Naperville School District 203 will abate about $1.2 million in principal and interest on $33 million of bonds issued in 2009, an action that’s been taken annually for the last eight years as a means of saving property owners some tax money.
The district has the option each year of abating all or part of its debt service levy if it has the resources to make the required bond payments without the tax levy, officials said.
School board members approved the action this week. Including this year, the district has abated about $21 million over eight years, according to Michael Frances, the district’s chief financial officer.
In addition to the annual abatements, the district in spring 2018 abated another $9.5 million, which saved more than $3 million in interest payments, he said.
The administration works with its citizen finance advisory committee, which is made up of taxpayers across the district, to ensure they agree with the recommendation made by district administrators, Frances said.
The school board Monday also approved transferring funds from the district’s educational fund to its debt service fund to pay down its debt in lieu of collecting the 2023 debt services taxes.
As a result of the action, the owner of a home valued at $400,000 will save about $28 in property taxes, Frances said.
Being able to abate the debt service levy shows the district is in a strong financial state, he said.
Abating the levy has been accounted for in all of the district’s financial forecasts, Superintendent Dan Bridges said earlier this month.
The 2023 levy year bond and interest payment was about $1.285 million, but the district received $71,750 in Build America Bond revenue to reduce the district’s impact to just over $1.2 million.
The bonds that were sold in 2009 were authorized by voters through a 2008 referendum to fund capital improvement projects, the largest of which were renovations made at Naperville Central High School.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
