St. Charles School District Raises Tax Rate

At a special meeting Wednesday night, the approved a tax rate of $4.84 for every $100 of assessed valuation, a 29-cent increase over last year.

No one spoke during the tax rate hearing and Board Members Linda Schulte, Mike Thorne, Wayne Oetting and Dale Hallemeier unanimously approved the rate increase. Board members Lori Gibson, Donna Towers and Tim Bekebrede were absent.

The new tax rate comprises the tax rate ceiling of $4.23 and a debt service levy of $0.61, which is 13 cents less than last year.

At the time, the district said it would not anticipate having to raise the tax levy from the fiscal year 2011 rate of $4.56 from every $100 of assessed valution.

However, assessed valuation dropped to $892 million, down from $941 million last year. The value of homes in the district has continued to drop in St. Charles since 2009.

As the assessed valuation continues to go down, the district can go up to as high as $4.88 without having to go to voters for another tax ceiling, said Superintendent Randy Charles.

With the new rate, the district expects to receive $42.98 million in revenue for fiscal year 2012. This year, the district received $42.6 million in revenue.

With declining revenues from the state and local sources, the district has cut many services and positions in the past few years, ranging from eliminating summer school to reducing budgets for textbooks to eliminating activity buses. 

Tax payers would pay $4.84 for every $100 of assessed valuation. A person who owns a home assessed at $150,000 would pay $1,379.94 under the new tax rate.

Last year's tax rate of $4.56 for every $100 of assessed valuation meant a person who owned a home assessed at $150,000 would have paid $1,298.51.

Five years of Tax Rates in St. Charles School District

Year/Tax Rate/Assessed Valuation/Revenue

FY 08: TR $4.3700 AV $967 million R $41.608 million

FY 09: TR $4.3 AV $990.494 million R $42.199 million

FY 10: TR $4.52 AV $940.197 million R $42.496 million

FY 11: TR $4.56 AV $941.402 million R $42.892 million

FY 12: TR $4.84 AV $892.002 million R* $42.981 million

*anticipated revenue