From former Cary Grade School Board President Scott Coffey:
Prairie Grove D46 Tax Levy Failure
On March 27, the County Clerk generated the Final Tax Computation Report for all taxing bodies within the County.
Given the ongoing discussion regarding the proposed lithium battery project and its potential financial impact on D46, I reviewed the District’s debt service levy, as this appears to be an important component of the overall revenue picture and may relate to anticipated incremental revenues associated with the development.
In December, the D46 Board approved the full abatement of the tax levy required for two bond issues:
- 2021 Bonds – $714,125
- 2023 Bonds – $941,200
Absent an approved abatement resolution, the County is required to levy the amount necessary to meet scheduled debt service payments.
The abatement resolution serves as the legal instruction directing the County Clerk to reduce the levy by the specified amount.
I have attached the D46 page from the Tax Computation Report.
The report reflects that the levy request for the 2021 Bonds was correctly reduced to $0.
However, the levy request for the 2023 Bonds is listed as $943,700.
This amount should have been reduced to zero pursuant to the Board’s approved abatement resolution.
As a result, D46 taxpayers will incur approximately $943,700 in additional property taxes that do not appear to have been intended by the Board.
Based on current estimates, this increases the projected D46 tax increase from approximately 2.9% to approximately 11.4%.
Given the magnitude of this discrepancy, it may be worth confirming:
- whether the County Clerk received the abatement resolution for the 2023 Bonds
- whether the resolution was submitted correctly and on time
- whether corrective action is still possible prior to tax bill issuance (probably not)
- whether the Board is aware of the discrepancy
- whether the Superintendent’s surprise resignation in January is related to the defective levy submission from the previous week
If this issue is not addressed promptly, taxpayers may experience a significant and unintended increase in their property tax bills.
