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District 153 approves $14.97 million tax levy

The Homewood District 153 school board is asking the Cook County Clerk’s Office to collect an estimated $14.97 million in property taxes on 2019 tax bills. 
 

The Homewood District 153 school board is asking the Cook County Clerk’s Office to collect an estimated $14.97 million in property taxes on 2019 tax bills. 
 
The money funds operations for Willow, Churchill and Hart Schools in Homewood.
 
The district approved the levy at its Dec. 9 meeting. The levy stays within the 1.9 percent Consumer Price Index (CPI) restrictions set out under the state’s Property Tax Extension Limitation Law. The request is for a $279,000 increase over the previous year. The district expects  tax payments in summer and fall.
 
“To capture new property growth and all available property tax revenue, we adjust the estimated 2019 levy to maximize the total limiting tax rate and increase fund balance in the funds most in need,” explained John Gibson, the district’s chief school business official. “The total adjustment is $52,000 from an estimated $1 million in new property equalized assessed valuation (EAV).”
 
The district budgets through 10 funds that include salaries, maintenance, transportation and insurance.
 
Gibson said the district is collecting taxes at the highest allowable rates, except the Bond and Interest Fund, for a total of $15.02 million with a tax rate of $4.78 per $100 assessed property value. That is a 2.26 percent increase over the 2018 levy, he said.
 
When the Bond and Interest Fund is added, the levy is $17.83 million and the tax rate is $5.68 per $100 assessed property value, or a 2.37 percent increase from the previous total tax levy, Gibson said.
 
District 153 sold $4.5 million in general obligation bonds in January. Voters in a 2016 referendum approved the sale of $9 million in bonds to help keep school finances solvent. The first half of the bonds were sold in 2017.
 

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