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On Tuesday night, Evanston Township High School’s District 202 Chief Financial Officer Kendra Williams will propose a suggested 6.2% tax levy increase for 2025, which includes the price of inflation and any potential new properties in Evanston.
The public hearing on the proposed tax levy will take place at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday at District 202 Board of Education meeting at ETHS.
Every year, school districts are allowed by property tax limitation law in Illinois to increase the property tax levy by up to the amount of the consumer price index, which represents inflation, or 5%, whichever number is lower.
This year, the CPI increased by 3.4%.
However, districts can also tack on an estimated value of all new properties to the tax rolls on top of that figure.
“This strategy is called a balloon levy and is used by most districts,” the tax levy memo reads. “A balloon levy is when a district requests a levy rate higher than the current projections to allow for unknown EAV [equalized assessed value] and new growth.”
The amount by which Evanston’s new property value increases fluctuates from year to year, and a balloon levy allows the district to capture those new properties should they prove to significantly increase.
The district can only receive the highest amount allowable by law, though — meaning if the property value in Evanston doesn’t rise to meet this threshold, the school will only receive funds based on the actual property value.
Property taxes make up over 80% of the school’s expected revenue, and contribute to the school’s operating funds. The district passed a $113.4 million budget in September, up 7.8% from last year.
In Evanston, more than half of each property tax bill goes toward the two school districts: 41% of the money goes to District 65, 26% to ETHS and 17% to the city government. The remainder goes to the Evanston Public Library, Cook County agencies, Oakton Community College, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District.
Evanston Township High School District 202 to propose 6.2% property tax increase is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.
