U-46 tax levies: Who would pay more, who would pay less

Elgin Area School District U-46 is seeking to collect more than $305 million in property taxes for 2015 - a 1.63 percent increase over the previous year.

That includes taxes collected to cover the educational and operational needs of the district, for debt payments and pension liabilities, and from new growth.

Homeowners in Cook County won't see much of an increase on their property tax bills, Kane County taxpayers should see a decrease, and DuPage County taxpayers should see an increase, Chief Operations Officer Jeff King told the school board Monday.

U-46 officials also intend to abate some 2015 taxes in February, which should help offset some of the increase for DuPage County taxpayers, King said.

"We won't know (the abatement amount) until spring. It will be between $2 million and $3 million," King said.

Without the abatement, the increase to the average homeowner would be 0.80 percent - the maximum allowed under the state property tax cap, which limits increases to the previous year's Consumer Price Index or 5 percent, whichever is lower, King said.

Officials anticipate taking money from operating funds to cover a portion of bond and interest payments so the counties won't have to levy taxes for them separately.

"Our average bond and interest payments for the year would be about $42 million," King said.

With the abatement, the impact on the average homeowner "would be zero" when the bill comes due, he said.

This year's levy request shows a modest increase compared to previous years. Until 2010, it wasn't unusual for U-46 to seek tax levy increases of up to 20 percent, King said.

"Every year we lose $3 million to $4 million in revenues due to corporate property tax appeals," King said.

While school districts levy for dollar amounts, the tax rates are set by the counties. A couple of factors go into determining levies - equalized assessed valuation or EAV of properties, and value of new construction added to the tax rolls.

Those won't be known until April, King said.

In Kane County, property values are expected to increase by 6.8 percent, while anticipated property values for Cook and DuPage counties won't be known until April and September, respectively, King said.

Officials are estimating $25 million in new construction has been added to the 2015 tax rolls.

Last year, the district captured tax money from $16 million in new construction value.

School districts must levy for new growth in the first year or the construction value is capped forever at the CPI or 5 percent, King said.

The U-46 school board will review the proposed 2015 tax levies Nov. 16 and vote to adopt the tax levy resolution Dec. 14. The final levy must be filed with the counties by Dec. 29.