One of our snowplow operators was stopped by a Peoria Heights citizen the other day, and he was told, "We gotta get ourselves a new mayor. Our taxes are too high." Now, mind you, this statement was made by one of the Peoples Party trustee candidates in the upcoming election; but, more importantly, the statement is really politicized without anything to back it up. However, I'm betting it will be one of the headlines in the newest Peoples Party "literature."
First, the only item that we have any control of, regarding the property taxes in the Village is listed as "Peo Hts" on your real estate tax bill. If you have yours handy, you might want to check it out. For our home's 2009 real estate taxes, our total tax due was $3,528.40. Of that amount, the "Peo Hts" figure was a staggering $52.53. For the 2008 tax bill, the "Peo Hts" figure was $52.02. This is an unbelievable increase of 51 cents over the previous year. To make things even more convoluted, the "Peo Hts" rate for 2007 was $53.34; and for 2006, it was $63.08. So, actually, the "Peo Hts" section of the tax bill, the one that we have control have, has decreased by $10.55 on our tax bill, from 2006.
Should we take credit for that? There are formulas and other things that go into what comes into the Village through property taxes, many which are applied by the County, and in the end, it is what it is. The Peoples Party trustee candidate appears to be a bit mixed up regarding what effect the mayor has on the imagined tax "increase," but also on the actual tax "decrease." You might want to keep that in mind when you receive your handy-dandy Peoples Party circular in a couple months or so.
Several weeks ago, we had to have a "Truth in Taxation" meeting at Village Hall, as the total rate for the increase in Heights property taxes was going to exceed the allowed "under 5%" figure. This gets a bit confusing, but the bottom line is that the Village can increase its tax rate, at least on the surface level, at just under 5%, per year, without having a "Truth in Taxation" meeting. The Village has done this for decades, with an increase of just under 5%; and thus avoiding these special meetings.
Even with these surface level "increases," the actual tax rates can go down from year to year; the Village tax rate was .16983 in 2006, and then went down to .14227 in 2007, then down to .13523 in 2008, and down again to .13415 in 2009. In actuality, the Village tax rates have continued going down over the past years, even though the "surface level" Village rates go up by just under 5% each year. So, in other words, taxes do not necessarily go up just because of this. However, the past two years we have had to have these "Truth in Taxation" meetings, due to the Peoria Heights library requesting more than their allotted 5%. These "Truth in Taxation" ads are in the Journal Star, and look very imposing and daunting; and the language does not spell out WHY the special meeting is needed. For a number of reasons, most of which would be logical because of the economy and such, the library has found itself behind what it needs to maintain its services. Because the Village collects the money FOR the library through the property taxes, it is the Village's name that shows up as the requester for the increased funding. However, it is completely library-needs driven.
For the benefit of the Peoples Party trustee candidate, the mayor and trustees of Peoria Heights have no control over the taxes going to Peoria County; ICC; Great Peoria Airport Authority; Library; Peoria Park District; Richwoods Township; and the Peoria Heights School District. We are legally bound to pay a certain percentage into the Police Pension fund. The Pension Fund amount is set up by the Illinois Department of Insurance. We can add MORE to that, and possibly will have to in the future; but that's it. I'm sure that he has a whole bunch of other reasons to come up with a "new mayor," but the "too much taxes" argument seems to be a bit of a stretch, it would appear.
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