The Flossmoor village board approved the 2025 tax levy with an increase of 4.84% over 2024’s levy at the Dec. 15 board meeting.
The board was presented with two options for the levy. Option 1 would have had no increase and Option 2 showed the 4.84% increase.
The approved levy is expected to bring in $8,121,118, which is a $374,684 increase from the 2024 levy. The Flossmoor Public Library is also included with the library being reliant on property taxes.
The library’s total levy is $1,615,616 with a 3.93% increase from 2024, bringing the combined levy to $9,736,734.
Finance Director Anna Novoa estimated the impact of Option 2 to a taxpayer whose home has a market value of $350,000 would range from $9 to $513, depending on the 2025 EAV. She told trustees the intention is to “develop greater revenue to support delivery of top-notch core services through a balanced budget.”
The 4.84% increase is allowed under the state’s Property Tax Extension Limitation law which caps increases at 5% or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. This year CPI is 2.9%.
The levy also includes the fire and police pension, which by state law municipalities must funded at 90% of its total obligations by 2040. The police pension currently is funded at 63.8% and the fire pension at 47.1%.
In her memo to trustees Novoa said the lower CPI in recent years has created a heavy fiscal challenge for the village with Flossmoor being unable to generate new property tax dollars. It became even more of a concern when the lower CPI over the years mixed with the declining property values and large pension increase around the same time.
Novoa recommended the village accept the 4.84% increase.
“Due to the inflationary increases we have been experiencing in village-purchased supplies, materials, contracts, and pension costs, the increase in the levy of 4.8% can easily be justified,” she said in her memo to the trustees. “It is worth noting that this scenario would effectively cover the increased pension contribution requirement, as well as allowing some additional coverage for operating costs.”
