Monmouth City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher proposed the Tax Levy to City Council, which is the first step in the budget process:
“We proposed the Tax Levy in the amount of $2,849,000. That is about a 4.9 percent increase from last year. It primarily funds our public safety pensions. Both the police pension and firefighters pension funds will receive $1,050,000 each out of that, $400,000 is set aside to provide a source of funds for our debt service payments, and the $349,000 will actually be allocated to support General City Services and our corporate funds. We have been experiencing growth in our Equalized Assessed Value, which is really the tax base of the community. Back in 2018, for example, we had an EAV of about $79 million/ That represents about one-third of the total market value of all properties. Next year we are projecting that EAV to have grown to almost $93 million, which means a growth in our tax base. That is one of the indicators of the community’s wealth.”
Even though the City of Monmouth’s Tax Levy shows about at 4.9 percent increase, Steinbrecher informs the tax rate itself is projected to stay fairly stable. Currently the tax rate is $3.05 and next year is looking at $3.06.
Meanwhile, as part of a Resolution of Support and Commitment of Local Funds for a CDBG Grant by Monmouth City Council, City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher explains the sewer rates were increased slightly:
“We were also required by the state to increase our sewer rates, but we have also taken on a $1.6 million debt for the disinfection project out at the wastewater treatment plant. This is another unfunded state mandate. It is a $2.4 million project. We did get a loan from the Illinois EPA to finance that disinfection system and the state id forgiving $800,000 of that, leaving a $1.6 million loan that we will have to pay back. So, this increase in the sewer rates will be used to repay that debt. What it converts into is seven tenths of a penny increase in our sewer rate from 6.7 cents per cubic feet to 7.4 cents.”
The sewer rate increase was approved by Monmouth City Council.
