Evanston/Skokie School District 65 wants to raise its property tax levy by 4.99%. The increase would add about $110 a year to the bill for a home valued at $500,000.
Chief Financial Officer Eric Miller presented the proposal to the school board at its Monday, Oct. 26 meeting, as first reported by the Evanston RoundTable.
Under Illinois property tax law, school districts can raise their levy each year by the previous year's inflation rate or 5%, whichever is lower. The Illinois Department of Revenue set the inflation rate tied to taxes payable in 2027 at 2.7%, according to a District 65 memo.
So how does the district get to 4.99%?
Through what is called a "balloon levy." That mechanism lets a district also capture tax payments from new properties added to the rolls in the past year. Miller said the district's current planning assumes about $15 million in new property.
"The higher request provides room for uncertainty in property values and other unknowns," Miller said.
There is a built-in limit. The district can receive only the maximum amount of taxes the law allows. If not enough new construction materializes to support the full 4.99% increase, the district collects only what the actual new property generates.
More than half of each Evanston property tax bill goes to the two local school districts. District 65 accounts for 41.4% of the total bill, and Evanston Township High School District 202 makes up 26.3%. The city government receives 16.2%. The rest is split among the Evanston Public Library, Cook County agencies, Oakton College, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District.
The school board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the levy at its Dec. 14 meeting, followed by a final vote.
