Elmhurst D205 Scales Back Tax Hike

ELMHURST, IL – Members of the Elmhurst School District 205 board last week voted to scale back the district's property tax hike for this year.

However, one member said he regretted the board was not providing more relief.

In December, the board voted to increase the tax levy by 5 percent, the maximum allowed under state law. At the time, officials cited inflation, labor shortages and increases in costs such as busing as the reasons for the hike.

That increase amounted to $344 for the owner of a $500,000 house, according to the district. With last week's decision, the board voted to cut the increase by $51. In bureaucratic jargon, the process is known as "abatement."

With the latest 5 percent hike, taxes will have gone up by 18 percent from 2021 to 2023, board member Jim Collins said.

But member Chris Kocinski said it was important to include 2020's number in the calculation. He noted the district made no change to the property tax levy that year.

Member Athena Arvanitis agreed with Kocinski,

"We represent misleading numbers if we don't include the whole picture," she said.

Collins said employees' health care, busing and nursing services – all of which are seeing big cost hikes – make up about 12 percent of the district's budget.

"On the surface, those double-digit increases look very scary," he said. "But in context, they're a relatively minor portion of the budget."

In the end, Collins joined his colleagues in voting for the reduction in the tax increase.

"I wish this were a large amount. I thought we asked for a larger amount," he said.

Given tax deadlines, though, he said he was left with no other choice "but to take what I can get for our taxpayers."