School Board Approves 2021 Tax Levy

By Travis Volz

The West Washington County Unit District 10 approved the 2021 tax levy following a hearing last Tuesday.

The levy was increased by 8.05 percent over last year, but that does not mean taxes will increase by that amount on next year’s tax bills.

“Washington County is a PTEL county, which means tax rates can only go up by 4.99 percent without voter approval,” said superintendent Keith Senior. “We levy more because we don’t know how much property values will go up.”

PTEL is the Property Tax Extension Law, which limits the amount that taxes can be raised to five percent without approval from taxpayers.

Senior explained that if property values do go up, taxing bodies can only tax that increased value in that year. 

“We’re levying at 8 percent to capture potential revenue, but realistically tax rates will be under 5 percent because of PTEL,” said Board President Kurt Heckert.

Read the full story in this week’s issue