Village trustees continually get questions from residents wondering about the amount of taxes they pay and where all the money goes. Property taxes are collected by the County Treasurer twice a year and the amount paid is based on tax levies that are set and published during the months of Oct-Dec of the previous year by all taxing bodies. So, where do your tax dollars go and what do they pay for?
The Village of Spring Grove receives only 3.63% of your tax dollars, or in the example below, $279. (Note - this is a Richmond Township example vs. Burton Township). Out of this payment only 48.1% or $134 goes to the operations of the Village; the rest goes to fund the Police Pension. This covers maintenance, paving and snowplowing of all public roads, street lighting costs, 24-hour police protection; the maintenance and establishment of parks, and the Village sponsored Rec programs, administration staff and public works salaries.
School Dist 2 - 33.61% or $2,579. This amount covers the operation and maintenance of the grade school and middle school facilities, books and classroom supplies, furniture, administration staff and teacher’s salaries.
School Dist 157 - 29.13% or $2,236. This amount covers the operation and maintenance of the high school facilities, books and classroom supplies, furniture, administration staff and teacher’s salaries.
McHenry County - 7.87% or $603.78. This amount is used for county administrative services, Sheriff's Police, the county jail and courthouse, State's Attorneys, Health Dept. and the Highway Dept. which maintains county roads and bridges.
Spring Grove Fire Protection - 6.15% or $472. This covers the 24-hour operations of fire and ambulance service and facilities, along with equipment and employee salaries.
McHenry County College - 3.56% or $273. This amount covers the operations of facilities, teacher’s and administration staff salaries.
Richmond Township Road & Bridge - 2.41% or $185. This amount covers the operation of facilities, staffing salaries, township road paving, maintenance and snowplowing.
McHenry County Conservation Dist. - 2.28% or $175. This funds the operations of facilities, staff salaries, and acquisition of properties for future open space. Glacial Park, Chain O’Lakes State Park and Nippersink Canoe Basin are a few of the properties they manage.
Nippersink Library 1.90% or $146. This amount is used to fund the operation of facilities, staff salaries, the purchase of books and various other materials for use by the public.
Richmond Township 1.21% or $92.93. Services provided are public assistance and senior bus transportation.
Richmond Township Cemetery .119% or $9.18. This amount covers the cost of operations and maintenance of township cemeteries.
As you can see, the village only receives a very small portion of your property tax bill. Over the years we have operated under very tight budgets and minimum amount of staffing. We never recovered from the great recession and now we have the negative effects of COVID-19 on our budget and the local economy has taken a hit.
Our current one-acre zoning has a very expensive infrastructure cost when compared to the amount of revenue collected from our subdivisions. The cost of road paving has tripled over the years. With over 54 miles of roads to maintain and the cost of snowplowing, street lighting, parks, and patrolling of our streets, the current revenue stream is no longer able to meet the needs of our village roads program.
The Village Board has been reviewing revenue options, cost savings options, and the expansion of economic development. We are very aware of the property taxes we all pay and yes, it is a lot - understood! Raising them is one option off the table.
I ask you to look over your property tax bill and understand how much you pay to the village for all the services it offers in return. We appreciate it. I will ask the Village Board to explore all options over the next few months. I can assure you this board will continue to operate under very tight fiscal responsibility now and in the future.
Mark Eisenberg
Village President
