Tax Rates

Many home owners monitor their property tax rates. The burden of the property tax is extremely high in the State of Illinois. A large percent of individual tax bills is appropriated to the local school systems. The largest part of the school tax bill is the rate for the Education Fund which is the largest of the school funds. This fund pays for everything involved in the education program of the students. Salaries, insurance, administration, FICA, Medicare, pension contributions and supplies are all paid from this fund. Center Cass School District 66 has one of the lowest tax rates in our area. Our rate for the Education Fund for this year is $1.42 per hundred dollars of EAV. When you compare this rate to our neighbors; Cass District 63 at $2.07, Woodridge District 68 at $2.54, Darien District 61 at $1.92, Maercker District 60 at $2.10 and Burr Ridge District 180 at $2.02 I feel residents of Center Cass School District 66 get a big bang for their tax dollars.

In a recent annual tax rate study conducted by the Village of Woodridge the following facts about Center Cass School District 66 total tax rates were published. The tax rate for this year places the district as the 9th lowest tax rate out of 30 elementary districts in DuPage County. The tax rate declined $.07 last year and has declined on an average of 1.65% a year since 1990. Over the past fifteen years we have lost $.64 per hundred dollars of EAV due to the tax cap. While the District continues to provide high quality educational services for our community this declining tax rate continues to add stress to the school budget making it harder each year to maintain a balanced budget. We continue to explore areas to generate operating economies to reduce expenses so that programs for students may remain in place. If the current trend continues and tax rates decline, the District at some point may have to ask the community for additional funds to support the educational programs offered to our students. In the meantime, we are most proud of the programs offered for the low tax rate being levied.