Fox River Grove board to vote on abating taxes Thursday

Fox River Grove property owners can expect to pay the same amount in taxes to the village during the 2017 calendar year.

Village officials recommend abating a portion - $6,137 - of a general obligation bond, offsetting a proposed 0.7 percent increase to the village's 2016 property tax levy based on the Consumer Price Index.

"We are taking the inflationary adjustment allowed for under PTELL (Property Tax Extension Limitation Law)," Village Administrator Derek Soderholm said. "It's about $3.56 for a home valued at $200,000. That's what the CPI increase impact would have been. In essence, from a property owner's perspective, there will be zero increase from the village's portion of their property tax bill, absent EAV (equalized assessed value) holding steady relative to the properties around them."

Village President Robert Nunamaker said the board wanted to give residents a break on their tax bills by abating a portion of the bond.

The village's spending levels in the general fund have remained flat over the past several fiscal years, officials said.

The $2,048,252 budgeted for operating expenses this fiscal year is $18,232 lower than operating expenses in fiscal year 2013-14, officials said.

Property owners will receive additional tax relief in 2019 when the village retires its only outstanding general obligation bond.

As a result, a resident with a home valued at $200,000 can anticipate annual property tax savings of $63 - a 12 percent reduction in the village's portion of the property tax bill. The village's portion represents about 6 percent of the overall property tax bill.

The village board will vote on the property tax levy and abatement ordinances Thursday.