Plainfield Property Tax Not Expected To Change Next Year: Board

PLAINFIELD, IL — Property tax rates in Plainfield in the upcoming fiscal year are expected to remain the same. Although trustees on the Village Board haven't officially approved the 2021 tax levy, the item was acknowledged at the Nov. 15 Village Board meeting.

The motion seeking Board consideration to acknowledge the tax levy in the amount of $7,751,000 passed 4-2. Trustees Harry Benton and Brian Wojowski voted against the motion, which wasn't discussed further at the meeting.

The 2021 tax levy was calculated maintaining the 2020 levy rate of 0.4669, which has remained unchanged for eight years, according to a memorandum from Traci Pleckham, interim village administrator. In 2020, 5.58 percent of the tax levy went to the village, meaning for every dollar residents paid in property taxes, 5.58 cents went to Plainfield.

According to village documents, homeowners of a house valued at $250,000 would pay the village $361.07 in property taxes using the maintained rate of 0.4669.

The annual property tax levy ordinance must be approved before the last Tuesday in December, and the Village Board will consider the ordinance at its Dec. 6 meeting. A public hearing on the proposed levy is also planned for Dec. 6.

Tax levy revenue is largely a product of Plainfield's estimated Equalized Assessed Valuation, estimated at about $1.66 billion in 2021. The estimate, which increased by about 6.6 percent from the $1.55 billion valuation in 2020, is based on preliminary information from Will and Kendall counties. The official EAV for Plainfield won't be available until spring of 2022, according to Pleckham.

The annual levy is approved based on dollars requested instead of a rate, and the village's calculations include a higher overall EAV in an effort to capture the Plainfield entire EAV while still maintaining the 2020 levy rate. Pleckham noted the $7.75 million 2021 levy request is higher than what the village is anticipating receiving.

Of taxes collected in 2020, the most — about 63.86 percent — went toward Plainfield School District 202. Village documents show about 11.07 percent went toward the Plainfield Fire Protection District and 3.46 percent went to Joliet Junior College District 525.

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