For almost a decade, some residents of Joliet’s far west side have been paying about $300 a year in taxes for two libraries.
Paying both the Joliet Public Library and the Plainfield Public Library is vexing some residents, who have appealed to Joliet officials for relief.
The issue was discussed at a City Council meeting, and Councilman Joe Shetina said a possibility is for Joliet to subsidize the taxes from affected city residents for one of the districts.
“Most people don’t have any idea that there is a double taxation,” said Shetina, who received a letter of complaint from a constituent.
Shetina’s district covers the affected 15 subdivisions, mostly west of Interstate Highway 55.
“Then it got to be serious money, like a $130 a year or so for each. People don’t want to pay both,” he said.
“We’re not looking to create an animosity between the Joliet and Plainfield libraries,” Shetina said. “We’re going to work it out the best we can.”
The problem began in 1991 when residents started moving into those subdivisions. They can get library cards from both the Joliet and Plainfield libraries, but also pay taxes to both.
Joliet staff members have researched the extent of the taxation problem and found that 1,544 property owners pay roughly $130 to $150 to each library per year.
Joliet City Manager John Mezera had said he would seek a meeting with officials of the Plainfield Public Library District to talk about options. District president Dave Shepherd said his board was willing to meet, particularly after several residents questioned the taxation at its September meeting.
“We’re keeping an open mind,” Shepherd said. “We need to get a little more information and see what Joliet is thinking. I don’t think we’re married to any particular solution at this time.”
Last year, the affected residents paid $85,702 in taxes to the Joliet Library District, which encompasses the entire city and operates on a $3.8 million budget.
Those residents also paid $92,492 in taxes to the Plainfield Library District, which covers most of the 64-square-mile Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 and has a $1.3 million budget.
The affected residents pay different levels of taxes. Residents in five subdivisions pay for full services at both libraries, said City Atty. Jeff Plyman, while those in the other 10 pay taxes for the Joliet library and to retire a Plainfield library debt, which is to be paid off in 2009.
The double taxation started after Joliet began in 1988 to move west of Illinois Highway 59 along Caton Farm Road, Shetina said. With each annexation for a future subdivision, Joliet set the stage for its own library, which is a unit of city government, to serve new residents.
In 1991 and 1994, the Plainfield Library District filed suit in Will County Court, seeking to keep new subdivisions, before they were developed, on the tax rolls. Both times a judge ruled in favor of the Plainfield library.
“Technically, this problem could happen again,” he said, citing Joliet’s continued westward push in the direction of Plainfield and Shorewood. “But recent developments in case law have made this situation virtually impossible to reoccur.”
