Elmhurst D205 Taxing To Max Next Year

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst School District 205 officials said this week the district would lose out on millions in taxes for years to come if they failed to tax to the maximum this year.

That argument convinced all but one of the school board members present.

At Tuesday's board meeting, members approved a 5 percent increase to the property tax levy, the maximum allowed under state law. That works out to a $281 increase for a $500,000 house, according to the district.

Member Jim Collins asked about the consequences of increasing the tax levy by 4 percent, rather than 5 percent.

Chris Whelton, assistant superintendent of finance, said the district would lose out on $1.3 million in income in 2024 and every year thereafter, not including the inflation on top of the $1.3 million over time.

Under state law, a public body can increase its property tax levy by the rate of inflation up to 5 percent.

As of December 2022 – when the inflation rate is gauged for tax purposes – it was 6.5 percent.

"We are in unprecedented times ... where we are capped at less than inflation two years in a row," Whelton said. "Costs are escalating at a very substantial rate."

However, Collins said that with the 5 percent increase, the district's portion of the property tax bill will have gone up 17 percent over three years. He said it probably took the previous decade to rise that much.

"I don't know anyone ... whose income has increased by 17 percent over the last three years," Collins said. "I think we can manage to tighten our belts in a time of 6.5 percent inflation."

Board President Athena Arvanitis said she understood the burden on taxpayers in an inflationary period.

"We all feel what it's doing in our households and ultimately to our property tax bills," she said.

At the same time, she said the board must balance those concerns with what students in the classroom need.

The board 5-1 voted to increase the estimated tax levy by 5 percent. Collins dissented, while member Courtenae Trautmann was absent.

Officials said District 205's taxes are lower than those in districts that they consider comparable.