How Much Western Springs Tax Hike Would Cost

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Western Springs released a key number for a possible property tax hike – how much it would cost an average homeowner.

For the owner of a $750,000 house, the increase would amount to $345 a year, which works out to $29 a month. That's in addition to a total property tax bill of roughly $16,000, according to the village.

The Village Board is expected to vote later this month on putting a property tax hike referendum on the April 1 ballot.

The tax money would pay for improvements to streets and stormwater, sewer and water systems.

For Trustee James Tyrrell, the $29 a month was a "small price to pay" for insurance against flooding and repeated water main breaks.

At this week's Village Board meeting, Tyrrell said he remembered flooding in 2019. During a meeting at the time, he said, trustees heard sad stories about how the flooding wiped out residents' possessions.

As for water main breaks, the village reports more than 60 so far this year, more than double the 2023 number.

"This constant break-fix solution is unsustainable, and it's not, by any means, cost-effective," Village President Heidi Rudolph said. "Nobody wants to pay more taxes. I don't want to pay more taxes. But crumbling roads and water main break texts all the time – we can't have it both ways."

Trustee Al Fink said there was a cost to doing nothing.

"We're just inefficient," he said. "We're very reactive, we don't have a good plan. We're just kind of chasing our tails with what funds we have."

If the board approves the referendum, voters would decide on whether to allow the village to increase taxes to pay back $45 million in debt.

This is far greater than previous successful referendums – $6 million in 2008 and $12 million in 2016.

Village officials point out that some of the local sewers and water mains are more than a century old.

The board is expected to vote on the referendum at its Dec. 16 meeting.