Understanding Your Real Estate Tax Bill: D41

Glen Ellyn residents this year have received a tax bill showing an increase in taxes related to District 41.

District 41 officials last week sent families a message to explain the increase. According to the message, the bill this year looks higher because it's being compared to last year's bill, when the district reduced taxes by $2.7 million through an abatement.

The District 41 portion of the tax bills for 2011-2012 that residents just received shows a larger increase than normal compared to last year's bill.

• This is because the amount is being compared with a lower than normal tax bill last year, when the district reduced taxes by $2.7 million through an abatement.
• Residents paid $2.7 million less last year due to the abatement.
• Taxpayers are not paying more this year than they would have if there had been no abatement; in other words, the district is not "making up" this year what it abated last year. The difference between what the district would have received last year if it had not abated and what it received this year is 3.65 percent; the difference between what the district received last year after the abatement and what it received this year is 10.9 percent.
• The May, 2013 tax bill is in compliance with the tax cap legislation. The tax cap slows the pace at which taxes rise.
• Below is an example taken from the tax bills for a property within the district with a net taxable value of $234,700 (fair cash value of $722,200).

NOTE: The district is receiving 10.9% more than it did last year when you compare all the tax dollars it received; what an individual property owner pays will probably differ from that percentage increase depending on the value of the property relative to other properties in the district, and exemptions the property may qualify for. In the example below, the increase for the property this year is more than the district's increase in total tax dollars.   

Source: District 41