Mundelein to collect more tax revenue in 2020
Mundelein officials have approved a plan to collect more property taxes from local residents, landlords and businesses in 2020.
A divided village board on Monday established an estimated $13.8 million tax levy for the 2019 fiscal year, which began May 1. That's about a 3% increase from the previous fiscal year's estimated $13.4 million levy.
The roughly $400,000 increase will be used to help fund retirement pensions and road improvements, officials said.
The overall value of properties in Mundelein is increasing more than 6%, according to recently finalized figures from the Lake County assessor's office. To collect the desired $13.8 million, officials are dropping the village's tax rate to $1.49 per $100 of equalized assessed value, from $1.53 per $100 of equalized assessed value, documents indicate.
If the board didn't decrease the tax rate as part of the levy equation, the village would have collected too much money from taxpayers, Village Administrator John Lobaito said.
"We didn't capture the entire growth," Lobaito said. "We only took what we needed."
Information about the impact on the average Mundelein homeowner wasn't available.
The board approved the new levy with a 4-2 vote without discussion. Trustees Dawn Abernathy and Robin Meier opposed the proposal.
During a public discussion of levy options earlier this month, Abernathy objected to increasing the residential property tax burden. She said developers should fund roadway improvements in town, not taxpayers.
As an alternative, Abernathy suggested some of the future revenue from cannabis sales at Mundelein's dispensary should be earmarked for street improvements.
Abernathy had spoken against increasing the levy on her Facebook page, too.
"If the pot money is going to roads ... why raise property taxes?" Abernathy wrote on Nov. 8. "We need to stop the crazy spending!"
Meier had backed a proposal that would have resulted in a smaller levy increase. At a meeting in October, she expressed concern about how the tax increase would affect residents on fixed incomes.
Meier said cannabis tax revenue should be split between funding street repairs and pension funds.