Beach Park CCSD 3 presents 2025 tentative tax levy, schedules public hearing for Dec. 15

Frank Adams, a district presenter, detailed the district's 2025 tentative tax levy and the next steps for public notice and approval. Adams explained that the ‘‘levy’’ is the amount the district requests to be raised by property taxes and that the ‘‘extension’’ is the dollar amount ultimately calculated and distributed by the county clerk based on assessor valuations and CPI. He told the board the district will publish the proposed levy between Dec. 1 and Dec. 8 and hold a public hearing on Dec. 15 before the December board meeting; the final levy must be filed with the Lake County Clerk by the last Tuesday of December.

Adams said the district is asking for a request that represents a 3.37% increase over the 2024 extension for the aggregate levy (3.64% when bonds are excluded), noting the request is intentionally higher than the prior-year CPI of 2.9% to allow the district to capture any new property growth that will be calculated later by the assessor. "We estimate higher than CPI," Adams said, "so that we don't miss out on new dollars with new properties." He added the Lake County Clerk will perform equalization calculations and the district typically receives a reduced extension once EAV and new growth are finalized.

To help trustees and the public understand the mechanics, Adams reviewed terms including CPI (2.9%), equalized assessed valuation (EAV), new growth and the Property Tax Extension Limitation (PTEL) rule that limits increases on existing property to CPI or 5%, whichever is lower, plus new growth. He warned that asking for too little could result in lost revenue while asking for more carries no penalty because the county calculates the actual extension.

Adams described potential household impacts using sample valuations: for a $150,000 home he estimated an illustrative increase around $81.22 per year if the full requested change were realized; for a $300,000 home he estimated about $139 and for a $450,000 home about $198. He stressed these figures are illustrative and depend on how the county assessor finalizes property values.

The presentation also highlighted budgetary pressures that informed the levy planning, including upcoming collective bargaining negotiations beginning in January, uncertain future federal grant funding, rising health insurance costs, higher purchased services and materials and increased special education costs. Adams said the district is monitoring beginning fund balances and cited case law concerning fund-balance limits (the "Miller ratio") that can trigger tax objections if a fund's balance exceeds twice average expenditures for the previous three years.

Adams concluded by outlining next steps: publish the hearing notice, hold the public hearing Dec. 15, approve the levy at the December meeting and file the levy with the Lake County Clerk by the statutory deadline.

Provenance: Presentation and Q&A on the tentative levy and calendar (SEG 1196'022; topic material through SEG 1490).