St. Charles City Council approves preliminary property tax levy increase

The St. Charles City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a preliminary property tax levy for 2020 that calls for an increase in the average resident's property taxes by about 4.6 percent, an amount officials aim to reduce to 2.4 percent through non-property tax revenue streams committed to the debt service portion of the levy.

If the expected abatement occurs and the property tax levy is decreased by nearly half, St. Charles officials say the 2.4 percent property tax increase will equate to an approximate increase of $19 annually for the owner of a property worth $300,000. The final levy won't be official until the spring of 2021 after a public hearing in December and a tax levy ordinance is presented to the City Council for approval.

"The increase represents about 4.6 percent," said St. Charles Finance Director Chris Minick. "However, that is a little bit of a fictitious number because we will never actually levy $23.9 million through property taxes."

Minick presented the preliminary report to the City Council on Monday with an initial levy amount of nearly $24 million. The annual abatement process, which for 2019 reduced the levy by $10 million, should reduce the 2020 amount to an estimated $13 million, Minick said.

The estimated post-abatement increase of nearly $294,000 from the 2019 property tax levy corresponds with the increase in the Consumer Price Index and will go toward pension and other personnel costs, according to Minick.

"What will happen is we will come forward in January with an abatement ordinance to actually remove that $10,836,000 from the property tax levy," Minick said. "It will never be extended."