DeKalb mayor pushes for tax relief from School District 428

DeKALB – DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes reiterated his push this week for citywide taxpayer relief, calling into question a DeKalb School District 428 proposal that could see homeowners paying hundreds more on 2023 property tax bills, if approved.

In public comment issued Monday at a special DeKalb City Council meeting meant to discuss the city’s own 2024 budget, Barnes said he was “taken aback” by the district’s 2023 property tax levy proposal. Barnes is a former school board member himself. He served on the school board from 2011 to 2015. Before that, he co-chaired a district committee which led to the DeKalb High School referendum.

“We are no longer talking about affordable housing,” Barnes said. “What we’re talking about is ‘Let’s make it as expensive as possible to live here in this community.’ There’s some of us in this community that can afford an increase like this. There’s an overwhelming amount that cannot. So I’m encouraging everyone. You need to reach out to your school board members.”

District officials were not available for comment Monday, a district spokesperson said. City officials do not have any say in the district’s decisions on property taxes.

Public school property taxes generally account for the majority of residents’ tax bills. The city’s proposed levy plans to collect about $8.1 million in tax revenue. DeKalb school’s proposed levy could bring in about $82.6 million.

[ Here’s what DeKalb city residents might pay on 2023 property tax bill ]

In his remarks, Barnes referenced recently released Illinois School Report Card data, which shows more than half of the district’s population is low-income.

The district overall has an 18-to-1 student to teacher ratio for a total of 445 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff, according to the data. More than half of DeKalb’s 6,664 enrolled students across the district’s 12 schools, 64%, come from low-income backgrounds.

The mayor issued kudos to the district for its proposed tax levy rate, however. If approved the district’s proposed 2023 tax levy rate would be 5.98, compared to 6 in 2022. A lowered rate likely won’t save taxpayers when bills come due, however, if the proposed school district levy is approved.

Barnes has argued that DeKalb taxing bodies should take advantage of recent economic growth to lower the city’s tax rates without hurting municipal budgets.

“Because otherwise why are we bringing in all this economic development?” Barnes said. “What’s the point if government is just going to consume it? That is not fair to the taxpayer and it’s not fair to all the property owners in the city of DeKalb.”