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Glenbrook School District 225 approves lowered tax levy
Updated: January 21, 2013 2:08PM
GLENVIEW —Trustees for Glenbrook School District 225 on Monday approved a 5 percent tax levy, reduced from a tentative 6.9 percent levy set in November.
The district reduced the levy after the Cook County Assessor’s Office released new projections on the Astellas Pharm business complex that opened in April.
The new 5 percent levy represents $106 million in property tax revenue for the district, which was a 4.4 percent increase over last year.
The new $150 million high-rise headquarters for Astellas Pharma at Willow Road and I-294 created more revenues for several taxing bodies in the village.
Glenbrook High School District 225 wants to ensure it nets a full share of the growth on the northwest corner of Willow Road and Interstate 294, said school officials.
“The district collaborates with its municipal partners to ensure each entity is utilizing the most current information regarding new growth,” said Hillarie Siena, district assistant superintendent for Business Affairs.
Astellas Pharma, a Japanese pharmaceutical maker that was based in Deerfield, opened the glass high-rise on June 7 after two years of construction.
The company was lured to Glenview by a Cook County property tax break that lowered its property assessment for 20 years and $4 million in tax credits in exchange for creating 150 new jobs.
Teska Associates, hired to study the mixed-use project by GlenStar, stated in April that village government would annually receive more than $1 million in property tax revenues. A report from Teska Associates in March said the Astella property was assessed at $173 million, but in fall the Cook County Assessor’sOffice put it at $53 million, said Siena.
She estimated the newly- adopted tax levy could bring District 225 about $900,000 this tax year. “The property’s value came down and so did our levy,” she said.
In addition to village revenues, the annual surplus to West Northfield District 31 and Glenbrook High School District 225 could be $4.2 million and $3.9 million, respectively.
Glenview Park District would net $1.2 million in property taxes, while Glenview Public Library would receive $630,000.
In 2008, new growth in equalized assessed value in Glenview and Northbrook was $88.7 million; however, since the economic fall it fell to a low $13 million. The 2012 EAV was estimated at $219 million.
The tax levy amount of 5 percent represents total revenue of $102,673,961, (an increase of 4.41 percent from last year).
The Glenbrook High School District 225 Board of Education took action December 10 to reduce its final levy amount to 5 percent. This is a 1.9 percent reduction from the tentative levy of 6.9 percent adopted during the November 5 Board meeting for the 2012 tax year.
The district proposed the lower levy amount after receiving new projections from the Cook County Assessor’s Office on the estimated Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) of the Astellas property.
The final levy of 5 percent represents 3 percent based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and 2 percent for the capture of new property growth. The tentative levy of 6.9 percent represented 3 percent based on CPI, and 3.9 percent for the capture of new property growth.
The Board held a Truth in Taxation hearing on December 10 during its regularly scheduled meeting.
The adopted tax levy is available on the District website atwww.glenbrook225.org.
