Aldermen in the Maple City got their first look this week at the 2021 Property Tax Levy this week, which they’re expected to consider approving next month.
On Monday, City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher presented the levy of over $2,517,300, an increase of 4.17 percent. Last year, the levy was $2,416,500.
Steinbrecher tells WGIL that the increasing property taxes is attributed to the increase in the city’s mandated police and fire pension payments, which increased by $113,500 from last year. Because of those pension payments, city services funding from the levy was cut.
“Last year we had $350,000 [allocated to] support city services,” Steinbrecher told WGIL in a Tuesday interview. “And so next year, only $337,000 in addition to taking all of the increase in the levy, we’ve also had to take money away from city services just to support these pension payments — these obligations.”
70.7 percent of the city’s property tax levy is to be used to make mandatory contributions to the police and fire pension funds. The Illinois Municipal League has advocated the General Assembly to pass reform of the pension system but so far no work has been done on that.
“I said this when I was in Moline, and it’s true here — and, I bet if you talk to Todd Thompson he’ll say it’s true in Galesburg, is that this is the single most serious financial challenge that any municipality with a police department or fire department have in Illinois,” Steinbrecher added.
On the bright side, Monmouth is seeing strong growth in the city’s property valuation, increasing by 3.8 percent to $86,450,000 in 2021.
Based on the EAV, it is estimated that the tax rate to property owners will be $2.91.
