Here is the program of property tax relief included in the recent State Aid To Education law:

PROPERTY TAX RELIEF GRANT​

Beginning in FY 19, the State Board will provide up to $50 million in property tax relief grants to eligible school districts.

Eligible districts are those that exceed a threshold tax rate and that agree to abate a portion of taxes, up to a statutory limit, in the coming tax cycle.

In return, qualifying districts receive a state grant in an amount that is a proportion of the tax relief provided.

District adjusted operating tax rates are compared on what statute terms a unit equivalent basis.

For unit districts, the adjusted operating tax rate is unaltered.

For elementary districts the rate is multiplied by a factor of 13/9.

For high school districts the rate is multiplied by a factor of 13/4.

The result is termed the Unit Equivalent Tax Rate.

Eligible districts are those with Unit Equivalent Tax Rates that exceed the threshold Unit Equivalent Tax Rate.

That threshold rate is determined based on the data for districts that apply for this program and will not be known until all applications have been received and reviewed.

Grants are prioritized in order of highest Unit Equivalent Tax Rates among grant applicants.

The tax relief a district is eligible to provide may be no greater than the lesser of

(A) 1% of EAV for a unit district, 0.69% of EAV for an elementary school district, or 0.31% of EAV for a high school district, or

(B) the difference between the district’s Unit Equivalent Tax Rate and the threshold Unit Equivalent Tax Rate.

If the latter is the lesser amount and the difference is less than 1%, that difference is further modified by multiplying the difference by 1 for a Unit district, by 0.69 for an elementary district and by 0.31 for a high school district.

The grant amount a district may receive is equal to a percentage of the tax relief provided, which is calculated as (1 – Local Capacity Percentage²).

Districts may view the amount of tax relief provided locally that may be paid as a state property tax relief grant by viewing the FY 19 Property Tax Relief file located below.

Property tax relief grant amounts received in FY 19 will be included in future calculations of those districts’ Base Funding Minimum amounts, per 18-8.15 of the School Code.

Future grant amounts are subject to appropriations.

You can read the  eligibility list here:  Final FY 2019 Property Tax Relief Eligibility List.
Interestingly, Crystal Lake High School District 155 is the highest district that did not qualify–number 29.

Fox River Grove Grade School District ranked 49th.

Other McHenry County school districts ranked as follows:

• 56 – McHenry High School District
• 66 – McHenry Grade School District
• 103 – Woodstock School District
• 109 – Harvard School District
• 113 – Crystal Lake Grade School District
• 122 – Prairie Grove Grade School District
• 140 – Johnsburg School District
• 146 – Cary Grade School District
• 150 – Riley Grade School District
• 189 – Huntley School District
• 215 – Marengo-Union Grade School District

I couldn’t find Richmond High School or the Nippersink Grade School District on the list.

There are 371 school districts in Illinois.

= = = = =

Commenter “Out of Towner” points out my number above is not correct.  It was obtained by looking at the number of lines on the attached spreadsheet.  I don’t know enough about the new School Aid Formula to explain the difference.

Here are the number of school districts, according to “Out of Towner:”

As of July 1, 2018,

852 public school districts:

• 368 elementary districts,
• 97 high school districts,
• 386 unit districts, and
• one Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice district