If proposed levy increases are approved in December, Cook County property owners can expect to see some increases on their next property tax statements, but some of the biggest increases have nothing to do with county business.
On Tuesday, November 23, 2010, Cook County Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers went over the proposed 2011 budget and levy with the county board. The proposed levy is $6,174,951, the maximum allowed, and it represents an increase of $287,799, or 4.89%, over last year’s levy. In order to keep general fund expenditures within the levy limit, $179,879 of the fund balance would be used.
Ninety-three percent of the levy increase is a special levy allowed because of the unallotment of $257,388 in state aid.
The budget includes regular step increases, no cost of living increases, and a decrease of .8 percent for health insurance. Staffing changes include the addition of a summer temp (480 hours) in the Maintenance Department, an increase in Public Health and Human Services financial worker/account technician Sandy Petty’s position from 35 to 40 hours a week (partially funded through federal aid), and a new maintenance worker in the Highway Department.
The other levies include a proposed hospital levy of $1,200,000, up from last year’s $425,000, and a proposed school levy of $589,683, up from $498,345 after passage of the referendum.
The Schroeder levy will go from $8,350 to $22,240, reflecting the increased portion of the Tofte/ Schroeder Search and Rescue budget that Tofte has asked Schroeder to contribute to more accurately reflect the services it receives. Tofte’s town levy will be decreasing by 3.1%, on the other hand, from $178,546 to $173,071. The Tofte-Schroeder Sanitary Sewer District levy will be decreasing by half, from $30,000 this year to $15,000 next year.
The largest fire department levy increases are 15.2% for the Grand Marais Fire Department and 23.3% for the Hovland Fire Department.
Commissioner Jim Johnson suggested that when people see the total percentage of increase at the bottom of their property tax statements, they will blame the county, even though a great deal of the increase will be from other sources.
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