The Effingham Unit 40 school board recently discussed the county school facilities sales tax revenue and property tax relief potential, as well as the tentative tax levy.
This year’s election ballot will ask voters if they want to approve the 1% sales tax. If passed, the extra money will go towards Effingham County schools. The money can only be spent on keeping facilities updated, retiring new or current building bonds, school resource officers and mental health professionals. It may not be used for salaries, instruction materials, buses or other operating costs.
Unit 40 Superintendent Andrew Johnson said that the board would prioritize property tax relief to taxpayers in the district.
“The school board is committed to utilizing 10% of the CSFT revenue annually to provide property tax relief to the taxpayers residing in the Unit 40 school district,” said Johnson.
Board member Desha Wear suggested re-evaluating how the money will be used on an annual basis.
“My thought is: That’s a starting place, and it’s going to have to be re-evaluated, if the sales tax passes, and after the first year to see what the revenue is. I think it would be something [to]… bring to discussion every year,” said Wear. “Every year, this gets reset and is determined based on needs and property values.”
Johnson agreed, calling that a great idea.
Board member Andrew Altman suggested setting a floor on how low they would or could go, but the board will revisit that and the tax during the next board meeting on Nov. 18, after Election Day on Nov. 5.
“We are fortunate in Effingham County that more than half the revenue produced by this sales tax would come from interstate traffic,” Board President Jill Wendling said in a press release. “Compared to most counties in Illinois, our per capita sales tax revenue is quite high. What that means, bottom line, is that this tax could bring in the kind of revenue needed for the top goal on the district’s facility improvement plan which is to build a new Kindergarten through 2nd grade school.”
The board also discussed the tentative tax levy.
“Our biggest job, yours and mine, is to get the proper revenue and do the right things with that revenue,” said Johnson. “And the school district has done that for years.”
The board approved a tentative tax levy for the coming school year of 3.5083 with final approval at the Nov. 18 board meeting at 6 p.m.
“My recommendation would be to move to the 3.0583… which is the three million at 14%, which will probably be 7%, like we said, and then revisit this in November,” said Johnson. “We can look at what the difference is and what affect it has on us.
The board passed a motion for the October 2024 tax levy as presented during the meeting and set a levy hearing for Monday, November 18th for 6 p.m.