What An Elmhurst Tax Hike Would Cost You

ELMHURST, IL – For months, Elmhurst officials have pondered tax increases to pay down debt for stormwater projects.

Now, the city has given numbers on what tax hikes would cost residents.

According to a city finance department memo this week, Elmhurst aldermen are considering two ways to increase income – property taxes and a stormwater fee.

The city said it needs $3.5 million a year through the mid-2030s to meet the demands of the stormwater fund.

To do that, property taxes would need to be raised, costing the owner of a $450,000 house $183 more annually.

Alternatively, the city could assess a stormwater fee, as more suburbs are doing. To get enough money, a flat stormwater fee would need to be $228 for residential properties and $456 for other types, according to the memo.

The third option is that the city uses a mix of stormwater fees and property tax hikes.

The memo also suggested the stormwater fee could be based on the percentage of impervious surfaces such as pavement on a property. Those types of surfaces cause more flooding.

With such a system, residents would likely pay less than businesses, the memo said.

Downers Grove assesses its fee that way. In that town, residential properties make up more than 75 percent of the property tax allocation. But such properties only consist of 50 percent of the impervious area.

Using that method, the stormwater fee would drop to $120 a year, from $228.

The City Council's finance committee plans to discuss possible tax increases Monday.