School Board Holding Public Hearing on Tax Levy Increase

West Washington County Unit District 10 School Board will hold a public hearing about the proposed property tax levy increase on Thursday, December 19 at 7:15 p.m.

The proposed levy for the next fiscal year will include a nine percent increase over last year, but that does not mean property tax rates will rise by nine percent.

“This is something we do every year knowing full well that property taxes will not go up by nine percent,” said Superintendent Scott Fuhrhop said.

Washington County is under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL), which limits the amount of tax extensions.

Under PTELL, taxing bodies are not allowed to increase property tax rates by more than 1.9 times the consumer price index or 4.99 percent without voter approval.

The reason for the requested levy increase of nine percent is to allow for the capture of additional revenue if real estate valuations increase unexpectedly.

“We ask for nine percent every year because if land values go up because of a new development or something like that, we only have one chance to capture that revenue, since we are basing the levies on the previous years’ valuations,” Fuhrhop said.

The total amount in property tax extensions in 2018 was just over $3 million, so District 10 is proposing an levy of $3.32 million for 2019.

The monthly board meeting will follow the public hearing at 7:30 p.m. next Thursday in the conference room at Okawville Junior Senior High School.