Openthebooks.com examines soaring school district spending in IL
Illinoisans’ average property tax rates as a percentage of home value have soared to 2.28 percent in 2012 from 1.93 percent in 2010. This is the second highest rate in the nation. Many Illinois residents are asking why their taxes are so high, and are curious as to where all this is money going. One organization,...
Illinoisans’ average property tax rates as a percentage of home value have soared to 2.28 percent in 2012 from 1.93 percent in 2010. This is the second highest rate in the nation.
Many Illinois residents are asking why their taxes are so high, and are curious as to where all this is money going.
One organization, openthebooks.com, is hoping to help taxpayers answer those questions with their release of “SNAPSHOT Spending Reports” for 928 Illinois school districts.
In an email to supporters, Adam Andrzejewski, founder of openthebooks.com, announced:
“At openthebooks.com, today, we released our SNAPSHOT™ Spending Report for 928 IL school districts. Each report covers pensions, salaries, and vendor spending. Each individual school district is bench marked on spending vs. consumer price index (CPI) inflation.”
According to the Illinois Department of Revenue, 62 percent of property tax dollars go to school districts. Analyzing local school district spending is particularly important for communities whose school district is entering contract negotiations.
As a case study, openthebooks.com highlighted spending trends at Hinsdale High School District 86. They found the following:
“Since Spring, the teachers union at Hinsdale High School District 86 has been threatening a strike. The union proposed a 5.4% salary increase. The new majority board ran on a property tax freeze and has proposed a 1.7% increase. Data within our Local Spending Report shows that D86 salaries have outpaced CPI inflation by 76% since 2001. With an average salary of over $111,000, the teachers at Hinsdale out-earn the average educator salary at the flagship state university, University of Illinois at Champaign by over $10,000!”
The SNAPSHOT Spending Report is a great tool to help citizens identify soaring school district spending, one of the root causes of Illinois’ high property taxes.
If you find that your local school district has spending issues, taxpayers can form a citizens audit committee to take a deeper dive into spending and to make public recommendations for reform.