Glenview School District 34 officials say they plan to ask property owners for about 3.6 percent more next year, citing the need to ensure all new property growth is accounted for and to defend the district’s financial health should state school funding change.
Eric Miller, assistant superintendent for business services, told Board of Education members on Oct. 12 that the district will request $48,562,000 in the 2015 property tax levy – an amount that would cost the owners of a $300,000 home an estimated additional $18.
That increase isn’t yet set in stone, however, officials said.
The final levy – which must be filed with the Cook County Clerk by Dec. 29 – is likely to be closer to a 2.1 percent hike over last year, Miller said, adding the reasons for the difference are rooted in Cook County’s property assessment schedule.
Because District 34 officials won’t know when new properties come onto the tax roll and won’t get information on new construction from the county until next year, they must estimate that amount in the preliminary levy; and that means estimating more than is probable to ensure all new property value is “captured,” Miller said.
“Setting the levy amount above the level anticipated is part of the approach to being fiscally responsible. Should the district ‘under-levy,’ significant property tax revenue would be lost in perpetuity, resulting in years of budgeting difficulties because revenues needed to meet increasing operating costs would not be captured,” Miller said in a news release issued after the board’s discussion.
Board members will discuss the 2015 property tax levy again at their Nov. 16 meeting. A public hearing on the levy is scheduled for Dec. 14, just before the board’s regular meeting that same night.
The 2015 levy is payable on 2016 property tax bills.
The 2015 property tax levy is the latest piece of the district’s financial puzzle. Last month, board members unanimously approved a $73.1 million budget for 2015-16, and set the stage for a two-step sale of up to $12.7 million in new bonds to pay for safety-related construction projects.
The planned sale aims to take advantage of historically low interest rates and nullify the uncertainty of state funding by tripling the amount of “life safety”-related construction projects slated for the next two school years, district officials said. Issuing the new debt would also allow the district to avoid tapping its reserves, officials added.
Under the plan approved on Aug. 17, District 34 would issue up to $12.7 million of new bonds over the next two years – $6 million in December and $6.7 million in January – to pay for those projects and borrow an additional $6.9 million to refund bonds issued in 2005 and 2006.
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The district would spend slightly more than $6.6 million in 2016-17 on life safety projects at Henking, Lyon, Pleasant Ridge and Springman Middle schools, and $6 million during 2017-18 on projects at Glen Grove, Hoffman, Westbrook and Attea Middle schools.
If district officials get their projects list approved by the Illinois State Board of Education by Nov. 11, the first $6 million in new debt will be sold as “life safety” bonds; if not, they will be sold as “working cash” bonds, Miller said.
Jon Davis is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.