School Board Sets Tax Levy for Next Year

The West Washington County Community Unit School Board set the anticipated tax levy payable in 2020-21 during the meeting Thursday night.

As in past years, the district requested a nine percent increase over last year’s budget, even though the increase will be around two percent due to Washington County being a Property Tax Extension Law Limit (PTELL) county.

According to superintendent Scott Fuhrhop, the reason the board asks for the higher amount is to capture new revenues resulting from an unforeseen spike in property values.

PTELL counties are not allowed to raise taxes more than 1.9 times the consumer price index, or by more than 4.99 percent.

“I always tell people that it does not mean taxes go up nine percent, since they won’t go up by more than 1.9 percent,” Fuhrhop said. “The idea is that if property values increased substantially and we did not ask for the higher amount, we would miss out on capturing that increased revenue.”

In addition to the setting the anticipated levy, the board set the time for the public hearing around the levy for December 19 at 7:15 p.m.

To read full coverage of the Board Meeting, pick up this week’s issue.