Angry With Elmhurst Property Taxes? City Takes Fraction

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst resident Thomas Cruise on Monday urged city aldermen not to raise property taxes, suggesting raffles and lotteries may help the city pay for services.

Elmhurst accounts for about 10 percent of the local property tax bill, while Elmhurst School District 205 takes up nearly three-quarters.

"Do I think our property taxes are high? Maybe," Cruise said during a City Council meeting. "We need to look at our costs and expenses. Do we need all of our police and public works members? I don't know. Sometimes, I'm driving down the street and there are two police cars behind us. Maybe they're both going for coffee. I don't know. Do we need 160 (city) vehicles? Maybe not."

Cruise, who lives on Saylor Avenue, added, "We all need to live within our means. We need to stop raising our property taxes in my opinion."

It was unclear whether Cruise knew that schools, not the city, take up the biggest part of the bill. Perhaps he is planning to speak at a school board meeting. Patch was unable to find Cruise's contact information.

Residents often believe their municipal governments take up much of their property tax bills, as was indicated recently at a La Grange Village Board meeting. However, cities have sources of money that schools lack – among them, sales taxes, gas taxes, fines and a share of the state's income tax money.

By contrast, Illinois schools rely heavily on property taxes. Wealthier schools get little money from the state because they have bigger property tax bases on which to rely.

Last November, the council decided to keep the city's property tax levy flat, despite record inflation. While the levy may be flat, a resident may pay more or less than the previous year because of changes in home values.