Debt increasing Batavia school tax request

The Batavia school district is asking for 9 percent more in property taxes in its 2010 levy than it collected this year.

The proposed levy is $63.1 million, compared to $57.9 million in taxes property owners paid this past spring.

Part of the jump is attributable to increased taxes for the district's debt. It is in the third year of a $75 million building program that included the renovation and expansion of Batavia High School. The debt portion of the levy will likely increase by $2.8 million, nearly 39 percent more than last year. The debt levy is not subject to the state's property tax increase limitation law.

The portions of the tax request subject to that tax increase cap will increase by about 4.9 percent, the district calculates. Since it is less than 5 percent, the district will not have to have a Truth in Taxation Act public hearing on the matter.

The school board reviewed the levy Nov. 16. It's finance committee will discuss it again at a yet-unscheduled meeting in December. The board must file the levy request with the Kane County Clerk by Dec. 28. The 2010 levy is billed to taxpayers in May 2011.

District officials actually expect to receive about $758,000 less than what they are requesting. Property tax limitations depend on the assessed value of property in the district, and the district won't know that value until March. So like many other government bodies it files a request on the high side, to make sure it receives every tax dollar to which it is legally entitled.

The district's business superintendent has estimated that the total assessed valuation of the property in the district will decline for the second year in a row, by at least 2.24 percent, even with the addition of $5.6 million in new property.