Publications & Sites 
Hinsdale District 86 eyes $75.5 million tax levy
Updated: January 28, 2013 1:58AM
HINSDALE — The Hinsdale High School District 86 Board on Monday tentatively approved the district’s 2012 property tax levy of $75.5 million by a 5-2 vote.
The amount would be 4 percent higher than last year’s levy, but the levy, which must be officially approved in December, is only an estimate at this point.
The tax levy is the amount the district requests, explained business manager Jeffrey Eagan. The extension is the amount the district actually receives.
District officials calculate their levy request based on the consumer price index, which is 3 percent, and the value of new construction in the district this year that will be added to the tax rolls.
Eagan estimates the value of new construction will be $30 million.
“But we don’t know what our (equalized assessed value) is and we don’t know what new construction is,” Eagan explained.
Once the county clerks determine the value of the new construction this year, the offices notify the district in April the amount of property taxes it will receive.
School Board member Richard Skoda argued the school district should try to cut waste from its budget, rather than always levy for the maximum amount it legally can.
The proposed tax levy includes $57.2 million for the education fund, $9.7 million for operations and maintenance, $1.8 million for special education services, $1.8 million for transportation; $1.9 million for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and Social Security; and $2.4 million for debt repayment. The amount needed to repay debt is not subject to the state’s tax cap.
In his report, Eagan explained the levy is the amount estimated to maintain the various fund balances at their current levels, “without any reduction in staffing and programs.”
Board member Dianne Barrett joined Skoda in voting against the tentative levy.
The School Board is scheduled to officially adopt the levy at its Dec. 10 meeting.~.
