Buffalo Grove forecasts nearly flat levy for 2015

Buffalo Grove's 2014 property tax levy will grow less than 1 percent, largely because of a sharp drop in funding needed to pay off debts, officials said this week.

Finance Director Scott Anderson said the 2014 levy - property tax dollars the village will collect in 2015 - is projected at $14,857,335, only slightly higher than last year's $14,633,082.

Anderson said the corporate levy, which supports the village's core operations, is expected to go up by 3 percent, and the levy for police and fire pensions would increase by 2.5 percent. However, he said, the levy for Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and the employer portions of Social Security and Medicare would drop 1.6 percent, and the levy for debt service would fall nearly 27 percent.

The latter, he said, reflects the way the village's debt is structured. Last year's debt service requirement was $1.1 million, reduced to $901,000 after tax abatements. The levy request for this year is $804,000.

Anderson said the equalized assessed value of the village has declined 17.4 percent over the last three years, from $1.89 billion to $1.56 billion, but the drop has for the most part leveled off. Village staff expects a decline between 2.5 to 4 percent this year.

"Lake County still continues to decline, (but) not at rates we have seen," Anderson said.

Trustee Steven Trilling asked whether the latest numbers would affect the village's bond rating from Moody's or other services. Anderson said it would not.

"We're meeting what the actuaries are requesting for the levy. So, as long as we continue to do that, show a pattern of fully funding the pensions, we should be good," Anderson said.