District 203 abates $2.7 million debt service levy

On the same night the Naperville Unit District 203 school board agreed to abate $2.7 million of the 2021 debt service tax levy, its members voted to establish a $314,000 levy for refund recapture.

The $2.7 million abatement will save the average owner of a $410,000 home about $70 from the Naperville 203 portion of their property tax bill. The $314,000 levy will add about $7.40 for that same homeowner, according to Michael Frances, the district's chief financial officer. This is the sixth straight year the district abated the debt service levy.

The $7.40, which will go into effect for the 2022-23 fiscal year, is on top of the anticipated 1.4% increase that will add $25 for the owner of a $410,000 home.

"While I know this is a small amount, this number is going to fluctuate annually, and you can review this annually," Superintendent Dan Bridges said at Monday's board meeting. "But our recommendation really is based on the ideal that this moves us closer to collection of 100% of the extension that is afforded to us."

A new state law allows a taxing body to recapture three types of property tax refunds: the issuance of a certificate of error, a court order issued in a valuation tax objection complaint and decisions of the Property Tax Appeal Board. The DuPage and Will county clerks determined the amount Naperville 203 can recapture, which will change from year to year.

Because of those types of refunds, taxing bodies in the past haven't been able to collect 100% of the amount extended to them.

Frances said, unlike a grant, the additional $314,000 does not have specific expenditures tied to it. He said while the amount adds only .01% to the district's total levy of about $250 million, the money could be put to any number of uses by the schools.

"It's a small percentage of that, but we'd look at that as a large amount of money," Frances said.

Frances said district officials were in the process of figuring out where the $314,000 would figure into the district's budget.

"It would be a smaller benefit for taxpayers, but something where it could represent a more significant impact for students," school board President Kristin Fitzgerald said.