Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
June 25, 2007
[I posted a blog on Friday about the proposed Creekside Promenade retail development at the intersection of Kyle Road and Lincoln, but for some reason it did not go out through the email distribution list. Click here to read that blog entry.]
If you are a homeowner, I’m sure you were thrilled to receive your property tax bill. While you no doubt noticed an increase in your total tax, it is not from a lack of trying to lower your bill by the City of Fallon. Under the “City of O'Fallon” line item, the tax rate decreased 5% from 0.7702 to 0.7321. You may recall that the City Council lowered the tax rate back in December in anticipation of the Township Multiplier. The City Council does not control the tax rates for any of the other tax bodies on your tax bill (schools, county, etc.).
However, the Multiplier is 1.0703 this year, so the City portion of your tax bill went up about 2% despite our lowering the tax rate. Our goal is provide good value in City services for your tax dollars, and the City Council has repeatedly committed to low property taxes.
The Township Multiplier is not imposed by the City Council, but is determined by the County Board of Review with assistance from the County Assessor’s Office and is their estimate of the increase in home values for that year. I explained the Township Multiplier in two previous blogs (here and here).
We met with the county several times last fall and explained that housing has slowed this year and sale prices have stabilized. However, the county said they must follow state requirements to use a three-year average of residential sale prices to determine the Multiplier. The Illinois Department of Revenue says the three-year average is a guideline (not a requirement), and the county can take the option not to use the Multiplier under extenuating circumstances (such as a downturn in the market). The county chose not to use the option.
We plan to meet with county officials again soon to discuss what can be done about the Multiplier. Perhaps there is some rational basis for the calculation of the Multiplier, but if so it is not clear to us.
We have held the line on property tax rates for the past eight years. The Multiplier has nothing to do with the City and we did not have any knowledge of the Multiplier until we received the tax bills along with everyone else. We have no control on the sales prices of property or the county’s decision to raise the Township Multiplier. If you feel your home’s value increased inappropriately, the appeal procedure for property owners is to appear before the County Board of Review and show that your property did not increase in value by 7% last year.
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