Naperville plans to lower property taxes for 3rd year

The average Naperville homeowner can expect to pay about $35 less next year on the city portion of their annual property tax bill.

During a recent budget workshop, a majority of council members tentatively approved a $46.6 million levy, a decrease of 2.6 percent from last year.

The estimated tax rate agreed to Monday is 77.08 cents per $100 of equalized assessed value, compared to last year’s rate of 75.15 cents.

At that rate, the owners of a typical $370,000 Naperville home can expect to pay $924.96 for the city’s portion of their property tax bill, down from the $960.25 they paid last year.

The average Naperville homeowner pays about 12 percent of their property tax bill to the city, with the remainder going to other government bodies.

Finance Director Karen DeAngelis attributes the trend toward a lower levy to a roughly 15 percent decrease in the taxable value of property expected for the three years from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal 2014.

Nearly $5 million in revenue increases this year from a wide range of sources, including sales and income taxes, also helped.

Despite the city’s reduction, City Manager Doug Krieger does not expect area school districts, townships and the College of DuPage to be so kind.

“We are very proud to present a proposed tax levy that reduces dollars coming from property taxes,” Krieger said. “Unfortunately, my guess is that the other taxing entities will be increasing their levies in excess of our reduction, resulting in higher overall property tax bills despite our best efforts.”

Councilman Doug Krause was pleased with preliminary results but challenged staff to “do better.”

Council members hope to be able to abate a portion of the levy back to taxpayers after final tax figures are released from the state in March.

The city will conduct a public hearing on the proposed levy on Nov. 20 and likely approve it Dec. 4.