Consumer Price Index soars to 7 percent for next year
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By Carmen Ensinger
Depending whether you are a government body or a tax payer, the news that County Clerk Debbie Banghart shared with the County Board at their Jan. 13 board meeting could be good or bad.
Banghart said that she received information from the Illinois Department of Revenue that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) change for 2022 extensions (for property taxes payable in 2023) for taxing districts subject to PTELL (Property Tax Extension Limitation Law) has gone up to a whopping unprecedented seven percent.
Under PTELL, a taxing body can increase the tax rate the lesser of five percent or the percentage increase of the CPI during the 12-month calendar year preceding the levy year.
Banghart was shocked when she saw this year’s CPI.
“This is the highest I have ever seen it,” she said. “I went back over the 20 years the county has had PTELL and it has never been anywhere near this high in the past.”
The highest the CPI occurred in 2007 when it hit 4.08 percent. The following year, it dropped to less than one percent at .1 percent. Last year, the CPI was 1.4 percent.
This amount determines how much a property tax owners’ taxes will go up the following year. The lower the CPI, the lower the tax increase.
While this lower tax increase is good for the property owners, it means less money for government bodies, such as the schools, fire departments, townships, etcetera.
The board won’t have to worry about anything until this fall when they start working on next year’s budget.
“When you do your calculations, right now, you can only go up to five percent,” Banghart said. “Unless you want to have a Truth in Taxation hearing and then you can go up to the seven percent.”
As Banghart explained it, the Truth in Taxation hearing gives everyone the chance to come in and “yell and scream at you.” On the other hand, the county can choose to leave the rate low as in the past. It doesn’t have to raise it up to the maximum of five percent without the need of a Truth in Taxation hearing.
