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Savings to Lake Bluff taxpayers unknown, for now
Updated: January 21, 2013 11:37AM
LAKE BLUFF — How lowering its operating fund levy by $2 million and abating an additional $1 million in debt services payments will save taxpayers in Lake Bluff District 65 won’t be known until April when the new property values are released by the Lake County clerk.
“It will have an impact, certainly, because we’ve lowered the amount of dollars by a pretty considerable amount,” said District 65 Director of Business Services Jane Lair Wednesday. “Once we know the equalized assessed valuations, we’ll know the tax rate and how much savings there will be for an average homeowner.”
The District 65 School Board approved the nearly $13 million 2012 levy in December. The levy represents a nearly 20 percent, or $3.2 million, decrease in the tax extensions for 2011.
Property tax bills issued in May 2013 will reflect the change.
The board voted to lower the levy Dec. 18 following several board meetings and a Town Hall Meeting in the fall at which alternatives were presented to the public.
The debt-service change will pay down construction bonds for Lake Bluff Elementary School. In fiscal year 2015, those payments will be made from existing fund reserves, officials said.
“Going forward, actions on future tax levies will depend on what is decided by the Strategic Plan, which is under development,” School Board President Mary Jane Brady said in a press release issued by the district on Wednesday, Jan. 16.
