against the tax abatement measure, “because we did make a commitment to the community.” He said he would have preferred to restructure this year’s portion of that debt, which would result in a lower payment now but stretch the payments out an undetermined number of years.

The district restructured last year’s portion of the debt, extending it eight years. The longer it takes to pay, the more it costs the district.

“We’ve always had a rich success of going to the community and explaining our case and having the community support us,” he argued.

But Trustees Joseph Purpura and Matt Winkle, who are the board’s finance committee, did not favor that plan, nor did Trustee Jayne Resek, who said she didn’t think it was fair to have the children of today’s children paying the debt.

Earlier this month Monn projected the district could have an operating deficit as high as $5 million in its 2011-12 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The board directed him and the finance committee to halve that.

The district does not have to abate the debt tax