Brookfield will ask Cook County to increase the village’s tax levy by 6 percent in December, although officials believe the village will receive less than that in additional property tax revenue in 2011.
The Brookfield village board will hold a public hearing on the tax levy at 6:15 p.m. on Dec. 13, just prior to the village board’s regularly scheduled business meeting. At the regular meeting, trustees are expected to pass the tax levy ordinance.
Finance Director Doug Cooper presented a draft tax levy at the village board’s Nov. 8 committee of the whole meeting. The village is proposing to collect $7.9 million to fund village operations and another $2 million to fund the operation of the Brookfield Public Library.
The $9.9 million total represents a 6 percent increase from the amount of property taxes Brookfield received this year. However, because of tax-cap laws in Illinois, Cooper said he has budgeted for the village to receive just 4 percent more than the village received last year.
The law caps annual non-home rule tax increases at 5 percent or the consumer price index (CPI), whichever is less. The CPI figure used for the 2010 tax levy request is 2.7 percent. In addition to the 2.7 percent cap, the village will also capture uncapped assessments on new construction done in the village in 2009.
In all, Cooper said he expects the village to receive $300,000 more in property taxes next year compared to this year’s take.
That figure would be a significant increase in revenue compared to this year. The village collected just $66,800 more in 2010 than it got in 2009, because the CPI was 0.1 percent. The village’s actual increase in property tax revenue in 2010 amounted to 0.9 percent.
Of the $7.9 million sought next year, 61 percent of that amount, or $4.8 million, will go toward police and fire protection. Another 22 percent, or $1.7 million, will go toward funding police and fire pension obligations.
Since 2005, the village’s police and fire pension contributions have increased by 62 percent, according to figures provided by Cooper. In 2005, pension contributions accounted for about 18 percent of the total tax levy.
That leaves just $1.4 million in property taxes left to fund the remaining village operations, including public works, recreation, building/planning and the village manager’s office. Village operations also are financed partially by fees paid by residents, businesses and developers.
