Yorkville considers raising tax levy while decreasing tax bill

A public hearing is set for Yorkville's 2024 tax levy after the city council approved an estimate expected to save Yorkville homeowners on their next tax bill.

Citizens will have the chance to voice their opinions on the proposed levy during the hearing at the Nov. 12 Yorkville City Council meeting, at 651 Prairie Pointe Drive, Yorkville.

Rob Fredrickson, Yorkville Finance Director, said with the current approved tax levy estimate, the owners of a $300,000 home can expect to pay around $100 less in property taxes next year with a currently estimated rate of 4.38% compared to last year's 4.81% rate. Fredrickson said the city portion and library portions of the tax bill for a property worth $300,000 in 2024 would total an estimated $584, down from to $678 in 2023.

This is because the library has completed its past bonds. The library bonds were first issued in 2005 to help finance the construction of the new library building. The costs of the building will be fully paid off by this December. The library board sets the Library levy and is separate from the city's levy but seen on the same tax bill.

City officials are debating whether the levy should only cover the increased EAV from new construction, as in past years, or also account for inflationary costs now that the savings enable some financial wiggle-room. City documents describe the savings windfall as a "one-off opportunity to marginally expand the city's tax base while still generating significant property tax savings to homeowners."

Fredrickson said while the library board has historically increased its levy by new construction and inflationary amounts, the city council has only increased the city levy for new construction costs since 2017, forgoing inflationary costs for the past seven years.

The total estimated city levy is $4,026,069 and the estimated library levy is $1,060,187. Even though the 4.38% rate does not exceed the 5% rate at which a public hearing is mandated by state law, city officials wanted to hold a public hearing for the sake of transparency. Only the city and library levies will be discussed during the hearing.

Other sub-levies included in the budget include police protection and pensions, city pension payments, corporate operations, audit and liability insurance, and Social Security and Medicare payments.

After the public hearing, the city plans to approve the finalized Tax Levy Ordinance at either the Nov. 26 or Dec. 10 City Council meeting, depending on hammering out the final details. City Council may decide to levy less, based upon revised construction costs from Kendall County in November, but cannot levy more than the estimated rate discussed at the public hearing.