Western Springs Property Tax Rates Up About 25 Percent in 2011

Composite property tax rates for residents of the Village of Western Springs rose by a factor of about a quarter in 2011, according to the 2011 Tax Rate Report released on Tuesday by the Office of the Cook County Clerk.

Village residents of D101 in Lyons Township, saw a rise in composite rates to 7.148 percent, up 23.3 percent from 2010. D106 residents saw a slightly higher increase to 7.382 percent, up 25.4 percent.

The Village’s few Proviso Township residents (all D101) saw a similar increase, up to a 7.214 percent composite, an increase of 23.4 percent.

Similar increases in composite rates were seen throughout Cook County, in particular the southern and southwestern suburbs that underwent a reassessment in 2010. The reassessment dramatically lowered the value estimates of most properties.

The second factor for which the rate hike is attributed in the report is a nearly 10 percent reduction in the Illinois Department of Revenue’s equalization factor, down to 2.97 in 2011 from 3.3 in 2012. The equalization factor is implemented to bring the total assessed value of all Cook County properties to one third of their market value.

Rates are adjusted annually to assure that local governing bodies continue to have the funds necessary to function.

“The Clerk’s office receives the levies, which are the amount of tax money requested by each jurisdiction, and calculates the tax rates based on state law,” explained Bill Vaselopulos, manager of the Clerk’s Tax Extension Department, in a press release.

The increase in total revenues accumulated by the Village was restricted by law from increasing over 1.5 percent from 2010 to 2011, and from increasing over 3 percent from 2011 to 2012.

Rate increases in Western Springs were comparable to those in neighboring communities. Hinsdale D181, for instance, which boasts the fourth lowest composite rate in all of Cook County at just 6.039 percent, still saw that as an increase of 20.4 percent from 2010 to 2011. Indian Head Park saw increases of about 24.3 percent; La Grange went up 22.6 percent (D102) and 21.2 percent (D105.)

A sample tax bill is calculated through several factors. For instance, a $500,000 home in Western Springs Lyons Township D101 with a $13,000 (average) homeowner exemption would have drawn a property tax of about $9,690 in 2011.

For more on Cook County property taxes, on understanding them.