Tax referendum survey

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

Yes, thanks Ted.  My point was that it was a good thing that District 100 got the referendum passed before the new assessments were released.  I have done the math and based on the new assessment my taxes will go at least $2000.  Perhaps you have a senior exemption or a freeze.  In my area of Berwyn, there will be a rude awakening.  I had an almost 40 percent increase on the value of my property.  I definitely cannot get a return on a sale of 40% from 3 years ago.  If I could, I would be gone.

[Ted]

Yes, thanks Ted.  My point was that it was a good thing that District 100 got the referendum passed before the new assessments were released.  I have done the math and based on the new assessment my taxes will go at least $2000.  Perhaps you have a senior exemption or a freeze.  In my area of Berwyn, there will be a rude awakening.  I had an almost 40 percent increase on the value of my property.  I definitely cannot get a return on a sale of 40% from 3 years ago.  If I could, I would be gone.

Mrs. N, I do not think your taxes will go up by $2,000.  That was my point in my post.  It is not linear.

  When assessments go up, the corresponding tax rate in each taxing body goes down in inverse proportion.

   For example, if the tax rate is $3 and the total assessments in a taxing body is $2 billion dollars, if the total assessments go up to $3 billion dollars, then the tax rate goes down to $2, keeping the taxes the same as they were before the assessment.

  The reassessment will result in a tax increase for you ONLY if your assessment increase was, percentage-wise, higher than the average percentage increase in Berwyn and Cook County.

  As a simplistic example, suppose the average assessment increase in Berwyn and in Cook County was 20%.  If your assessment increase was 20%, then the reassessment will NOT result in a tax increase (although other factors may cause an increase in taxes, it will not be because of the reassessment).

If the average increase in Berwyn and Cook County was 20% and your assessment was a 25% increase, then the assessment will result in an increase in your taxes BUT it will NOT be  25% increase resulting from the reassessment.  The increase is not linear.

  Likewise, if the average increase in Berwyn and Cook County was 20% and your assessment increased by only 10%, then the assessment results in a decrease in taxes.

  Remember, over the last few reassessment cycle, Berwyn's assessments actually decreased but that did not result in a significant decrease in taxes. There was a small decrease at the county level taxes because Berwyn's decline was much larger than the rest of Cook County, but there was no decrease in taxes to the Berwyn taxing bodies, which make up the majority of the taxes collected.

  Think of tax levies like a pie.  The pie can grow only at the rate of inflation - not beyond that.  The reassessments do not make the pie grow larger than the cost of living.

  Your property taxes are a slice of that pie, based on the assessment.  The only thing that the reassessment does is determine if your slice of the pie grows larger or smaller, relative to the assessment of all of your neighbors.  It does not make the pie itself get bigger.

  I do not have a senior exemption.  But, as I said, the tax increase is not linear based on how much assessments increased.  Just as taxes did not decrease when assessments went down, taxes will not increase significantly when the assessments go up.

I d not think that your taxes will not go up by $2,000 because of the reassessments.  Wait until July and see what the tax bill is.  Taxes will increase because of additional debt by D100 and the D100 tax rate increase.  And, taxes to Cook County may increase if Berwyn's assessments increased more than the average across Cook County (and because only one third of Cook County was reassessed).  But, I do not think you will see a $2,000 increase.

[markberwyn]

I get the impression that Mrs. Northsider is trying to (gently) express her resentment at schools getting more money.

[Ted]

I get the impression that Mrs. Northsider is trying to (gently) express her resentment at schools getting more money.

The tax rate increase from the referendum should not add extra money to the tax levy or people's taxes beyond $37.66 per $1,000 in property taxes paid.

What should happen in the tax rate increase is added to the existing non-debt tax rate and then the new tax rate should be adjusted downward when the new total assessment of the district is calculated.

I say "should" because there was a case a few years ago in another Illinois school district (I forgot which one) where the tax rate approved in the referendum was added after the assessment adjustment, causing the school district to get more in income than it should have.

  A citizen in the district took the district to court and pointed out the incorrectness of the calculation.