Kane County Reporter

Geneva School District 304 has seen its enrollment rise by 48 percent over the past 20 years.

But school tax bills for Geneva homeowners have risen even faster-- 70 percent, from $9,598 per student in 1997 to $16,350 in 2017, adjusted for inflation, according to an analysis by the Kane County Reporter.

District enrollment rose to 5,389 last year from 3,651 in 1997, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) reports. Total district tax revenue rose from $39 million to $95 million over the same period.

The analysis comes as Geneva teachers threaten to strike, demanding higher salaries, and to pay less for their benefits and retirement packages.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the median teacher at District 304 earns approximately $120,000 for nine months of work ($160,000 annualized). That includes $69,684 in salary as well as taxpayer-funded benefits and pension contributions, which amount to an additional $50,000 in compensation per year.

In published reports, the Geneva Teachers' Association has demanded salary increases of 18 percent - 6 percent for each of the next three years - as well as that taxpayers pick up 100 percent of the health care benefit cost (currently 95 percent) of single teachers and 75 percent of the cost for teachers with families (currently 65 percent).

Higher property taxes for Geneva

The burden for paying these pay increases will fall almost entirely on already-strained Geneva property taxpayers.

Property taxes covered 93 percent of District 304's total spending in 2017, according to ISBE. That's up from 89 percent in 1997.

An August report found that the median home tax bill in Geneva for the first six months of 2018 was $8,599, or an effective property tax rate of 2.57 percent. That's twice the U.S. national average of 1.19 percent, or $3,974 on the same home.

The median home price in Geneva for the first six months of 2018 was $334,000, down 10 percent from $371,000 (inflation-adjusted) in October 2008.