Harwood Heights taxpayers won’t see an increase in the 2014 tax levy, following a vote by village trustees last week to keep this year’s levy steady at about $1.2 million.
The tax levy hasn’t increased in more than a decade, according to village president Arlene Jezierny, who touted what she described as village officials’ sound financial decision-making.
“Again there’s no increase this year, so our taxpayers won’t pay more on their tax bills,” Jezierny said. “We spend carefully on things to benefit the village, and we utilize a lot of grants for village improvements.”
One such grant, a state-issued grant awarded to Harwood Heights this year for $1.2 million, will help pay for improvements to the village’s aging water main system, including the replacement of the Gunnison water main.
Taxpayers in Harwood Heights have been paying the same flat tax levy rate since 2009, when it was decreased by about $6,000, according to Marcia Pollowy, village clerk.
Breaking down the 2014 levy, $363,410 of the $1.2 million received by the village will go to the general fund. The police pension fund will receive $611,203, and the police protection fund will get a slice of $290,245, according to information from the village.
The general fund this year will take in a larger slice of the tax levy pie—about $43,000 more compared to last year, while the police protection fund will get almost $99,000 less than it received in 2013. Contributions to the police pension fund will increase by $58,500 from last year’s levy, according to tax information provided by Pollowy.
The village’s portion of the total property tax bill in 2013 was less than 1 percent, according to Bruno Bellissimo, municipal accountant for the village of Harwood Heights.
“A resident paid .83 percent of the total taxes collected on last year’s tax bill to the village,” Bellissimo said. The total percentage of local tax for 2014 wasn’t yet available.
The amount we tax is very small compared to the total tax bill, and it’s not going to change a lot from last year,” Bellissimo said. “You have the library, the school district, then the water reclamation district, and the county taxes—everyone gets a piece of the pie.”