Proposed District 68 Tax Levy Would Add $341 to Average Homeowner's Bill

The owner of a $300,000 home within boundaries could see an increase of $341 to his or her tax bill next year under District 68's proposed tax levy. 

District 68 will ask the county for a 3.4 percent increase in its tax levy, expecting to get a 3.2 percent increase. 

Once the district sends its recommended tax levy to the county Clerk's Office, the county will determine the actual tax levy.  Kevin Wegner, assistant superintendent of business for District 68, said the district aims high when recommending a tax levy, in case the Clerk's Office awards a higher increase than expected.

Currently for the owner of a $300,000 home, the tax bill for District 68 would be $3,671. The tax increase the district expects would bump that up to $4,012. 

"We hope that the increase is actually less than that per household," Wegner said. 

Each year, Woodridge's taxing bodies, from the and to District 68, must annually levy, or ask for a certain portion of the community's tax bill. 

Several factors are used to determine what the levy should be, including new growth and equalized assessed valuation — the result of applying the assessed value of a property with a state equalization factor. The district can increase its tax levy up to the CPI (Consumer Price Index) plus new construction. 

District 68 would be looking for a 1.8 percent increase, but there's a unique situation this year. 

A TIF (tax increment financing) district affecting District 68 is expiring. For the past 23 years, the property taxes from this TIF, a certain area of land in Bolingbrook, has not gone to its taxing bodies, including District 68. Instead, the money has been used to invest in and develop the area. 

Now that the TIF is expiring, the property taxes from that area will again go to District 68. The good news: It means spreading the tax burden amongst more properties for the future. 

The bad news: The appreciation of the TIF property is $10 million, and that number is seen as "new construction." Per the formula for determining a tax levy, that ups the tax increase the district must ask for to capture the $10 million. 

The District 68 school board will vote on the proposed tax increase at its next monthly meeting on Monday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at .