Chicago Public Schools’ next school board may face a consequential choice early in its first term: whether to continue the annual property tax increases that have helped keep the district’s budget balanced. The full board will be elected for the first time on Nov. 3, ending the system of mayoral control. In questionnaire responses, more than two-thirds of the 45 candidates seeking 21 seats said they would not vote to raise property taxes to the legal limit. Two of the three candidates for board president also opposed making the increase automatic. CPS has few ways to raise revenue on its own, and property taxes have brought in more than $100 million annually. The district entered this school year facing a $730 million deficit; without an increase to the levy’s limit, the shortfall would have approached $900 million. The district’s costs are rising as it maintains aging school buildings and serves students with increasing needs. CPS now employs 5,500 more special education teachers and aides than it did seven years ago. Former district chief operating officer and board member Arnie Rivera said expenses are growing substantially faster than revenue, putting the incoming board in a difficult position. A decision to skip an increase could also constrain future budgets. Danny Vesecky, a senior policy and research associate at the Civic Federation, said CPS cannot make up a skipped levy increase in a later year. He estimated that if the district had forgone increases in each of the past five years, its property tax levy would now be about $500 million smaller. The board can raise the levy by inflation or 5%, whichever is lower, while also accounting for new or reassessed property. Property tax bills can rise for other reasons, including city budget decisions and Cook County reassessments. CPS receives about half of the property taxes collected, and the amount it draws from those taxes has doubled over the past two decades. Special assessments established under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel contributed to that growth. The three board-president candidates offered sharply different approaches. Hilario Dominguez said he would continue raising property taxes to the limit until the state provides more education funding. Without that revenue, he warned, the district could face cuts and school closures. Dominguez is endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union. Jessica Biggs, a current board member who voted for increases in each of the past two years, said she would not rely on them as president because they place a heavier burden on people least able to pay. She said she would seek savings in administrative costs and press the state to cover teacher pension expenses as it does for other school districts. But the district has already made significant cuts, and officials have said few easy reductions remain. It is also unclear whether shifting pension costs to the state would lower CPS’s expenses: a special property tax levy for pensions could remain in place without benefiting the district, Vesecky said. Victor Henderson, a defense attorney without union endorsements, said tax increases should not be automatic and called for a forensic audit before asking residents to pay more. He said he would not immediately seek additional state funding, arguing that the district’s $10 billion budget should be enough to cover its costs. Rivera cautioned that state lawmakers could question a request for more aid if the board declines to use the revenue-raising authority it already has. The debate will test how the new board weighs household tax burdens against the district’s continuing need to fund schools and services.