Schools

District 202 to Seek Tax Hike to Repay Edward Hospital Taxes

A public hearing on the 2013 tax levy is slated for Dec. 16.

Last winter, Edward Hospital was granted tax-exempt status, retroactive to 2008. That was good news for the hospital, but not great news for Plainfield School District, which now has to pay back about $1 million it has received from Edward in the last five years.

On Monday, the District 202 board of education voted to seek a one-time tax increase to pay what it owes to the hospital. The increase, part of the requested 2013 tax levy, would amount to $26.29 for the owner of a home with a market value of $210,000, according to a press release issued by the district.

Edward initially applied for tax-exempt status in 2008 — and each year after that — but the state did not make a decision on the applications until 2011. In the meantime, the hospital continued to pay its share of property taxes.

"In July 2012, the state legislature finally clarified what is meant by 'charitable care' and retroactively approved Edward’s application for exemption," District 202 Community Relations Director Tom Hernandez said in a press release. "At that time District 202 learned that it owed Edward about $1 million in taxes that Edward had already paid, but shouldn’t have."

After working out a repayment plan with Edward, District 202 received permission from Will County to include a one-time special levy specifically to repay the taxes owed to the hospital.

“It is important to remember that this amount is what a taxpayer would have paid anyway, but over four years at about $6.50 a year, if the state hadn’t taken four years to decide on this new law,” said Angela Smith, District 202 assistant superintendent for business and operations.

According to Hernandez, the additional tax amounts to three-tenths of a cent of the proposed 2013 levy. The district is proposing a $204,726,949 property tax levy, about 20 percent higher than its 2012 levy of $170,605,791.

“Although we are asking for a 20 percent increase, we will get only what the law allows us, which is a 1.7 percent increase due to inflation and any property new to the district,” Smith said.

“New property can fluctuate between now and when the final numbers are received from the county, so we have to we ask for 20 percent more to make sure that we levy for all that we will be entitled to,” she added.  “We are starting to see positive signs of growth again and we want to make sure our final extension reflects that."

A public hearing on the levy is scheduled to be held at the board of education's regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16, at the district administration center, 15732 Howard St.

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