Riverside will seek to extend its 2024 property tax levy by 4.17%.
The law in Illinois limits the property tax extension increases that municipalities can request to the consumer price index’s inflation rate or to 5% if the rate is higher. The CPI for 2024 is 3.4%.
Riverside estimates the total property tax levy for 2024 will be about $8.3 million, up from last year’s tax extension of roughly $8 million.
Of that number, about 82%, or about $6.8 million, is proposed for Riverside’s tax levy while the rest, about $1.5 million, is for the Riverside Public Library’s levy.
About 5.5% of the village’s levy, $377,500, would be extended toward the village’s debt service and public building commission. The majority of the levy, worth about $6.45 million, is comprised of its corporate and special purpose levies.
Riverside estimates the overall corporate levy, including the library’s portion, will be $7.8 million, up 9.23% from the 2023 levy of $7.2 million. At the village’s public hearing on the levy, held Oct. 17, Finance Director Yvette Zavala said that estimate included new growth in Riverside’s collective property value as assessed by Cook County, also known as the equalized assessed value.
She said it also included additional revenue that would be levied for street improvements if voters approve Riverside’s 2024 tax levy referendum on Election Day, which would allow Riverside to seek the 9.23% hike in the first place. If villagers vote to deny the referendum, the portion of the levy associated with it will be removed from the estimated amount.
After holding the public hearing, Riverside trustees are expected to adopt the tax levy hike at their Dec. 5 meeting.
