Will County Gazette

Assistant superintendent Dr. Ilandus Hampton presented the tentative 2022 levy to the Joliet Township High School District 204 school board at its Nov. 16 meeting.

This annual process is how the district gets almost 75% of its funding through property taxes. The way levies work are the previous year’s payment and an increase based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and new property. The district is tax capped for CPI however, meaning even if the CPI is above 5% the district cannot go above 5%. This year’s CPI is above 5%. 

Since the district is expecting almost $230 million of new property to be available for them to collect taxes from, they want to request a levy that is more than 5%, but the law requires the district to have a public hearing regarding the levy in December before they submit the finalized version to the county assessor. The total levy that the district is recommending would be 9.5% in order to capture all the taxes available to them.

"We don't know what the total number would be, but as in the past, we still have to estimate that so that we can capture and levy, so that we can capture all those dollars," Hampton said. "It's estimated that we will receive roughly $2.7 million just from the new property. If we don't levy for those dollars, we lose those dollars forever."

Tom Lancaster from the auditing firm that conducts the district’s annual audit presented some of the results to the board. He discussed all of the tests and investigations that were involved in the audit process. He reported that the district had a great audit as always, with staff being extremely helpful and proficient in their responsibilities. They have completed some of the top tier audit processes and are likely to receive a distinction for their financial practices for the second year in a row. Two financial reports were given to the board.