An estimated $8.9 million proposed tax levy, after about $300 million in anticipated abatements, received favorable support from the DeKalb City Council this week.

A tax levy is a tool that determines how much money a governing body will collect in property taxes each year. Other measures that contribute to the funding formula include the equalized assessed valuation of the taxing body and the tax rate.

The levy makes for an estimated 7% increase for the city over the prior year’s aggregate extension of about $8.3 million. Under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law, the city is limited to a 5% increase, the consumer price index or the rate of inflation, whichever is less, plus new construction.

Mayor Cohen Barnes touted the city’s efforts to maintain the prior year’s tax rate.

For levy year 2025, the tax rate remains 0.62, city documents show.

“We’ve been doing an incredible job, if not a Herculean job, on doing our part to drive the overall tax rate down to, I’m going to say, competitive in the region,” Barnes said.

But the city won’t have a final EAV at its disposal until March. At that point, if that final determination is lower than the prior year’s extension, the tax rate will increase in response, city documents show.

City Manager Bill Nicklas said the estimated EAV for 2025 taxes payable to the city in 2026 is $1.44 billion.

EAV is defined as the taxable value of property within a taxing body. Municipal leaders set levies based on assumptions about property value.

In keeping with how the tax levy is calculated, properties tend to be assessed at one-third of their value. That means a $300,000 home would have an assessed value of $100,000.

The latest levy proposal calls for a tax bill of $941.92 for a DeKalb resident who owns a home with a 2025 EAV of $157,229. For levy year 2024, that same homeowner paid $850.67.

As in past years, DeKalb city leaders touted substantial industrial growth on the city’s south side as a reason for taxpayer savings.

City officials have said large corporate builds, such as Meta’s DeKalb Data Center and an Amazon sorting facility, have allowed the municipality to collect more property tax money while lowering tax rates for DeKalb residents.

Since 2022, Meta has paid more than $46.3 million in property taxes to DeKalb city taxing bodies, records show. That includes about $3.8 million to the city, $4.6 million to the county and about $28.6 million to DeKalb School District 428, city documents show. In order to entice Meta to build in DeKalb, however, local governing bodies also cut a deal to give the social media and tech giant a 20-year, 55% property tax abatement.

Barnes said the city has done its part to make sure that taxpayers pay less.

Nicklas said the tax rate must be met in accordance with actuarial assumptions to help ensure that the city can meet its pension obligations.

The city, however, could have faced a $1.8 million shortfall, city documents show.

Nicklas said the city plans to shore up its pension obligations by using general fund revenues other than property taxes.

Barnes noted that some local taxing bodies are continuing efforts to lower their tax rates. They include the DeKalb Public Library and District 428, he said.

Dating back to 2019, the city has maintained a track record of lowering its tax rate from one year to the next, city documents show.

This is not the case in tax levy year 2025, however.

Still, Barnes lauded the proposed levy and what it aims to accomplish by maintaining the previous year’s tax rate.

“I don’t see a reason to deviate from any recommendation the city’s manager is making on this levy,” Barnes said.

Nicklas echoed that sentiment, saying that reducing the city’s tax rate year after year is difficult.

“We’re trying to set an example,” Nicklas said. “... It takes a lot of that every year to move the needle. We paid more than the price for that.”

The City Council ultimately reached a consensus during the meeting to support the city manager’s recommendation.

Last week, the city’s finance advisory committee also provided a positive recommendation of the proposal.

The city’s tentative tax levy will be finalized at a later date. A formal City Council vote is expected in November. Then, the city must submit the final levy to the county by the last Tuesday in December.