Covering 541 homes and six square miles of unincorporated Will County just outside Joliet’s southeastern city limits, Union School District 81 is easy to overlook on a map.
But on a spreadsheet, it stands out like a Lamborghini in a factory parking lot.
At $21,562 per student in taxpayer funding for each of its 94 students, Union School District was the top spender in Will County last year and the eleventh-highest in all of Illinois, ranked among the state’s wealthiest communities, like Kenilworth, Lake Forest, Winnetka and Evanston.
According to an Local Government Information Services (LGIS) analysis, the district raised its local spending by 136 percent from 2007 to 2015, in inflation-adjusted dollars.
Union 81’s property tax take grew from $2.02 million to $2.92 million-- nearly $5,400 per home-- during a span in which its enrollment fell eight percent as did local property values, several times more.
Of 22 Will County communities analyzed, median home prices fell between 17.8 percent and 38.1 percent between 2007 and 2015.
And of 33 school districts analyzed, 30 spent more in 2015 than in 2007, including 13 districts which lost enrollment during the same period.
In Channahon, median home prices fell 31 percent-- from $272,058 to $187,000. That’s as Channahon District 17 enrollment fell 26 percent and local school spending rose 25 percent, to $18.4 million.
In Peotone, home prices are down 27 percent and enrollment at District 207U schools is down 23 percent. But the school district hiked its spending 21 percent-- to $16.51 million.
Taft District 90 in Lockport (spending up 21 percent) and New Lenox District 122 (up 21 percent) both raised spending, even though their enrollment is flat to slightly down.
Home prices in Lockport fell 31.8 percent from 2007 to 2015, from $253,768 to $173,000. In New Lenox, which also includes homes in Union School District, it fell from $326,927 to $246,000, a decline of 24.8 percent.
After a spending scandal, more spending
Lincoln Way High School District 210, which serves Frankfort, New Lenox, Mokena and Manhattan in the wealthiest region of Will County, currently faces Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations over “questionable financial practices” that include payments to a dog training school for an ex-superintendent, according to published reports.
The district is suffocating in debt. Taxpayers already owe $474 million -- largely thanks to a decision to spend $225 million building two new high schools, only to close one eight years after it opened.
Lincoln-Way 210 debt service costs will rise from $15 million to $41 million per year-- nearly half of the district’s current local tax levy-- between 2017 and 2033.
Still-- Lincoln Way has found a way to spend more on salaries and operations, increasing local tax spending 20 percent from 2007 to 2015, to $88.84 million.
Frankfort home values-- the highest in Will County at a median sale price of $327,000-- fell 17.8 percent over the period. Mokena prices fell 21.3 percent, to $268,000; in Manhattan they fell 37.6 percent, to $187,000.
Manhattan’s effective property tax rate, according to a Chicago Tribune analysis, is 3.44 percent, or a $6,880 property tax bill on a $200,000 home.
The buyer of a $210,000 home in Crown Point, Indiana, which borders Will County, would pay $1,221, or one-fifth of what they would in Manhattan.
Indiana beckons
The LGIS analysis forecast what Will County property values-- and property taxes-- would be in 2023, if the next eight years prove like the last eight.
Faring the worst: two Indiana border communities, Crete and University Park, which have among the highest effective property tax rates in the Chicagoland area.
Crete homeowners saw home prices fall 34.7 percent from 2007 to 2015, from a peak of $225,191. In 2023, LGIS projects the median home price there will be $109,690, and the median homeowner will have paid $105,840 in property taxes over the preceding 16 years (from 2005 to 2023), or 96.5 percent of their home’s current value.
University Park homeowners fare even worse. Median prices there, where the effective property tax rate is 5.59 percent, will fall to just $93,760 in 2023, according to LGIS. The median homeowner will have paid $104,645 in taxes-- 111.6 percent of their home’s current value.
Of the 22 Will County communities analyzed, LGIS reports that homeowners in 21 will have paid more than 50 percent of their home’s value in property taxes by 2023. Mokena-- at 49.3 percent-- is barely an exception.
Will County Median Home Prices, 2007 to 2015
| Rank | Community | Jan 2007 | Jan 2015 | CHG |
| 1 | Crest Hill | $211,474 | $131,000 | -38.1% |
| 2 | Manhattan | $294,920 | $184,000 | -35.8% |
| 3 | Joliet | $176,037 | $113,000 | -35.8% |
| 4 | Crete | $225,191 | $147,000 | -34.7% |
| 5 | Orland Park | $374,937 | $246,000 | -34.4% |
| 6 | Tinley Park | $293,777 | $193,000 | -34.3% |
| 7 | Bolingbrook | $277,773 | $185,000 | -33.4% |
| 8 | Romeoville | $232,049 | $155,000 | -33.2% |
| 9 | Beecher | $224,048 | $151,000 | -32.6% |
| 10 | Lockport | $253,768 | $173,000 | -31.8% |
| 11 | Channahon | $272,058 | $187,000 | -31.3% |
| 12 | Braidwood | $187,000 | $130,000 | -30.5% |
| 13 | University Park | $166,893 | $117,000 | -29.9% |
| 14 | Lemont | $486,961 | $342,000 | -29.8% |
| 15 | Minooka | $264,056 | $186,000 | -29.6% |
| 16 | Homer Glen | $390,940 | $285,000 | -27.1% |
| 17 | Peotone | $235,479 | $172,000 | -27.0% |
| 18 | Wilmington | $180,610 | $132,000 | -26.9% |
| 19 | Monee | $254,911 | $187,000 | -26.6% |
| 20 | Plainfield | $282,346 | $210,000 | -25.6% |
| 21 | New Lenox | $326,927 | $246,000 | -24.8% |
| 22 | Mokena | $340,644 | $268,000 | -21.3% |
| 23 | Frankfort | $397,799 | $327,000 | -17.8% |
Will County 2023 Projected Property Taxes Paid
| Rank | Community | 2023 Projected Median Sale | 2007-2023 Prop Taxes Paid | Taxes Paid % of 2023 Median |
| 1 | University Park | $93,760 | $104,645 | 111.6% |
| 2 | Crete | $109,690 | $105,840 | 96.5% |
| 3 | Monee | $156,812 | $136,734 | 87.2% |
| 4 | Joliet | $82,916 | $65,630 | 79.2% |
| 5 | Braidwood | $90,375 | $70,611 | 78.0% |
| 6 | Romeoville | $118,350 | $92,008 | 77.7% |
| 7 | Manhattan | $131,225 | $101,274 | 77.2% |
| 8 | Bolingbrook | $140,844 | $108,336 | 76.9% |
| 9 | Lemont | $274,563 | $205,200 | 74.7% |
| 10 | Tinley Park | $144,938 | $107,154 | 73.9% |
| 11 | Beecher | $116,332 | $85,768 | 73.7% |
| 12 | Crest Hill | $92,762 | $68,330 | 73.7% |
| 13 | Channahon | $146,929 | $102,326 | 69.6% |
| 14 | Lockport | $134,815 | $89,960 | 66.7% |
| 15 | Plainfield | $178,543 | $110,208 | 61.7% |
| 16 | Peotone | $143,612 | $86,688 | 60.4% |
| 17 | Homer Glen | $237,500 | $141,360 | 59.5% |
| 18 | New Lenox | $211,594 | $124,378 | 58.8% |
| 19 | Minooka | $149,766 | $87,792 | 58.6% |
| 20 | Frankfort | $307,267 | $163,762 | 53.3% |
| 21 | Wilmington | $110,278 | $58,080 | 52.7% |
| 22 | Orland Park | $184,500 | $93,283 | 50.6% |
| 23 | Mokena | $241,020 | $118,778 | 49.3% |
Will County Local School Spending, 2007 - 2015
| Rank | School District | 2007 Spend | 2015 Spend | CHG |
| 1 | Union 81 (Joliet) | $1,236,716 | $2,920,376 | 136% |
| 2 | Fairmont 89 | $2,026,078 | $2,807,358 | 39% |
| 3 | Reed-Custer 255 (Braidwood) | $17,885,093 | $24,284,313 | 36% |
| 4 | Kirby 140 (Tinley Park) | $30,081,831 | $38,898,525 | 29% |
| 5 | Manhattan 114 | $8,090,966 | $10,242,438 | 27% |
| 6 | Laraway 70C | $6,157,733 | $7,761,894 | 26% |
| 7 | Richland 88A (Crest Hill) | $7,459,828 | $9,356,215 | 25% |
| 8 | Channahon 17 | $14,778,822 | $18,440,103 | 25% |
| 9 | Peotone 207U | $13,609,650 | $16,508,615 | 21% |
| 10 | Taft 90 (Lockport) | $1,776,277 | $2,149,380 | 21% |
| 11 | New Lenox 122 | $41,313,809 | $49,909,156 | 21% |
| 12 | Lincoln Way 210 | $73,735,107 | $88,837,243 | 20% |
| 13 | Troy 30C (Plainfield) | $36,820,232 | $44,165,878 | 20% |
| 14 | Will County 92 | $20,133,501 | $23,918,340 | 19% |
| 15 | Summit Hill 161 (Frankfort) | $29,407,458 | $34,629,925 | 18% |
| 16 | Crete-Monee 201U | $42,690,758 | $49,890,497 | 17% |
| 17 | Frankfort 157C | $26,831,731 | $30,856,012 | 15% |
| 18 | Joliet 204 | $70,858,880 | $81,083,210 | 14% |
| 19 | Homer 33C | $37,052,934 | $42,235,588 | 14% |
| 20 | Lockport 205 | $45,735,032 | $51,311,945 | 12% |
| 21 | Valley View 365 (Romeoville) | $161,013,791 | $180,560,916 | 12% |
| 22 | Tinley Park 146 | $30,049,118 | $33,107,453 | 10% |
| 23 | Beecher 200U | $9,175,540 | $10,049,171 | 10% |
| 24 | Wilmington 209U | $10,416,007 | $11,343,917 | 9% |
| 25 | Joliet 86 | $38,624,669 | $42,064,799 | 9% |
| 26 | Plainfield 202 | $173,989,352 | $188,829,199 | 9% |
| 27 | Mokena 159 | $15,626,335 | $16,930,881 | 8% |
| 28 | Chanley-Monge 88 | $2,079,211 | $2,179,639 | 5% |
| 29 | Lockport 91 | $5,558,943 | $5,809,006 | 4% |
| 30 | Consolidated 230 (Orland Park) | $118,128,945 | $120,396,934 | 2% |
| 31 | Elwood 203 | $3,022,283 | $2,999,866 | -1% |
| 32 | Rockdale 84 | $2,474,856 | $2,418,475 | -2% |
| 33 | Orland Park 135 | $66,743,417 | $63,971,491 | -4% |
| Total | $1,164,584,906 | $1,310,868,758 | 13% |
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