Dear Members:
 
Despite support from Illinois House of Representatives Speaker Michael Madigan, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s proposal to extend the “temporary” income tax hikes that are set to expire in January of 2015 has not received enough support from their Democratic House majority—for now.

Enacted in January of 2011, income tax rates jumped from 7.3% (4.8% plus 2.5% property replacement tax) to 9% for corporations and from 3% to 5% for individuals, including “pass-through entities” such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability corporations (LLCs) and S corporations taxed as partnerships.
 
Property Tax Bill 101
If you managed to survive April 15 without the Internal Revenue Service reaching too deep into your pocketbook, then hopefully your annual real estate (or property) tax bill didn’t cause sticker shock upon its postal delivery in early May—whether your mortgage company remits the payments or you write the checks.
 
How much in money you pay is determined by multiplying your real estate’s equalized assessed valuation (EAV) by a tax rate compiled from various local taxing bodies.  You pay more when one or both components increase and you pay less when one or both components decrease.  When one increases and one decreases, you could pay more or you could pay less, depending.
 
Elmhurst’s overall property tax rate is $7.50 per $100 in EAV, with property owners in Addison Township ($7.588) paying slightly more than their York Township counterparts ($7.5116).  According to the Addison Township Assessor’s Office website, the payable 2014 real estate tax bill in Addison Township reflects an average assessment decrease of 7%.  The average tax bill in DuPage County increased by 3.91% and the average increase for tax rates in DuPage is 9.31%.
 
A property’s EAV is calculated at one-third of its fair market value (FMV), as determined by the Township Assessor.  So a property valued at $500K will have an EAV of $165K.  At a rate of $7.50 per $100 in EAV, that property’s tax will be around $12,375.  The market value of an average home in Elmhurst is around $300K, which equates to $7,425 in property taxes.
 
In Elmhurst, the city tax rate of $0.6389 (including pension funds) accounts for 8.5% of a taxpayer bill, as compared to an average of more than 12% for other DuPage County municipalities (including fire districts).  The city receives about $1,050 from a $500K property and $632 from a $300K property to provide police, fire and public works.
 
Residential and commercial real estate taxes are projected to generate $11.5 million—similar to the sales tax revenue produced via retail and food and beverage—of the city’s Fiscal Year 2014 Operating Fund of $54.9 million.
 
In most communities, 70% to 75% of property tax dollars fund the public school system—even though typically only one in four taxpayers have schoolchildren.  Elmhurst Public School District 205 receives around 69% of the property tax revenue, while the Elmhurst Park District, Elmhurst Public Library, County of DuPage and others get between 5% and 6% apiece.
 
Video Gaming Update
In my President’s Message for May, I misidentified the video gaming revenue of surrounding municipalities as coming in April, when in fact the report was for March.
 
There is a 30% tax on the Net Terminal Income (Funds In minus Funds Out), with 25% going directly to the state’s General Fund and 5% given to a municipality.  The video gaming house and their state-licensed vendor each get 35% of the NTI.
 
April’s report from the State of Illinois Gaming Board shows that the Village of Villa Park netted $11.9K (up from March’s $11.5K) from its now 14 licensed houses and the Village of Addison earned $5.9 (down from 6.95K) from eight locations with terminals.  The Village of Oakbrook Terrace got $4.1K (up from $3.7K) from eight locations and the Village of Bensenville got $1.76 (up from $1.74K) from three locations
 
Fitz’s Irish Bulldog in Villa Park, owned and operated by the same family that runs Fitz’s Pub and Fitz’s Spare Keys in downtown Elmhurst, made 35% of its April NTI of $23.6K.
 
Every community surrounding Elmhurst but Oak Brook is participating in the State of Illinois’ Video Gaming Act, which is netting $30 million per month statewide.

Happy Anniversary

In a rare occurrence, there are no members celebrating Chamber anniversaries by five year multiples in June.
 
New Members
The Chamber welcomed seven new members in May as follows (in alphabetical order):  Creative Dynamics Studio, Gould & Ratner, LLP, Main Street Candy & Toys, Mathnasium of Elmhurst, Ride in Bliss, TBC Health & Wellness and Therapeutic Massage Chicago.
 
Reactivated Member
Cutters Landscaping, Mamma Maria’s Pizza and The PrivateBank reactivated as Chamber members in May.
 
No Longer Members
The Chamber said goodbye to the following seven members in May: AccuQuest Hearing Center, Celar Chiropractic, Cottage Hill Inspections, CVG Associates-Biejo Bags, Meeder Design & Remodeling, NEXTChem Process Analyzers and The Care of Trees.