Question of the Day: Will the additional $15 per month be a permanent increase?

The ballot question is for a tax rate increase for the Library to a rate of $0.3301 for 2010. The Library will collect that rate for one year before the tax cap will take effect again and begin decreasing that rate. Exactly how much it will decrease is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the value of all property in the district. The tax cap limits the total dollar amount that the Library can collect: total dollar amount collected last year plus CPI or 5% whichever is less. In recent years, the CPI averages around 2% while value of the property in the district has increased by a larger percentage each year. Over the last decade, the Library's tax rate decreases and average of 4% per year, more than 50% since the inception of the tax cap in the early 1990's.

Figuring a 4% reduction in rate the second year, the Library tax rate can be estimated to be $0.3169 in 2011, $0.3042 in 2012 and so on.

For more information on how this works check the Illinois Department of Revenue's web site and for more about your tax bill check out Will County's site.