Crystal Lake High School District 155 Meets on Taxes Next Tuesday Night

Crystal Lake High School District 155 is holding it tax levy Board meeting and has issued the following press release:

2016 Tax Levy

by Shannon Podzimek in District Office

District 155’s 2016 recommended tax levy will reduce D155’s tax extension for the second year in a row.

[The tax extension is the amount of taxes to be collected by the McHenry County Treasurer.]

The estimated reduction to D155’s collective tax base is approximately $800,000.

As long as our D155 communities experience any property value growth (as anticipated), the D155 2016 tax rate will decline for the second year in a row.

Prepared by Crystal Lake High School District 155's finance guy, Jeremy Davis, what you see above should be made available by every tax district.

Prepared by Crystal Lake High School District 155’s finance guy, Jeremy Davis, what you see above should be made available by every tax district.

The board voted (6-0) to adopt a tentative tax levy at the November 15 board meeting.

The board is expected to vote on the 2016 tax levy at the Board of Education meeting on [Tuesday,] December 13 at Crystal Lake South High School at 7:30 p.m.

The tentative levy must be publicly considered at least 20 days prior to board approval and then filed to the county clerk(s) by the last Tuesday in December.

The 2016 Tax Levy presentation is available to view here.


Comments

Crystal Lake High School District 155 Meets on Taxes Next Tuesday Night — 24 Comments

  1. CHSD 155 portion of TRS Pension Unfunded Liability (currently the responsibility of state taxpayers):

    District portion of Unfunded Liability – $4,813,820

    State Unfunded Liability (on behalf of the the District) – $172,772,961

    Total Unfunded Liability for TRS attributed to CHSD 155 – $177,586,781

    source: Teachers Retirement System of the State of Illinois

    Information Required Under Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 68

    Based on Measurement Period Ending June 30, 2015

    Report dated January 22, 2016

    https://trs.illinois.gov/employers/gasb/2015.pdf

    ++++++++++++++++

    Total Unfunded Liability for TRS pension attributed to CHSD 155 – $177,586,781

    Estimated Current Year Extension – $72,524,248

    The TRS Unfunded Liability attributed to CHSD 155 is over 2.4 x CHSD 155 annual property tax receipts.

    ++++++++++++++++

    Total Unfunded Liability for TRS pension attributed to CHSD 155 – $177,586,781

    $2,983 property taxes on $300,000 house estimated for 2016.

    The unfunded liability is the equivalent of property tax receipts from 59,533 houses valued at $300,000.

    ++++++++++++++++

    Once again, currently the unfunded liability is the responsibility of state taxpayers.

    One could do similar calculations based on state income taxes or other state revenues.

    ++++++++++++++++

    The CHSD 155 CAFR would include any IMRF net pension liability.

    The net pension liability is the same as the unfunded liability which is the taxpayer IOU to the pension fund which is the amount that should be in the pension fund but is not).

  2. Per the CHSD 155 CAFR for 2015.

    As of June 30, 2015, the IMRF Net Pension Liability was $2,857,348.

    IMRF covers many employees that are not teachers or administrators.

    The Contribution Rate to IMRF for the year ended December 31, 2014 was 10.83% of annual payroll.

    CHSD 155’s required contribution to the plan for calendar year 2014 was $866,295.

    The IMRF unfunded liability is thus 3.3 years of annual required contributions to the fund.

    +++++++++++

    For the year ended June 30, 2015, the State of Illinois contributed $34,609,572 to TRS on behalf of CHSD 155.

    The estimated current year property tax extension (billings) for CHSD 155 is $72,524,248.

    Thus the State contribution to the TRS pension fund was 48% of one year of property tax extension (billing) by CHSD 155.

  3. Ha ha Questioning, Frank’s has no influence,

    Too busy aggravating the county board.

  4. The only reduction in expenses is in Bond & Interest Fund which reflects the annual paydown of debt attributable to Prairie Ridge High School.

    Otherwise the levy is UP $1.5 MILLION, don’t let the figure fool you, there is no thrift being shown here!

  5. The Current Levy Request Column shows an increase over Actual Prior Year Extension.

    What is an “Est. Current Year Extension” anyway. . . in layman terms??

    My taxes for D155 went up 25% in 2015 and looks like another whopping increase for 2016.

  6. Facts and data support that McHenry County school profligate spending has significantly driven down local property values relative to all across America (which by law offers comparable education).

    Example Woodstock D200:

    4.6% property tax rate vs. America 1.4% property tax rate.
    (State spending, when one factors in State ‘on behalf’ pension contributions, is not far out of line with other States)

    (Schools will argue issues relevant to revenues rather than spending; local spending is obscene when compared on a State or National basis).

    If a family living in a $200,000 home took the extraordinary $6000 property taxes paid per year

    ($9200 taxes minus $2900 which is American average)

    (paid annually to Woodstock schools and City, and McHenry County for the same mediocre public services provided all across America, by law, for about $2900 per year)

    $6000 Every year starting with a child’s birth, and saved it for college, how much would be in that college savings fund when the child turns 18?

    Teachers, would you answer this one for us?

    Please use the investment return rate used to calculate your pension/benefit fund balance obligation which you demand from taxpayers.

  7. State spending, when one factors in State on behalf pension contributions, is not far out of line with other States.

    Can an example be provided?

    So we can see the sources of information.

  8. Estimated current year extension is the estimated billings to all property taxpayers.

    The district typically receives most of what is billed.

  9. Mark I am seeing that there is little impact of repeatedly doing research for other people.

    It would be best if people looked up on their own, in order to overcome their psychological indoctrination and in order to fully grasp the horrifying reality which has been inflicted upon them by those whom they trusted.

    Here is the source to obtain national Peer Comparisons.

    It represents what rational school spending is and can be around America, by contrast to the spending in McHenry County which made us paying median 3.66% property tax rates, the highest in the nation (I will bet on that, and being proven wrong would be a relief).

    http://nces.ed.gov/edfin/search/search_intro.asp

    insert your district name, and view all different pages of results (some address revenues, others address spending by category).

  10. Summary of the Bond & Interest Fund (debt service):

    Actual Prior Year Extension (Tax Year 2015) – $2,898,221

    Current Levy Request (Tax Year 2016) – $1,378,712

    Estimated Current Year Extension (Tax Year 2016) – $1,378,712

    +++++++++++

    The Bond and Interest figures can also be found in the debt service schedules located in the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) on the school district website.

    Looking at those schedules, the $1,378,712 figure remains approximately at that level through year 2032, with interest rates ranging from 2% to 4.5%.

    Thus, if the levy / extension / property taxes are to be reduced in Tax Year 2017, savings will have to come from elsewhere.

    +++++++++

    Here is the URL to the CHSD 2016 CAFR:

    ww3.d155.org/FinanceDocuments/Annual%20Audits/Community%20High%20School%20District%20155%20Financial%20Statement%20June%2030%202016.pdf

    The path is:

    d155.org > Finance & Operations > Finance > Annual Audits > 2016 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)

  11. The NCES link lists Revenues per student, Expenditures per student, etc.

    The Revenues per student tab includes columns for Local, State, Federal, and Total.

    For Illinois, the State column does not include the state contribution to the TRS pension fund.

    To add the State contribution to the TRS pension fund, to the State column, we first have to divide the contribution by the number of students.

    For the year ended June 30, 2015, the State of Illinois contributed $34,609,572 to TRS on behalf of CHSD 155.

    It turns out the $34,609,572 figure was probably a typo, as it is only listed on page 40 (pdf page 57) of the FY 2015 CAFR.

    Looking elsewhere in the document, the figure $35,119,463 is used in all other instances.

    Furthermore, $35,119,463 was a spike, about double the figure used in 2014, and more than double the figure used in 2016.

    So to be conservative, let’s use the 2016 figure of $14,681,035.

    Per the NCES site, CHSD 155 has 6,634 students.

    $14,681,035 / 6,634 = $2,213 per student.

    The NCES data is for school year 2012 – 2013.

    Adding $2,213 (state contribution to TRS) for CHSD 155, to its State Revenues in NCES, does not result in CHSD 155 state revenues being higher than school districts in all other states.

    +++++

    There is a movement in Illinois to overhaul state funding for education, and debate over whether that would mean less state funding for education to school districts such as CHSD 155.

    Poorer property tax school districts are getting the shaft because state education funding pays for a large portion of the hiked pensions.

  12. Here is a revised sentence.

    Adding $2,213 (state contribution to TRS) for CHSD 155, to its State Revenues in NCES, does not result in CHSD 155 state revenues being higher than all other school districts in other states.

    There are some school districts in other states that have higher state funding for education.

    The grand total of all revenues (Federal, State, state contribution to TRS, local) results in disparities between Illinois School Districts and that is an issue among those lobbying the State to change the state education funding formula.

  13. Here are three sources for efforts to reform education funding in Illinois.

    – Illinois School Funding Reform Commission

    – Advance Illinois

    – Funding Illinois’ Future

    As you can imagine, if less education funding from the state flows to Crystal Lake or any school district, some people will be unhappy, and there will be the debate, cut programs etc., cut teachers etc., hike local taxes, find other types of revenues etc.

    Once a state law is passed it is very hard to undo.

  14. The “Estimated current year extensios” is the best guess as to how much money that the district will be able to get next year, if all taxes billed are collected.

  15. County Treasurer Final Distribution Report (Final Settlement Sheet) for CHSD 155

    Tax Year – Current Year Real Estate Taxes Paid

    2015 – $71,939,374

    2014 – $71,915,345

    2013 – $71,476,120

    2012 – $70,215,600

    2011 – $67,771,140

    2010 – $65,813,691

    2009 – $66,111,694

    ++++++++

    Final Distribution Reports on the Treasurer’s website only go back to 2009.

    Maybe the Treasurer can post reports for the prior 10 years or maybe someone can obtain them via filing a FOIA Request.

    http://www.co.mchenry.il.us/county-government/departments-j-z/treasurer/distribution-reports

    ++++++++++++

    CHSD 155 FY 2016 CAFR

    Property Tax Levies and Collections Schedule

    Last Ten Year Tax Levy Years

    page 97 of the document, page 120 of the pdf

    Year – Taxes Extended for Levy Year

    2015 – $73,333,374

    2014 – $73,342,959

    2013 – $72,814,083

    2012 – $71,480,007

    2011 – $68,930,173

    2010 – $66,950,298

    2009 – $67,216,257

    2008 – $66,461,033

    2007 – $62,777,674

    2006 – $60,301,528

  16. The CAFR in turn noted the following source for the Property Tax Leview and Collections Schedule:

    – Lake and McHenry County Clerk Offices, Lake and McHenry County Treasurer Offices

    ++++++++

    A portion of CHSD 155 resides in Lake County.

    The McHenry County Treasurer Final Distribution Report was for McHenry County only.

    The Property Taxes Levied and Collections Schedule was for Lake and McHenry County.

  17. Mark, you’re terrific in many ways,
    But your posts on this thread really
    Got too excessive.

    Do try to dial it back some.

  18. I disagree.

    People advance the cause of profligate, inefficient, or possibly corrupt public spending by being vague and general in their political attitudes.

    How many times do we hear repeated banality like:

    “if we don’t spend money on good schools, our home values will go to hell”

    and

    “I want my children to have a good education”

    “education is important”

    I am very offended by those repeated mantras, which have gotten us where we are today:

    A 3.66% median property tax rate in McHenry County (high of 4.66% in Woodstock).

    Mark’s posts are the polar opposite: specific source-cited data which can be referenced by anyone not too lazy to do so.

    I have found people would rather cling to comfortable emotional dogma than take a moment of hard (even painful) contemplation of issues which Mark presents over and over, in hopes of catching even one person in a moment of true intellectual objectivity and truth-seeking.

    If people empowered to direct spending of OPM (in this case $73 mil of local property tax money)
    would read understand and act upon the facts which Mark takes the trouble to relentlessly present,
    We Wouldn’t Be Where We Are Today.

  19. Real estate taxes paid to CHSD 155 increased from $66,111,694 to $71,939,374 from 2009 – 2015, which is a 8.8% increase.

    That’s per the County Treasurer Final Distribution Report (Final Settlement Sheet).

    +++++++++

    Property taxes extended for CHSD 155 increased from $60,301,528 in 2006 to $73,333,374 in 2015, which is a 21.6% increase.

    That’s per the Property Tax Levies and Collections Schedule in CHSD 155’s FY 2016 CAFR.

    ++++++++

    CHSD 155 does not post videotaped board meetings on its website.

  20. That was the first time I ever suggested
    Mark should cut back a bit.

    But Mark did post 12 times on this thread
    Out of 23 posts.

    I am a huge fan of Mark’s info & have defended
    Him a few times.

    Just saying . . .

    Just need to repost this part of your post, Susan,
    Because it was so well said “Mark’s posts are the
    polar opposite: specific source-cited data which
    Can be referenced by anyone not too lazy to do so.

    I have found people would rather cling to comfortable emotional dogma than take a moment of hard (even painful) contemplation of issues which Mark presents over and
    over, in hopes of catching even one person in a moment
    of true intellectual objectivity and truth-seeking.”

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