The District’s “Fact Sheet,” under the “How much will it cost?” section, put the following statement in bold and a separate box, indicating that this was the net effect voters needed to know: “A levy rate increase of $.13 would equate to $13 for a $100,000 home and $26 for a $200,000 home.”
Based on these statements from the District, the Monroe Times ran a piece, shortly before the referendum, with a headline emphasizing the net effect to voters: “Taxes to go up just $13 per year on $100k house should referendum pass.”2 The Superintendent spoke to the paper for the piece, and told the paper he “hopes voters see the minimal price hike of taxes and vote ‘yes’”—again, connecting the $.13 mill rate increase to the relevant net effect for voters.
After the referendum passed, taxes increased by much closer to the $199 per $100,000 figure mentioned above. From the tax bills we have reviewed, the net effect was a tax increase of between $160 and $190 per $100,000 in home value (using the 2021 valuations).3 In other words, while there was a small “offset” from the state aid and TIF district, it was nowhere near as large as the District suggested it would be. Voters understandably felt misled, and the District eventually issued an apology, claiming that it made a mistake and that it did not “underst[and] the impact” that “unprecedented increase[s] in valuation” would have on property taxes.