CARY – Cary Community Consolidated School District 26 is asking its community for about $20.96 million property taxes this year, not including bonds and interest.
The school board on Monday voted 6-1 in favor of a resolution to ask for the 1.4 percent increase over last year's property tax extension, as well as a resolution for a $165,000 debt service abatement.
The 1.4 percent increase includes the 0.8 percent rate of inflation, in addition to new taxable property estimated at $2 million. The finalized equalized assessed value is not currently known, but Director of Finance and Operations Jeffrey Schubert said it's estimated to increase by about 1 percent.
Under those parameters, the 2015 District 26 tax rate including only the capped funds will be about 3.96 percent, while the total would be 4.72 percent, including bonds and interest.
Member Ben Washow, who at last month's board meeting expressed interest in keeping the levy flat, was the only opposing vote.
"I feel we took a step in the right direction [with the abatement]," Washow said Tuesday, adding, "I just thought given where we are, we should have kept it flat."
Factoring in the abatement, which means the district will levy less in debt service and make a scheduled payment out of its reserves, Schubert said a homeowner whose home was valued at $300,000 in 2013 would see an increase of about $18 on the District 26 portion of their tax bill.
With the adoption of the 2015 levy, the next steps will involve filing it with McHenry and Lake counties, Schubert said, adding the county clerk will release finalized tax rates and tax computation reports in April.
The district should start to receive tax dollars in May 2016.
Schubert mentioned a number of financial concerns taken into consideration when preparing the levy recommendation.
Future legislation that could freeze property taxes is something to watch out for, he said. Plus, what many school officials across the country believe to be a looming pension cost shift is a concern as well, as are increased health care costs and the usual shortcomings now expected of the state of Illinois.