Kenilworth School Board approves tax levy estimating a $616,000 revenue increase

Kenilworth taxpayers will see an uptick in the portion of their property-tax bills attributed to The Joseph Sears School. 

District 38’s board of education approved the 2020 levy with a 4.5 percent increase over its 2019 extension during its Monday, Dec. 14 meeting. 

The hike represents approximately $616,000 more than 2019’s extension, district documents show.

Dr. Joe Bailey, the district’s business manager, said that although the district is requesting 4.5 percent it will likely receive closer to the Consumer Price Index cap, which is 2.3 percent. 

According to district documents, the approved levy totals $14.05 million. The majority of the funds in the levy, $11.35 million, are allocated to the district’s education fund.

The second highest concentration of funds is the $1.4 million the district has earmarked in the operations and maintenance fund. 

Because the district does not yet know the value of new property in the village, it estimates that portion of the levy. The district is estimating new growth at $2 million, a number that is on par with previous district estimates, Bailey said. 

In a memo to the board, Bailey said that property taxes generate approximately 93 percent of the district’s revenue. 

As of publication time, The Record could not confirm the approximate average increase in the District 38 portion of property-tax bills for homeowners in the village.