HUNTLEY – Cathy Haley, Village Director of Finance, presented three options to the board at the November 10 Board meeting for the 2022 Property Tax Levy for taxes payable in 2023.
Haley began, “The following options abide by the Village financial policies and are based on the current estimated Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) Reports from McHenry and Kane Counties. EAV represents 33.3% of total fair market value. McHenry County is estimating an increase of 8.68% in valuation, of which $15,344,581 (2.28%) is attributable to new construction. Kane County is estimating an increase of 13.53%, of which $16,708,926 (4.76%) is attributable to new construction. The total combined increase in the EAV is 10.35%.”
She continued, “Tax levy funds are allocated for General Fund operations, IMRF (Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) employer obligations, Social Security employer obligations, Police Pension Fund employer obligations, and Liability Insurance costs.” Haley added, “This year’s actuarial calculation costs for the Police Pension Fund obligation increased by $119,027 in part due to more retirements in FY21 than anticipated.”
The three options presented by Haley were:
OPTION #1 – Increase for Police Pension Fund Levy Requirement.
Increasing the levy line for the Police Pension Fund Village obligation shows a total increase to the Village’s levy of 2.39%. This dollar increase in conjunction with the overall increasing EAV shows the limited tax rate decreasing from .4868 to .4517 per $100 of assessed valuation. The result is a $3.00 decrease in individual tax bills.
OPTION #2 – Capture all New Growth.
Increasing the levy lines for new growth allows the Village the opportunity to increase the property tax dollars without impacting existing residents. The increased dollars are spread across the new construction values. The total increase in the levy would be $156,027 or 3.13%. This option will cover the Police Pension obligation and supplement General Fund operations. This option would increase individual property taxes by $1.00 annually.
OPTION #3 –Holding the FY21 rate while capturing additional dollars.
In an attempt to hold the 2022 rate the same, the Village can still capture additional dollars based on the increasing overall EAV. This dollar increase equates to $515,904. The additional dollar amount for the General Fund of $396,877 would help cover the ongoing operational costs associated with the new staffing in the FY23 Budget. The additional staffing is primarily related to servicing new growth. These new personnel costs are more than $250,000 annually in wages, which does not include the Village’s increased costs to FICA, Medicare, or health insurance
Haley pointed out that “The Option #3 increase would be a total increase to the Village’s levy of 10.35%, which would require the Village to post the required “Black Box” notification in accordance with the Truth in Taxation State guidelines. A public hearing would also be required for this option.”
When Mayor Hoeft asked for comments, Trustee Goldman voted for Option 2 since “it only raises the levy by one-dollar.”
Trustee Westberg commented, “Voting for Option 2. It captures the new growth and is essentially keeping the levy flat.”
The other trustees all favored Option 2 without any additional comment.
Haley then announced that “a Public Hearing on the 2023 Village Budget, the 2022 Property Tax Levy Ordinance, the 2022 Special Service Area Levy Ordinances and the 2022 Abatement Ordinances” would be part of the December 8th Village Board meeting.
