District 118 tax rate might decrease

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November 4, 2009

BY ANNA HERKAMP The Commercial-News Wed Nov 04, 2009, 06:29 PM CST

DANVILLE — Danville District 118’s tax rate could go down slightly if its equalized assessed valuation goes up as much as officials hope it does.

District 118 uses the county’s estimated equalized assessed valuation increase when creating its own estimate for the following year’s tax levy.

The county estimates an increase of 1.26 percent, but the district anticipates a 3 percent increase. The district uses a high estimate in case the county’s estimate is low compared to the actual value. The higher the equalized assessed valuation increase, the more tax revenue the district could gain next year. The district tries to estimate high so that it doesn’t lose any potential money in case the county’s equalized assessed valuation estimate is lower than the actual amount.

If the equalized assessed valuation increased by the full 3 percent, the district’s tax rate would be $4.87 for each $100 of assessed value, which is down 0.4 percent from last year’s $4.89. A homeowner with $100,000 worth of property could see a decrease of annual taxes of $6.53.

If the equalized assessed valuation increase is between 0 and 1.26 percent, taxes would increase for that same homeowner by about 69 cents to $6.08 annually.

District118 officials met with board members in a special meeting to discuss the proposed levy for 2010 and the annual audit Wednesday.

“We want to keep the tax rate from increasing, but maximize district dollars,” said Heather McKiernan, business director for the district.

The levy is made up of two separate parts, the restricted funds, which have a maximum percentage of the overall equalized assessed valuation. For example, if the district estimated a 3 percent EAV growth, but it only grew 2 percent, the district could only collect tax dollars based on the 2 percent growth.

The other part of the levy is made up of unrestricted funds, which are not based on equalized assessed valuation fluctuation, but on a flat dollar amount levied as needed. These funds include Social Security, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and Tort funds.

Last year, the district overspent in the Social Security and IMRF funds by more than $60,000, though still having plenty of money in the overall budget.

McKiernan said she anticipates the IMRF and Social Security funds will be short again this year. The levy for next year would cover the $60,000 deficit from last year, but not the projected $73,000 deficit anticipated in this fund for this current fiscal year.

“We’re assuming that isn’t going to go away,” she said. “We’ll probably lose even more money on this next year … it’s going to increase or stay the same.”

She said the IMRF and Social Security funds aren’t covering the expenses.

The district was still far ahead in its fund balances, with a balanced of almost $500,000 by the end of last fiscal year, but McKiernan wants to stay ahead of the expenses as much as she can to make up for any delayed state payments.

At this time, the state owes the district $2 million in late payments.

District 118 will review the annual audit at this month’s regular meeting. The audit revealed no find-ings or material weaknesses, board member Greg Hilleary pointed out.

Board members talked about how the per-child expenditures did go up last year due to operating grants nd other one-time expenses.

Last school year, the district spent more than $9,100 per child. In the previous year, the district spent just more than $6,800 per child.

COMING UP

The Danville District 118 school board will meet in a regular session at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Jackson Building, 516 N. Jackson St.

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