Following a public hearing, the District 64 Board of Education at the December 12, 2016 meeting adopted an estimated total tax levy of $68.4 million for 2016, which is a 4.21% increase over the previous year. The funds will be used to educate almost 4,500 students in District 64, provide for day-to-day operations at the schools, and address critical health life safety facilities needs.
The percentage increase is deliberately set high enough to capture any funds available from new construction within the District 64 community. No matter how large the levy request is for 2016, however, District 64 will only receive a 0.7% increase plus the taxes associated with the new construction, as allowed under the tax cap (Property Tax Extension Limitation Law).
District 64 has only one opportunity to benefit from new construction when it is added to the tax rolls. But because the actual amount of new construction is not yet known, District 64 sets the levy percentage at a high enough level to make sure it can receive the full benefit from it. In contrast, local governments, such as the City of Park Ridge, do not operate under the tax cap, and have far greater flexibility in adjusting their tax rates from year to year.