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2024/04/29 - Mayor's Column: Your Tax Bill

­“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
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Frequently people will call City Hall after seeing their real estate (property) tax bills and ask how you came up with this bill. Or they will call with concern and say I paid all this real estate tax money to the City. In fact, the City only receives about 11% of your total tax bill.

Since we have many new residents, I thought that I would try to briefly explain what you are looking at when you look at your tax bill.

St. Clair County establishes the value of your property through an appraisal, not the city. They work to do new appraisals about every 3 years. During the years in between evaluations, they apply a multiplier to the property which is established by estimates as to the increase or decrease in property values in an area.

Next, each taxing district (there are 172 different taxing districts in St. Clair County) establishes the level of tax dollars they need to have collected from the residents and businesses residing in their boundaries.

In the City of O’Fallon, you will usually see charges from the city, Township, County, Elementary School District, High School District, and Junior College District. After you pay your taxes to the county, the County distributes it to each of the different taxing bodies in accordance with their levy.

Here in O’Fallon Your tax bill is usually broken down by these approximate amounts and headings.

  • Township (TWP & Road)………………………………...about 4%
  • City (City & Library)……………………….………….…..about 11%
  • County (County General & Other)…………..….……about 15%
  • Schools (Each District is listed separately) ……..about 70%

I hope that this brief explanation helps you to better understand how your tax bill is established and distributed.

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open.