Plainfield School District Approves $204M Tax Levy

Submitted by Plainfield School District 202

PLAINFIELD, IL — The Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 Board of Education approved a proposed $204,787,536 tax levy for 2015 that is down about $1 million from last year’s levy thanks to savings realized by refinancing several bond issues.

The $204.8 million levy is the district’s official request for its share of local property taxes (including bond and interest) from both Will and Kendall counties.

The Board approved the levy request following a public hearing as required by law, at its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 14.

The 2015 levy request is about 15 percent higher than the 2014 extension of $177,754,799 (including bond and interest). However, the proposed 2015 levy is about $1.04 million less than the 2014 levy of $205,831,193.

The levy is the school district’s official request for its share of local property taxes. The extension is the amount of local taxes the district actually receives from the counties it serves. The official extension will be calculated after the district’s final equalized assessed value is set next April.

It is normal for governments to request significantly more money than is actually needed to ensure that they get their full share of taxes. This process is called a “balloon levy.” If governments ask for less than what they ultimately are due, they lose any funds over their request.

Although the proposed 2015 levy is 15 percent higher than last year’s extension, district officials expect this year’s actual tax extension to be only about .8 percent higher than last year.

The state tax cap law limits the amount of new revenues the district can levy each year to either the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 5 percent, whichever is less. For the 2015 levy, the CPI is expected to be .8 percent. Therefore when the levy process is complete District 202 will be able to increase its local property tax revenues by only .8 percent (plus the value of new construction).

New property values can fluctuate between now and when final numbers are received. As well, the economy continues to show signs of slow improvement.

Of the total amount of the proposed 2015 levy, approximately 85 percent or $174 million dollars will go to the districts’ operating funds -- Education, Operations and Maintenance, Transportation, Working Cash, Illinois Municipal Employees Retirement Fund and Tort.

District officials will be able to calculate the 2015 extension and resulting tax rate after the district’s equalized assessed valuation or EAV is finalized early next year.