Dist. 203 increases property tax

Naperville taxpayers will likely see a 1.7 percent increase on average on the Naperville Unit District 203 portion of their property tax bills next spring.

Most of that increase is due to needing to pay down part of the $43 million in bonds voters approved in 2008 to pay for $114.9 million in construction projects around the district. The school board unanimously approved the levy Monday.

The district will levy just over $198 million including about $3.1 million for those bonds, although Dave Zager, assistant superintendent for finance, expects that figure to be about $1 million less by spring once the exact assessments and amount of new construction in the district are known.

The district's proposed tax rate including the debt service is just over $3.92 per $100 of equalized assessed value. The levy means the owner of a $400,000 home will pay about $83 more than last year, according to Zager.

This is the first year the district is collecting money for the facilities projects. It let taxpayers off the hook for the first scheduled payment last year due to federal stimulus funds and a higher rate of inflation than anticipated.

The district's finance committee is exploring the possibility of not collecting the facility funds for a second year but will not make a decision until January. Board President Mike Jaensch said Monday it will be tough to do so a second time due to the state of the economy.

If the district does not collect the money authorized in the referendum, the average taxpayer would see an increase of just 0.1 percent - about $5 - on the school portion of their tax bill, in line with the rate of inflation that limits how much the district can collect.

Two residents spoke on the levy at Monday night's board meeting.

City Councilman Richard Furstenau, speaking as a private citizen, urged the district hold the line when it comes to the wages and benefits it gives its employees.

"I would appreciate it if you take a real close look at that, do what you need to do, make the hard decisions you need to take to fundamentally change what's going on," he said. "If we don't, there are future problems coming down."

Another resident, David Shaftman, said he believes the median household income in Naperville is higher than teacher salaries and urged the district to keep in mind how important teachers are.

"I don't feel that there's an onus on many people in Naperville to support the Naperville education system," he said.