Here’s what your Sycamore School District 427 portion could look like on your 2023 property tax bill

SYCAMORE – Sycamore Community School District 427 is lowering its property tax levy rate next year, but that doesn’t mean property tax bills are going down for Sycamore residents.

According to district documents, the Sycamore school board has approved the 2023 tax levy with plans to collect $43.1 million in property tax revenue, a 5.08% increase in amount collected over last year. At the same time, the school district’s governing body lowered the tax rate from 5.87% to 5.6%.

Nicole Stuckert, Sycamore assistant superintendent for business services, said the combination of an estimated $8 million worth of newly constructed, taxable property and the inflation of existing property values allowed the school district to reduce the property tax rate while increasing the amount the district plans to collect through taxes by $2 million.

When asked how the levy extension aligns with the district’s five-year plan, Stuckert wrote the district is committed to living within its means.

“The majority of our funding comes from local property taxes so we are always mindful of the decisions we make and the impact on our community. There is a balance between offering the best opportunities for our students and the costs associated with that, and what our community is able to support. We will continue to do our best to maintain that balance,” Stuckert wrote in an email to the Daily Chronicle.

While the district’s tax levy rate has decreased, Sycamore residents should not expect to pay a smaller amount on the school portion of their 2023 property tax bill if their home’s value increased by a larger percentage than the rate decrease.

The value of existing properties in DeKalb County, which includes District 427 in its entirety, is estimated to have increased by 9% from the previous year, according district documents. However, Stuckert said the school district calculated the net changes to taxpayers without factoring in the estimated increase in property values.

“The district does not know the implication of every individual’s tax bill, therefore, this slide [data] represents if an individual’s property value stays the same, this is what their bill should approximately do. This is only for the Sycamore CUSD 427 portion of the tax bill,” Stuckert wrote in response to a Daily Chronicle inquiry. “Yes, the existing EAV for the entire county within the district’s boundaries is expected to increase by 9% per the county assessor’s office.”

According to Sycamore school district calculations provided by Stuckert, the owner of a home accessed at $100,0000 in 2022 paid approximately $1,958.43 for the Sycamore School District portion of their 2022 property tax bill. If that property’s value did not increase at all – remaining at $100,000 – the owner would pay $90 less on their 2023 property tax bill.

According to Daily Chronicle calculations – one-third of a property’s fair market value multiplied by the tax rate as a percentage out of 100 – the owner of a $200,000 property in 2022 would have paid about $3,917 in property taxes to Sycamore schools on their 2022 property tax bill.

If that same property’s value increased by 9% year-over-year, it would be worth $218,000, and a $4,073 tax would be levied against the owner on the 2023 property tax bill.

Superintendent Steve Wilder said he normally doesn’t include the average increase to equalized accessed value for existing property when asked why the estimated increase to property value wasn’t factored into the district’s calculations presented before the Board of Education in November 2023.

“I typically haven’t included the average increase in EAV on specific houses because it’s an average. While some may go up 9%, others won’t. Each property owner knows the value of their property and any potential change in assessed valuation and can calculate the impact of the tax levy on their property,” Wilder wrote.

Stuckert wrote school officials continuously work to operate the district effectively and efficiently.

“One of the issues we have been discussing is facility work that needs to be done in our district over the next 5-10 years, particularly at our High School. But, we are looking at how we can plan for that work with the least possible financial impact on our community,” Stuckert wrote.

Sycamore residents can expect to receive their property tax bill in the mail in May or June, according to the 2023 Sycamore School District levy calendar.

Just before school board unanimously approved the tax levy request on Nov. 28, Stuckert said the district has sought in recent years to reduce the tax rate regardless of what property values have done.

“Our tax rate has actually gone down over the last four years, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your bill has gone down, because that’s all based on the assessment of your home, which the school district has nothing to do with. So we just focus on the tax rate itself,” Stuckert said.