Calling the decision “difficult” but necessary, Niles elected officials unanimously approved a property tax levy that will increase how much residents pay in taxes to the village next year.
Trustees on Dec. 14 voted 5-0 to adopt the 2021 aggregate property-tax levy totaling $13 million. With bonds and interest added in, the levy totals $13.9 million and is an 88% increase over the previous year’s tax levy, according to the village.
The owner of a $350,000 home can expect to pay approximately $469 more to the village in property taxes next year, Niles Director of Finance Kent Oliven said last month.
The need to more adequately fund police and fire pensions, village road construction and deferred capital projects were cited as reasons behind the tax levy hike.
“This is a very difficult and unpopular decision on our part, but this is why we’re elected,” said Trustee Dean Strzelecki just prior to the board’s Dec. 14 vote on the tax levy. “We have to stop kicking the can down the road.”
Other trustees echoed Strzelecki’s statement.
“As difficult as it is, I think you’re going to see in the future better roads, better travel and a pension (fund) that isn’t always choking us,” said Trustee Joe LoVerde.
Trustee Craig Niedermaier said village services that residents expect “come at a cost.”
“I’m as confident as everyone else here that this is the right thing to do,” he said of increasing the tax levy.
Oliven told the board that the village’s annual contributions to fully fund police and fire pensions by 2040 have been “rising dramatically,” resulting in the village putting off capital projects and road repairs.
“For a number of years, the police and fire pension levies have gotten larger and larger,” he said on Dec. 14.
The levy includes an increase of $6.3 million for public safety pensions. A total of $11.2 million is being levied for police and fire pensions, according to village documents.
The budget adopted by the village this year calls for borrowing $18.7 million for road restoration work.
The village is planning to “phase out” its garbage levy and bill residents for garbage pickup on their utility bills, LoVerde said. The money phased out of the garbage levy will be used for road maintenance going forward, he said.
Prior to the Village Board’s adoption of the levy, resident and former village trustee Chris Hanusiak spoke against the tax hike.
“How did you guys let this happen?” he asked. “This is your fault that you guys are having this tax increase all at one time.”
Hanusiak accused the board of engaging in a “spending spree,” referencing the village’s purchase of the former Grainger property at a cost of $8 million in 2019 and the construction of a new police parking facility. He suggested the board cut the tax levy “at least in half or more because this is really outrageous.”
Hanusiak was the only resident to comment on the tax levy during the Dec. 14 public hearing at Village Hall.
Other local taxing bodies, like schools, park districts, library districts and townships are adopting their 2021 property-tax levies as well. The Niles-Maine District Library Board voted to adopt a tax levy that is lower than its 2020 levy.
The village of Niles accounts for about 7% of a property tax bill. Taxes levied by schools make up the bulk of the tax bill.
Even with the increase in the levy, the village will continue to have the lowest municipal tax rate among its neighbors and comparable communities, Oliven said.
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'A very difficult and unpopular decision:' Niles Village Board approves 88% increase in property-tax levy - Chicago Tribune
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