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D e cember 4, 2015 • $1 .0 0
AMONG THE TOP
NORTHWEST
HERALD
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D-156 among area’s highest tax rates
A Northwest Herald series
6.93
D-12
5.99
D-19 D-154 + D-165
3.42 3.53
6.95 7.33
D-50 D-154 + D-18
3.42
7.42
4
2014 AGGREGATE TAX RATE
8.22
D-200 D-55 + D-26 D-157 + D-2 D-155 + D-47 D-155 + D-46 D-156 + D-15 D-155 + D-3 D-156 + D-36
4.75
3.09 3.89
7.75
4.65
3.09
8.0
4.91
2.89
8.74
5.85
3.09
9.8
6.32
2.89
1
2
DISTRICT B AGGREGATE TAX RATE
8.1
4.21
3.09
DISTRICT A AGGREGATE TAX RATE
7.84
10.55
7.66
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
TA X R AT E (INCLUDING BONDS AND INTERESTS)
ABOUT THIS SERIES For Illinoisans, property taxes are a sore spot. Illinois has the second-highest property taxes in the nation, and McHenry County is in the top 10 for highest property taxes in the state. Illinois also ranks first in the country with nearly 7,000 taxing districts, which makes examining one’s tax bill a confusing exercise. While taxpayers are annoyed by the price tag, property taxes also are a primary source of revenue for local taxing bodies. This series examines some of the issues in Illinois for residents and taxing bodies.
THE SERIES DAY-BY-DAY THURSDAY High property taxes in Illinois and McHenry County have residents fleeing for other states. For residents paying close to $10,000 in taxes alone, many have decided enough is enough. Lowering property taxes is among the items on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “Turnaround Agenda.”
TODAY The bulk of property taxes in Illinois, around 62 percent, goes to public schools. How much individual residents pay varies from school district to school district. What are among the reasons some residents pay more than others? One effort to ease property taxes has been an attempt to consolidate townships, which hasn’t gotten much traction from the McHenry County Board. We’ll take a look at the township portion of property taxes.
SATURDAY Some taxing bodies are maxed out on what they’re allowed to tax, which they say has been difficult as property value has declined. In 2014, 34 of McHenry County’s 117 taxing bodies reached the maximum tax rate in one or more of their funds.
SUNDAY A few taxing bodies have been building huge cash reserves, which is frustrating for taxpayers who still are paying high tax rates. Some are saving for major projects they have planned. At least one school district is making some efforts to change the trend of keeping a large surplus.
McHenry County school officials point to bonds, other factors to explain rates By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com In 2014, 16 percent of Woodstock Community Unit School District 200’s property tax rate accounted for money – almost $10 million – that went toward paying off voter-approved bonds. District 200, which recently approved a tentative flat 2016 levy, last year had one of the higher school district tax rates in McHenry County, when including bond and interest extensions. However, without that voter-approved component, District 200 falls in the middle of the property tax rate scale. “A lot of it has to do with our debt service tax rate being high, being about 1.36 percent,” said Risa Hanson, District 200’s chief financial officer. “Our operating tax rate was about 6.85 percent.” The debt was issued after voters passed a referendum in 2006, which allowed borrowing for the construction of Woodstock North High School, Prairiewood Elementary School and Creekside Middle School, Hanson said. With a bulk of property taxes going to public education, bonds issued for such projects represent only one of the factors to consider when looking at school district tax rates as they can make up, sometimes, a significant portion of the aggregate rate, school officials say. In order to compare tax rates as equitably as possible, the Northwest Herald combined high school districts with their respective feeders. Notably, factors that
More inside Property tax extensions vary between McHenry County’s 18 townships. PAGE A4
play into tax rates, such as equalized assessed value, will differ between districts that have been combined. The McHenry County rates that fell above District 200’s, including bonds and interest, were those of McHenry School District 15 and McHenry Community High School District 156 (8.74); Fox River Grove Consolidated School District 3 and Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 (9.41); and Wonder Lake-based Harrison School District 36 and McHenry District 156 (10.55). School officials’ criticism of a deadbeat state has become commonplace at various board meetings across the county. Officials often refer to local revenue, property taxes, as the largest and most stable source of funding. But the burden is becoming too heavy, said 17-year Woodstock resident Barb Gessert, who currently has kids in school. “We want the greatest benefit that we can get from education ... but we want that with the least expense,” she said. District 36 Superintendent Susan Wings and District 3 Superintendent Tim Mahaffy attributed relatively high rates to a lack of industry in the area. “District 3 gets 83 percent of
its revenue from local sources,” Mahaffy wrote in an email. “Because we do not have a large commercial base in our village, Fox River Grove property owners account for 86 percent of the tax revenue collected.” This differs from districts such as Algonquin-based Community Unit School District 300, where commercial property is more prevalent throughout Algonquin, Lake in the Hills and Huntley, said the district’s chief financial officer, Susan Harkin. When explaining high tax rates, many school district officials also are quick to point to year-after-year declines in equalized assessed value, which represents one of the components used to determine a tax levy. “The tax rate continues to rise even more when our EAV has declined so much,” Wings wrote in an email, later adding, “We should see a decrease in that tax rate this year with an increase in EAV as well as a decrease in the levy.” According to an analysis of school districts’ rate-setting EAVs between 2008 and 2014, District 36 did see the most dramatic decline, about 49 percent between the two years. With a majority of most school districts’ budgets directed toward salaries and benefits, other school officials have indicated that most taxpayer dollars go toward paying the people educating and working with McHenry County students.
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McHenry man killed in military helicopter crash Graphic by R. Scott Helmchen – shelmchen@shawmedia.com
McHENRY COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS
This graph shows the 2014 school district tax rates for McHenry County, which are rounded and inclusive of bonds and interest. High school districts are combined with their respective feeder districts as an estimated way to show the total rate a person in any given area would see. It's important to note, these numbers are not perfect given differences between combined districts in factors that determine tax rates. To see school district tax rates without bonds and interest, visit NWHerald.com.
6.71
D-300
Complete forecast on page A8
Family mourns soldier’s death
FOLLOW the MONEY
6.01
D-158
LOW
46 29
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PROPERTY TAXES
McHENRY COUNTY SCHOOL TAX RATES
HIGH
By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com McHENRY – Family and friends are mourning the loss of a McHenry soldier who died in a military helicopter crash Wednesday. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kevin Mose Weiss is being remembered as a kind and dedicated soul who loved to help people and who loved his country. The military informed the family Thursday morning of his death. “He was home just last week. He was home for Thanksgiving. The last thing he said was, ‘See you next month for Christmas,’ ” said his mother, Susan Weiss. Weiss, 32, and a second Kevin Mose pilot were killed when the Weiss AH-64D Apache attack helicopter they were flying out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, crashed during a training exercise, according to a news release from the 101st Airborne Division based there. The cause of the accident is under investigation. Weiss, the oldest of eight children, was known to his family and friends by his middle name of “Mose,” which was the nickname of his grandfather. Weiss was the reason he and his wife had more kids, said his father, also named Kevin. “He was fun. He was hardworking. He was loyal,” he said. And he showed bravery and a want for adventure at a young age, his parents said. As a teenager working the concession stand at the McHenry Dam, Weiss watched as a boat with four fishermen capsized in waters made dangerously fast by spring rains, his parents said. Weiss got in his own boat and rescued them. “He must have weighed 100 pounds, and he got four 200-pound people into that boat,” Kevin Weiss said. Susan Weiss called her son “the most honorable of young men” who had a big heart and took his role as big brother very seriously. “Mose was so tender and so kind. He would always think of his siblings first. He was very fun-loving, very caring. That was his M.O.,” she said. His sister, Sally Weiss, called her brother a rock the entire family could lean on when things got difficult. “Kevin was the second father to everyone in this family. Every one of my siblings has a very special relationship with him. He meant so much to all of us,” she said. Weiss attended McHenry public schools through fourth grade, and was then homeschooled until his sophomore year in high school. He then attended Christian Liberty
See SCHOOLS, page A4 See MOURNING, page A4
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