Wayne seeks first property tax hike in 28 years

Wayne officials are proposing a 17-percent property tax increase to offset the village's first major budget shortfall in nearly 30 years.

If approved by voters Feb. 2, the hike would cover about $350,000 in revenue losses the village says it has experienced with the economic downturn this year.

The measure would raise the village property tax rate from about 0.32 to 0.49 per $100 of assessed valuation, costing the owner of a $400,000 home about $230 more a year, Village Treasurer Bill Sheehan said.

This is the first time the village has requested an increase since it established a local property tax in 1982.

"We've managed (until now) with a number of different sources that kept us solvent but are no longer readily available to us," Sheehan said. "We're not unmindful of the fact that this is not the best time in the world to ask for a tax increase. But we don't have any real kind of solid support."

Over the last year, Sheehan said, sales, income and utility tax revenue to the village plummeted some $350,000, or 20 percent of its $1.7 million budget. Meantime, the housing market has slowed the village's once-expanding tax base.

Without additional revenue to fill the gap, village officials say they'll have to consider "substantial cuts" to road and police services that amount for 70 percent of Wayne's annual expenses.

"We're hopeful our friends and neighbors will agree this (tax hike) is a better option than cutting those services," Sheehan said. "We're essentially asking for an agreement to continue services we're providing. We're not planning any new village hall or anything like that."

If the tax increase is approved, it would make itself known on property owners' 2011 tax bills. Sheehan noted that only about 5 percent of villagers' property taxes go to the village, which straddles DuPage and Kane counties; the rest is for schools, fire protection and other services.