Du Page County Clerk Gary King released the 1989 tentative tax rates for Du Page`s 270 taxing districts Friday and included with them a dire forecast that yet another round of double-digit increases-this year`s will be in the range of 10 percent-is in store for property owners when they get their tax bills in late April.
King also warned that barring adoption of any major new tax relief measures or a dramatic overhaul of the property tax system in Illinois, Du Page County property owners shouldn`t expect to see lower tax bills any time soon.
He said the trend will continue unless residents take a more
”revolutionary” role in curtailing tax spending and reduce their demands for services.
”If there truly is a tax revolution (in Du Page), now is the time to continue that-not just voting against people from last Tuesday and forgetting about it. They should go to these districts. They should say, `What are you doing with all my money? Prove to me you really need it,` ” King said. ”If they can`t get the answers, they should demand that (taxes) be rebated.”
Last week, in what has been termed a tax revolt, Du Page Republican voters nominated Aldo Botti for County Board chairman, ousting 12-year incumbent Jack Knuepfer. King also is a Republican.
The release of Du Page`s tentative tax rates by King was followed within hours by a Taxpayers` Federation of Illinois press conference at which federation president Douglas Whitley unveiled a statistical analysis of tax trends in Du Page for the mid-to-late 1980s that suggests the demand for more so-called ”quality of life” services such as schools, parks and libraries in the fast-growing county has accelerated the increase in property taxes.
Like King, Whitley`s report suggests that Du Page taxpayers use the federation`s research ”to draw their own conclusions and perhaps set forth a plan of action by which local government officials may be challenged or by which a new course may be plotted for the future.”
Among other things, the federation`s study showed that, in the 12 elections held in Du Page during the five-year period of 1984 through 1988, a majority of the 142 tax-related proposals voted on in the county were approved.
An unofficial count of the approximately 32 tax-related questions voted on in Du Page in 1989 and 1990 shows that 15 were approved and 17 were rejected.
But only 2 of 11 tax issues were approved March 20.
In discussing the 1989 tax bills, King said they reflect a failure of the state`s 50-year-old tax system to work.
He said more public attention must be given to tax spending as opposed to tax assessments if there is to be any hope of slowing or stopping the tax spiral. Providing more or greater exemptions on property assessments or freezing assessments isn`t the solution to the tax problem, King said.
”There was a lot of talk last week about a taxpayers` revolution. I think it`s (incumbent) upon all of us to keep that revolution going,” he said.
”Until people get involved and find out where the money goes and do something about it, taxes in this county will never go down. Just because of the rate of inflation, everything will continue to go up 5, 6, 10 percent every year. Unless people get involved with the districts, they (taxing districts) will keep asking for everything they can get,” he said.
Based on a sample of homes in incorporated areas that King uses every year to illustrate annual trends, property owners generally should expect to see tax increases this year in the area of 10 percent. Some will be higher and some lower.
The county`s 270 taxing districts have until next Friday to reduce their levy requests before King certifies the final tax rates.
The overall value of property in Du Page increased by 13.7 percent in 1989 over 1988, to a total of $12.1 billion from $10.6 billion.
The total average tax rate for the period showed a decrease of 3.4 percent, to $7.22 per $100 of assessed valuation from $7.48 per $100 of assessed valuation last year.
Tax bills, which will be mailed in April, are payable in equal installments by June 1 and Sept. 1.
Du Page taxpayers whose property was reassessed in 1989-and that includes about 90 percent of the properties-can expect to see higher tax bills May 1, particularly if taxing bodies in an area asked for more money this year than the year before or merely held the line on taxes.
In theory, as the assessed value of property increases, tax rates should decline provided the amount of tax money that governments levy remains constant.
In Du Page, the trend in the 1980s was for many taxing districts to increase levies to take full advantage of any increase in assessed value. So while individual tax rates per $100 of assessed value may have remained steady or even decreased, as many did in 1989, the actual taxes being billed have increased.
Last year`s 13.7 percent increase in overall assessed valuation marked the third consecutive year in which the county had a double-digit increase in the total value of property. Du Page`s assessed value increased 12.2 percent in 1988 and 16.8 percent in 1987. That compares with increases of 8.8 percent in 1986; 5.3 percent in 1985; 3.1 percent in 1984; and 2.4 percent in 1983.
More than 6,193 owner-occupied homes were added to the tax rolls in Du Page last year, based on King`s analysis of the number of homeowners`
exemptions granted by the county. The total number of homeowners` exemptions granted in 1989 was 206,235.
An analysis by King of 46 ”typical” homes selected only from incorporated areas of Du Page`s nine townships showed that the assessed value of 43 homes increased while 2 decreased and 1 stayed the same. The actual tax bill on the homes for 1989 compared with 1988 increased in 43 of 46 instances. SAMPLE PROPERTY TAXES IN DU PAGE COUNTY
Assessed valuation (in dollars), tax rates and total taxes (in dollars) for 1987, 1988 and 1989 are for sample properties within each municipality
By Assessed valuation Tax rate Tax amount
township 1987 1988 1989 1987 1988 1989 1987 1988 1989
Addison
Bensenville
19,850 21,980 22,310 6.5902 6.7385 6.8457 1,308 1,481 1,527
Addison
25,060 25,060 29,750 7.5270 7.6492 7.9189 1,886 1,917 2,356
Villa Park
25,620 28,070 28,450 6.8028 6.8445 6.9913 1,743 1,921 1,989
Wood Dale
20,790 22,830 25,560 7.0660 7.3461 7.4834 1,469 1,677 1,913
Elmhurst
26,760 29,310 35,680 7.0694 7.1142 6.9560 1,892 2,085 2,482
Itasca
24,360 26,700 30,120 6.7926 7.0057 6.7715 1,655 1,871 2,040
Bloomingdale
Bloomingdale
25,430 28,130 32,140 8.0837 8.0848 7.4811 2,056 2,274 2,404
Glendale Hts.
24,600 27,010 30,320 9.5326 9.0164 8.8085 2,345 2,435 2,671
Carol Stream
24,370 27,330 30,930 8.9859 9.0758 8.5009 2,190 2,480 2,629
Roselle
20,130 21,980 24,170 8.4197 8.5529 8.1829 1,695 1,880 1,978
Addison
31,300 32,630 35,680 7.6202 7.7358 8.0543 2,385 2,524 2,874
Downers Grove
Westmont
29,030 30,960 32,570 7.9152 7.9800 7.6812 2,223 2,451 2,502
Downers Grove
34,050 35,490 38,030 6.7626 6.8038 6.5450 2,190 2,400 2,489
Burr Ridge
54,790 58,250 63,930 6.2618 6.3032 6.2484 3,466 3,648 3,995
Hinsdale
54,970 58,450 56,960 7.0495 7.0818 6.6271 3,769 4,120 3,775
Clarendon Hills
40,270 42,870 49,310 7.3324 7.4022 7.0409 2,808 3,143 3,472
Darien
27,160 33,780 35,520 7.3627 7.4039 7.2156 2,002 2,487 2,563
Willowbrook
31,170 33,230 32,050 6.1760 6.2172 6.0194 1,919 2,052 1,929
Lisle
Downers Grove
26,390 28,690 32,650 6.4034 6.6126 6.3563 1,690 1,897 2,075
Lisle
35,420 36,190 40,160 7.5547 7.9259 7.4880 2,676 2,868 3,007
Naperville
37,210 38,430 44,900 7.0273 7.0892 6.9566 2,615 2,724 3,124
Woodridge
26,440 28,930 32,270 8.1761 9.1606 8.6518 2,162 2,650 2,792
Bolingbrook
26,020 27,820 30,950 9.3429 10.1179 9.1791 2,431 2,815 2,841
Milton
Wheaton
42,870 45,330 49,240 7.7490 7.9517 7.8963 3,322 3,657 3,888
Winfield
28,560 30,110 32,800 7.5564 7.6611 7.7833 2,158 2,330 2,553
Glen Ellyn
42,950 45,610 49,540 8.3934 8.3292 7.7207 3,605 3,825 3,825
Glendale Hts.
25,740 27,430 29,900 7.7058 7.4671 8.6407 1,983 2,048 2,584
Naperville
Naperville
28,680 30,290 32,660 7.1186 7.1145 6.9317 2,042 2,155 2,264
Warrenville
24,080 23,900 25,820 7.7154 7.8066 7.7049 1,858 1,865 1,989
Aurora
25,400 27,930 30,130 8.8837 8.7143 8.3956 2,256 2,433 2,530
Wayne
West Chicago
27,250 29,630 32,950 7.8807 7.7096 8.1904 2,146 2,284 2,699
Hanover Park
23,690 25,800 28,730 9.4870 8.6706 8.2925 2,247 2,237 2,382
Wayne
48,690 52,890 58,730 7.6056 7.0128 6.7275 3,703 3,709 3,951
Carol Stream
23,250 25,330 28,210 9.1304 9.1077 8.5203 2,123 2,307 2,404
Bartlett
20,120 21,950 24,490 8.2818 7.4842 7.4996 1,666 1,643 1,837
Winfield
West Chicago
22,210 24,520 26,480 8.7375 9.3453 8.1054 1,941 2,291 2,146
Winfield
42,860 47,030 50,570 7.5424 7.8397 7.7434 3,233 3,687 3,916
Warrenville
28,570 32,420 36,650 7.7418 7.8896 7.8202 2,212 2,558 2,788
Aurora
35,270 37,370 40,240 8.9113 8.8053 8.5287 3,143 3,291 3,432
York
Lombard
28,500 30,120 35,500 8.3177 8.2806 7.8836 2,371 2,494 2,799
Villa Park
30,030 31,730 39,030 7.5853 7.5592 7.4553 2,278 2,399 2,910
Elmhurst
35,250 37,220 40,440 7.0063 7.0484 6.8765 2,470 2,623 2,781
Oakbrook Terr.
29,710 31,400 34,890 4.9817 5.0469 5.2584 1,480 1,585 1,835
Hinsdale
43,280 45,650 45,650 5.9008 6.1390 6.5743 2,554 2,802 3,001
Downers Grove
40,350 42,590 55,990 6.4113 6.7412 6.4922 2,587 2,871 3,635
Oak Brook
61,490 64,790 75,030 4.3540 4.4159 4.1062 2,678 2,861 3,081
Source: Du Page County clerk.
