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 Across the Land of Lincoln, school
districts are raising their property tax levies, adding to Illinois homeowners’
already massive property tax bills. From the collar counties around Cook County
to downstate Illinois, Prairie State homeowners shouldn’t be surprised if the
school district portion of their property tax bill goes up in 2018.
Here are just a few of the school districts raising property tax levies:
The Springfield Public Schools District 186 Board of Education voted to increase
the property tax levy 3.3 percent.
Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47 approved a 4.1 percent increase in
its property tax levy.
Elgin Area School District U-46 approved a 2.1 percent levy increase.
Washington Community High School District approved a 4.9 percent levy increase.
 Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 approved a 4.6 percent levy
increase.
Hinsdale High School District 86 Board passed a $3 million, 3.2 percent levy
increase.
Glenbrook High Schools District 225 approved a 4.4 percent levy increase.
Wilmette School District 39 Board of Education approved a 4.35 percent increase,
totaling nearly $2.2 million over the 2016 levy.
Glencoe District 35 Board of Education approved a 4.5 percent levy increase.
Illinois has more than 850 school districts, the fifth-most in the nation, and
many of those school districts are in dire fiscal straits. School district debt
has increased 67 percent, growing at double the rate of inflation from
2002-2015. All told, Illinois’ school districts have a whopping $21 billion in
debt as of 2015, up from $12.3 billion in 2002.
While some school districts have seen increases in enrollment, Illinois’ overall
student enrollment remained essentially flat between 2002 and 2015, according to
numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Although school districts have a limit on how much they can borrow, 72 school
districts have exceeded the allowable debt limit, all together taking on $1
billion more in debt than the state’s school code intended.
Borrowing isn’t free, and school districts’ debt service payments ultimately
result in higher property taxes.
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In addition to massive
debts, another driver of perpetual school district property tax
hikes are Illinois’ laws granting unfair negotiating power to
government worker unions. Illinois stacks the deck against taxpayers
by giving government worker unions enormous power during contract
negotiations.
Unlike every neighboring
state, Illinois allows nonemergency public employees, including
teachers and school district workers, to go on strike. Illinois
enshrines a “right to strike” in state law, giving government worker
unions a trump card during negotiations that taxpayers simply don’t
have.
In the context of school districts, these rules give government
worker unions the power to extract unrealistic and costly contract
provisions from taxpayers.
Illinois also places no limits on what government worker unions can
bargain for, unlike neighboring Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and
Iowa. The state also places no limits on the length of contracts at
the local government or school district levels, giving many
government worker unions the power to lock in decadelong deals.
Local school districts also offer expensive “pension pickups,” which
drive up local tax burdens. Under state law, teachers are supposed
to pay 9.4 percent of their salary toward their pensions. However,
school districts will often “pick up” all or part of their teachers’
pension obligations, which pushes the cost onto local taxpayers.
Nearly two-thirds of Illinois school districts offer this benefit,
according to the Illinois State Board of Education 2015 salary
report. And more than half the state’s school districts offer full
“pickups,” meaning teachers don’t contribute anything toward their
pensions.
This practice costs taxpayers $380 million annually. Chicago Public
Schools alone budgeted $134 million for teacher pension pickups in
fiscal year 2015.
This hurts local taxpayers, who often have to pay their teachers’
share of pension contributions through property taxes.
If Illinoisans want to see the school district portion of their
property tax bills stabilize, Illinois’ school district debt rules,
unfair government union bargaining laws and pricey pension pickups
need to be reformed.
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