March 29, 2024
Local News

Woodstock School District 200 considering $61.2 million 2020 property tax levy, marking 2.7% increase from previous year

Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 earlier this month gave initial approval to a $61.2 million property tax levy, which would represent a 2.7% increase over last year’s levy of $59.6 million, according to a district news release.

While the total amount the district plans to tax with its 2020 extension would likely rise if the district board next month votes to finalize the $61.2 million levy, the tax burden on homes within the district would fall compared with last year, according to the release.

The school system’s tax extension under the last year’s levy cost $4,011 on a $200,000 home, and this year the tax would decrease $38 from that on a home of the same value, District 200 Chief Financial Officer Risa Hanson told the board at its Nov. 17 meeting.

“We are excited that we were once again able to decrease our tax rate. We continue to work to keep our taxes flat while providing our students with a quality education,” District 200 Superintendent Mike Moan said in the release.

Illinois school districts are limited to increasing taxes from the past year by the consumer price index rate of inflation, which is 2.3%, plus the tax rate on the value of estimated new property. The district believes there is about $6.1 million in new construction value this year, which would net the district an additional $350,400, it estimated.

This year’s estimated levy before adding in planned taxes for school debt service, which school districts can levy to pay as necessary, according to the release, would be $53.9 million, district documents show. That’s about $100,000 more than the state formula that calculates $53.8 million as the total ceiling for estimated District 200 taxes, according to the documents.

“If the final [property value] is more than estimated, then District 200 needs to have the ability to capture these funds,” according to district documents shared with the board. Hanson described the additional amount as a “cushion or a balloon” of $100,000. In years past, the district has accounted for a larger cushion, she said.

The district is supposed to have almost $19 million in principal and interest payments coming due to its 2020 levy, but officials have decided to keep its upcoming debt service at $7.3 million by combining abatements and refunds of existing debt, according to district documents. That will bring the total estimated levy to the $61.2 million figure.

According to the release, officials can lower the total tax rate from $6.61 to $6.55 per $100 of taxable value without impacting the quality of education by using reserve funds to abate $5.7 million in debt payments.

Board President Carl Gilmore said he was glad to see the district’s tax rate reduced.

“We’ve decreased the dent a little bit, and we’ve done a lot of really good things tonight,” Gilmore said after the levy’s initial approval.

District 200 has decreased its tax rate by a total of 20% from 2014, according to the release, amounting to a tax bill reduction of more than $1,000 for the owner of a $200,000 home.

The board is set to vote on the final levy at its Dec. 8 board meeting.

Sam Lounsberry

Sam Lounsberry

Sam Lounsberry is a former Northwest Herald who covered local government, business, K-12 education and all other aspects of life in McHenry County, in particular in the communities of Woodstock, McHenry, Richmond, Spring Grove, Wonder Lake and Johnsburg.