Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
January 10, 2008
I have discussed property taxes several times in this blog, but only because it is an issue that continues to be prominent among residents and the media. In an effort to bring some clarity to the discussion, we have scheduled presentations with several local groups and civic clubs to explain how property taxes work. We decided to go back to the basics and describe how property taxes are calculated, how the multiplier affects your tax bill, and what the City is doing about the situation.
This is a big topic, so I am going to break it up into two blogs. Today, I will provide the basics on where property tax revenues go in the City of O’Fallon and my next blog will go more into detail with how property is assessed and how the multiplier is calculated to your property tax bill.
Let’s start with some basics about your property tax bill and real estate values. The chart below shows the assessed value of real estate as a percentage in St. Clair County. While O’Fallon covers 1% of the land in the county and comprises 10% of the population, we have 24% of the assessed value.
When you pay your property tax bill, here is a breakout of where your money goes. Not surprisingly, most of your property taxes go to the school districts (64%). Only 11% of your property taxes go to the City of O’Fallon.
Out of that 11%, here is how property taxes dollars are distributed in the City government. Fire and Ambulance are funded solely through the property tax. Note that only 6% goes to the General Fund, which includes most of the City’s general operations (police, streets, administration, planning, engineering, etc.).
Rather than relying on property taxes, the City’s General Fund is largely dependent on sales taxes for revenue. Only 2% of the General Fund comes from property tax.
That is a brief overview of how property taxes are used in the City of O’Fallon. Next time I will explain how your property tax bill is calculated.
| 
