Plainfield School District 202 expects to lower property tax rate

Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 said it expects to lower its property tax rate after the passage of its proposed budget.

The board will hold a public hearing on its 2021 tax levy at its Dec. 13 meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Wallin Oaks Elementary School, located at 15410 S. Wallin Drive in Plainfield, according to a news release.

The board is expected to vote on the proposed levy during the meeting.

District officials project its total tax rate will fall from $5.26 per $100 of equalized assessed value this year to about $5.08 per $100 of EAV next year thanks to rising property values and conservative budgeting.

Still, local public school districts make up only a portion of the average resident’s property tax bill so the decrease might not mean the property owner will see an overall tax decrease.

This would be the seventh straight year the district anticipates its tax rate to drop. The property tax rate has fallen 16% since the 2014-2015 school year when it was $6.26, the district said.

The district plans to ask the Will and Kendall County clerks for a little over $209 million in local property taxes, about a 5.2% increase over last year’s total levy.

The actual amount of local taxes the district receives from the counties it serves will be calculated after the district’s final equalized assessed value is set in April.

The district said governments routinely request more money than is needed to ensure they capture their full share of taxes. If governments ask for less than what they ultimately are due, they lose any funds greater than what was expected.

Of the total proposed 2021 levy, about 86% will go to the district’s operating funds for education, operations and maintenance, transportation, working cash, IMRF, special education and tort, according to the release.