Do you understand tax rates and revenue requests?

UPDATE, Dec. 10, 2016 / State Sen. Mike Connelly and Naperville Township Assessor Warren Dixon provided an enlightening overview of how taxes are levied with a unified shout out that the best way to reduce property taxes is for the state’s economy to grow, plain and simple.

According to Connelly and Dixon, units of government and taxing bodies also need to look for efficiencies and deliver services the best way…  They need to be handled locally.

The City of Naperville’s 2017 budget will be $441 million. Note the chart in the photo above that describes the city’s financial situation. The City’s 2017 tax levy will total $46.2 million, less than the 2016 tax levy, lowering property taxes for residents.  The 2017 budget also reduces the city’s debt by $6 million.

Naperville’s sales tax impact continues to make a difference. Automobile dealerships as well as a good balance between commercial and industrial revenue keep the local economy growing; yet, it still has not recovered totally from the dive in 2007.

With the emerging trends in shopping, buying and attracting new business to create jobs, more than ever it’s important to shop locally and support local businesses whenever possible. Our city, our schools, our parks, our municipalities and our state cannot ignore trends of the changing business climate.  Simply put, be informed.

“I don’t see any way out of this except growing the economy,” said Connelly.

Click any photo to enlarge. Slides show how tax rates are developed, taxing districts in DuPage County, comparative property taxes between Cook and DuPage counties and “Naperville’s Financial Successes.”

[shareprints gallery_id=”68233″ gallery_type=”masonry” gallery_position=”pos_center” gallery_width=”width_100″ image_size=”small” image_padding=”0″ theme=”dark” image_hover=”false” lightbox_type=”slide” titles=”true” captions=”true” descriptions=”true” comments=”true” sharing=”true”]
Naperville Township Assessor Dixon is available to address the public in small groups and large groups regarding property taxes. Plan to attend one of his presentations when you see them offered. Q & A always is beneficial. Meanwhile, here’s a link to the Naperville Township Assessor. 

This editor has observed that connecting numbers can be complicated and making sense of them for the future can be a challenge. Everyone has different skill sets. The business professional and/or elected officials who make decisions based on the measurement and management of trends, risk and uncertainty need the trust of the community.

The Consolidated Election is April 4, 2017 (See candidates to date.) Help support and elect fiscally-responsible folks who understand budgets, pensions and public policies as well as other financial burdens within communities that impact the quality of life.

Editor’s Note / Thanks for feedback with requests to define abbreviations in charts.

EAV: Equalized Assessed Value (EAV) – The equalized assessed value is the result of applying the state equalization factor to the assessed value of a parcel of property. Tax bills are calculated by multiplying the EAV (after any deductions for homesteads) by the tax rate.

SOA: Supervisor of Assessments Equalization Factor – The Property Tax Code requires local assessment officials to individually review and adjust, when necessary, assessed values once every four years.

BOR: Board of Review: The 3-member board is a “quasi-judicial agency established by State Statute with the intent of providing property owners with an informal venue to resolve assessed value disputes.”

Previous Post / Do you understand tax rates and revenue requests?

As regular readers of this monthly column already know, real estate taxes are an ongoing concern of mine. Right now, we are in the midst of the annual budget cycles for governmental units that rely on property taxes to fill their coffers. This also means we are in the annual misinformation campaign around tax rates and revenue requests.

Press releases are, I am certain, being crafted that will highlight the frugality of boards and commissions maintaining flat year over year tax rates. Unfortunately, what they will not reveal is that rate is probably one of the more meaningless numbers. The metric that really impacts what comes out of our pockets is the levy (total dollar amount requested).

The second most important number is your equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV), and while the rate comes into play here, what is really important is the relative worth of your property as a fraction of the overall assessed valuation for the entire taxing area.

Over the past several years, as commercial vacancies have increased, the overall share of total property value (as a percentage of all properties) has decreased for commercial properties. Homeowners, on the other hand, have not experienced similar steep across the board cuts, leading to a situation where now, in our localities, residential properties and homeowners are now responsible for the lion’s share of the property tax dollars sent to schools, parks, municipalities, townships, and counties.

Our meeting at 8:30AM on Sat., Dec. 10 (Coffee at 8AM) will look at these funding shifts and talk about what might be done to reduce the burden on homeowners, maybe saving us a buck or two. More details on the meeting will be at www.napervillehomeowners.com and in our newsletter. Hope to see you there!

On behalf of the Board of the Confederation, I wish our neighbors the best for the holidays.