Property taxes may still go up in Dist. 214

The tentative tax levy increase of 4.7 percent for Northwest Suburban High School District 214 will be capped at a lower rate, but homeowners could still see a higher increase in property taxes.

Superintendent David Schuler explained that the state-mandated cap on the levy is based on the Consumer Price Index plus the value of new properties and properties in tax increment finance districts that expire. The CPI this year is 2.7 percent.

The district must set its levy before the cap is known, so it always asks for 2 percentage points higher than the Consumer Price Index. This year, that totals $191 million.

The problem is how the eventual levy is divvied up, Schuler said. He quoted a Nov. 17 Daily Herald story that said $5 billion in tax assessment reductions were granted this year by the Cook County Board of Review, with only $800 million of that going to residences. That shifted the tax burden to homeowners and small businesses, Schuler said.

Last year the district's levy went up less than 1 percent, but the median tax increase for homeowners in the North and Northwest suburbs was 8.13 percent, with some much higher, Cook County Assessor James Houlihan's office reported.

Municipalities have economic development tools for reducing assessments on businesses, and when they establish TIF districts, taxes from those areas are diverted from school districts, instead pumped into redevelopment in that district.

“It doesn't affect the levy; it affects who pays,” said Schuler. “The most critical is the Board of Review reduction of $5 billion in assessed valuation.”

If all things were equal, the portion of a homeowner's tax bill that goes to school districts should not increase any more than the Consumer Price Index, said Schuler.

“Property tax bills are increasing, and it's really, really frustrating for us.”

The Legislature needs to put limits on the assessment reductions that the Board of Review can grant, he said.

Two residents complained about the increased taxes. Roland Ley of Arlington Heights said he wasn't sure who to be angry at, but he would like to start a taxpayers' union if interested people contacted him.

Ley said he did not know where the money to pay property taxes was supposed to come from.

“Social Security is frozen; the pension is level; investments aren't doing well; you can't sell your house. Some of my six kids are out of jobs and some had to take pay cuts.”

Ken Hofrichter of Elk Grove Village showed a chart representing dramatic increases over the last 10 years in the total pensions paid for people retired from District 214. He suggested that retirees be asked to contribute some of their pensions to the district, but after the meeting he said that part of his report had not been serious.