Madison County voters will vote on lowering their top tax rate. Here’s what it means
Madison County taxpayers will vote on lowering the county’s maximum tax rate on the November ballot, but as it stands, it’s unlikely much will change for taxpayers come tax time if the referendum passes.
The county board voted nearly unanimously Wednesday night to approve placing a referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot that, if passed, would lower the county’s maximum property tax rate from .20% to .18%.
If approved, the cut would be the county’s second in five years but won’t affect taxpayers immediately because the current tax rate stands at .163. The county’s maximum levy under the current rate is $10,718,535.26. The maximum levy under the proposed rate would be $9,646,681.73.
Due to the county’s current rate being below the proposed cap, taxpayers wouldn’t see a change in their property tax bills come tax time if the current rate remained unchanged at .163%.
The county estimates it will collect $450 million in property taxes in 2020, roughly $30 million of which goes back to the county government.
Before the vote, county board members debated the referendum’s effectiveness and its possible repercussions. Democrats Matthew King of East Alton, and Michael Parkinson of Granite City, expressed concerns about what effects lowering the maximum tax rate could have if the economy were to slump or a major job provider like U.S. Steel, which is located in Granite City, were to close.
Parkinson said, if approved, the new tax rate could handicap the county and shrink its financial reserve. However, he went on to vote in favor of the referendum.
“For a city like Granite City, all it takes is one thing like the steel mill going down or our taxes going down and we’d have to look to the county for some type of assistance in our time of need,” Parkinson said, calling the referendum a political ploy.
“This referendum is going to give voters a false pretense it’s going to save them a lot of money,” he added.
Republican Ray Wesley said calling the referendum a political ploy was a political ploy in itself and that the decision should be presented to taxpayers.
“We need to allow the voters to decide what their maximum tax rate should be. I understand we have the responsibility of setting budgets and we’ve got the responsibility of managing the expenses but this is a taxpayer issue and this should be on the ballot for us to decide, not for 29 of us to make a unilateral decision on whether or not or tax base should be capped.”
Democrat Chris Hankins, Pontoon Beach, worried about the effect the ongoing COVID-19 crisis might play into the county’s budget. He said with rumors of a multi-million deficit due to the pandemic, he’s concerned county department heads would have to make cutbacks.
“If there wasn’t COVID, I would say no problem,” he said. “But with COVID you have to ask yourself what the next few months look like.”
Board Republicans were largely in favor of the referendum, citing the opinion of County Treasurer Chris Slusser and County Auditor Rick Faccin who at a meeting of the Finance & Government Operations Committee last week said the referendum would be fiscally safe.
Faccin was muted on the teleconference call by County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler after requesting to speak on the topic. Prenzler said Faccin was “out of order.”
Thursday morning Democrat Bob Daiber, who is running against Prenzler in the November election, said the referendum is a “do-nothing resolution,” and called for “real” property tax relief and not rhetoric.
Democrat Michael “Doc” Holliday, Alton, was the lone no vote on the referendum.
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 11:33 AM.