Prairie State Wire

For the state’s most highly taxed homeowners, it isn’t nothing. But it’s close.

Some 441,000 beleaguered property taxpayers in 28 of Illinois’ highest-spending school districts will receive a small, state-subsidized one-year property tax cut this year, compliments of a new State of Illinois program that promises “property tax relief.”

The 28 districts, which spent a total of $1.46 billion in 2017, have agreed to rebate $57 million this year to property taxpayers and be reimbursed by the state.

The typical per-homeowner tax rebate is $129.44, or about 3 percent of Illinois’ $4,157 median tax bill, according to an analysis by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

Homeowners in the 28 school districts selected are among the state’s top spenders, averaging $21,857 per pupil versus a state average of $13,337. All of them spent more than the state average; four of them, including Oak Park-River Forest High School District 200, spent more than twice as much.

$125 off your $5,000 tax bill

Cook County’s southern suburbs are home to 17 of the 28 districts selected, including two serving Park Forest, which at 7.51 percent had the highest effective property tax rate in Illinois the second half of 2018.

The median property tax bill in Park Forest is $4,938; its median home sale price last year was $65,750.

Homeowners in Rich Township High School District 227, which covers all of Park Forest as well as parts of Matteson, Richton Park, Olympia Fields, Chicago Heights and Country Club Hills, will receive $125 rebates on their property tax bills, per the LGIS analysis. 

Residents living in Park Forest School District 163, which covers 60 percent of Park Forest, will receive an additional $115, lowering the median tax bill there to $4,696, or an effective rate of 7.14 percent.

In Matteson Elementary District 159, where the median property tax bill was $5,560 and the median home sale price $135,000 in 2018, homeowners will receive $46 rebates.  

In Riverdale’s George Patton Elementary School District 133, which has 248 students, they will receive $272. The median property tax bill there was $2,871 last year, on a median home sale price of $39,500.

Four school districts in Lake County, one in northwest Cook County, two in west Cook County, one in Kankakee County, one in Champaign County and two in northwestern Illinois were also selected for the program.

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Property tax 'relief' by school district

District	Region	Property taxes levied by district, total (2017)	Total Households	Property taxes levied by district, per household (2017)	Median Property Tax Cut
Ohio 505	Illinois Valley	$1,067,082	293	$3,642	$667.02
Leyden 212	West Cook	$73,671,063	18,787	$3,921	$356.15
Ford Heights 169	South Cook	$5,818,598	726	$8,015	$302.91
Oak Park-River Forest 200	West Cook	$78,620,020	20,415	$3,851	$284.30
Patton/Riverdale 133	South Cook	$2,877,010	642	$4,481	$271.76
Zion 6	Lake	$15,939,649	4,709	$3,385	$234.85
Lansing 158	South Cook	$19,777,291	8,343	$2,371	$228.40
Antioch 117	Lake	$45,554,823	16,742	$2,721	$202.72
Grayslake 127	Lake	$49,898,862	14,898	$3,349	$195.17
Argo 217	South Cook	$28,858,334	10,373	$2,782	$186.88
Oak Lawn 218	South Cook	$86,994,215	39,868	$2,182	$159.66
Oak Lawn 229	South Cook	$26,655,176	15,497	$1,720	$155.54
Dolton 148	South Cook	$12,799,081	6,970	$1,836	$152.85
Evergreen Park 231	South Cook	$17,638,419	7,761	$2,273	$147.39
Zion-Benton 126	Lake	$32,912,457	12,672	$2,597	$144.84
Homewood-Flossmoor 233	South Cook	$43,272,857	14,795	$2,925	$137.38
Bloom 206	South Cook	$31,904,133	17,668	$1,806	$125.62
Rich 227	South Cook	$55,450,337	22,704	$2,442	$124.75
Park Forest 163	South Cook	$9,909,499	5,038	$1,967	$114.68
Bremen 228	South Cook	$62,178,696	32,306	$1,925	$112.74
Thornton 205	South Cook	$72,174,025	37,911	$1,904	$98.88
Thornton Fractional 215	South Cook	$33,887,952	20,902	$1,621	$92.80
Rock Falls 301	NW Illinois	$6,332,513	5,945	$1,065	$85.38
Matteson 159	South Cook	$28,522,484	6,934	$4,113	$45.81
St. Anne 302	Kankakee	$2,284,664	1,924	$1,187	$26.50
Palatine 211	North Cook	$223,198,894	78,614	$2,839	$25.00
Rantoul 193	Chambana	$6,459,584	6,837	$945	$7.34
Reavis 220	South Cook	$31,072,920	10,462	$2,970	$0.59
TOTALS		$1,105,730,638	440,736	$2,744	$167.43

Source; llinois State Board of Education; Blockshopper.com; U.S. Census Bureau

Per Pupil Spending by District

District	Region	Property taxes levied by district, total (2017)	Total District Spending	% Local Funding	Per Pupil Spending
Ohio 505	Illinois Valley	$1,067,082	$1,143,696	93%	$38,123
Oak Park-River Forest 200	West Cook	$78,620,020	$85,948,825	91%	$30,685
Leyden 212	West Cook	$73,671,063	$83,037,399	89%	$26,795
Thornton 205	South Cook	$72,174,025	$113,898,565	63%	$26,756
Evergreen Park 231	South Cook	$17,638,419	$20,177,699	87%	$25,191
Patton/Riverdale 133	South Cook	$2,877,010	$6,114,911	47%	$24,657
Ford Heights 169	South Cook	$5,818,598	$9,696,807	60%	$24,549
Oak Lawn 229	South Cook	$26,655,176	$31,139,778	86%	$23,308
Grayslake 127	Lake	$49,898,862	$61,787,283	81%	$23,046
Oak Lawn 218	South Cook	$86,994,215	$108,385,765	80%	$22,915
Argo 217	South Cook	$28,858,334	$38,290,414	75%	$22,405
Reavis 220	South Cook	$31,072,920	$35,190,732	88%	$22,105
Homewood-Flossmoor 233	South Cook	$43,272,857	$55,838,023	77%	$21,983
Antioch 117	Lake	$45,554,823	$54,235,187	84%	$21,940
Palatine 211	North Cook	$223,198,894	$247,721,768	90%	$21,580
Zion-Benton 126	Lake	$32,912,457	$47,007,044	70%	$21,573
Rich 227	South Cook	$55,450,337	$67,258,552	82%	$21,386
Bloom 206	South Cook	$31,904,133	$57,090,134	56%	$20,958
Matteson 159	South Cook	$28,522,484	$35,158,934	81%	$20,718
Bremen 228	South Cook	$62,178,696	$88,743,612	70%	$19,933
Dolton 148	South Cook	$12,799,081	$35,159,347	36%	$18,903
St. Anne 302	Kankakee	$2,284,664	$3,997,992	57%	$18,009
Thornton Fractional 215	South Cook	$33,887,952	$55,838,496	61%	$17,806
Park Forest 163	South Cook	$9,909,499	$27,788,164	36%	$16,501
Rantoul 193	Chambana	$6,459,584	$11,006,337	59%	$16,354
Rock Falls 301	NW Illinois	$6,332,513	$9,239,043	69%	$15,047
Zion 6	Lake	$15,939,649	$37,697,634	42%	$14,651
Lansing 158	South Cook	$19,777,291	$33,932,071	58%	$14,115
TOTALS		$1,105,730,638	$1,462,524,212	76%	$21,857

Source: llinois State Board of Education; Blockshopper.com; U.S. Census Bureau