NORMAL - Heartland Community College is asking for a 2008 property tax levy that is 7.7 percent more than last year's.

The college's board tentatively approved on Tuesday a levy of about $18 million. Final approval will come Dec. 9 after a public hearing. The state requires such a hearing whenever a levy increase is more than 5 percent.

The increase - about $2 million over last year's levy - is based on the expectation that property values have increased about 6.5 percent from last year.

"We're fortunate to have growth in the district," said Rob Widmer, Heartland's finance vice president.

The owner of a $200,000 home should expect to pay about $300, or about $3.50 more than last year's bill.

If the levy is approved in December, the tax rate would increase from 44.5 cents per $100 equalized assessed valuation to about 45 cents per $100 EAV.

On Tuesday, the board also learned enrollment for community education increased about 12 percent in the past year.

Gary Taylor, who heads community and corporate education talked about that growth and about an 8 percent decrease in corporate education enrollment. He blamed the latter on the economic downturn.

Taylor noted among community education students, the average age is 40 to 50, and nearly 7 of every 10 students enrolled in the noncredit courses are women.