Elgin won’t raise tax rate

The City of Elgin has remained committed to a property tax rate of $1.92 per $100 of assessed value for almost 20 years. City councilmen agreed Wednesday night it would stay that way this year, too — even though it will mean about $2.1 million less for the city’s budget.

Mayor Ed Schock highlighted the novelty of that position before Wednesday’s vote.

“Almost all communities, when the value of the property goes down, all they do is raise their rate in order to get the same amount of tax dollars they got the year before,” Schock said.

Elgin has not done that for 19 years, according to Colleen Lavery, chief financial officer for the city.

For a long time keeping the rate constant still meant the city would get more money because of rising property values. But for cities and towns across the country, Schock said, a recession and rising foreclosures means that is no longer true.

In future budget years, Elgin officials will have to figure out if the best way to solve the problem of fewer tax dollars will mean increasing the tax rate or looking elsewhere.

Councilman David Kaptain said Wednesday the city needs to examine the various places revenue comes, acknowledging a major source is from property taxes.

“As stewards of taxpayer money I think we need to look at diversifying our revenue stream,” Kaptain said.

Lavery said it is already in the 5-year plan to fill the gap decreasing property values have made.

Though a new revenue stream has yet to be identified, the need for one has certainly been recognized.

“Everyone knows we have to find something,” Lavery said.

The council’s vote Wednesday enabled Lavery to adjust the tax abatement in accordance with the assessed values Kane County will release by early April. The city levied an amount last year based on projected values, but if the actual amounts differ, Lavery will have to adjust her numbers to maintain the $1.92 rate.

The actual abatement ordinances will likely come before the council in April, Lavery said.