The Coal City School District 1 Board approved a tentative tax levy for 2026 during its November meeting, expecting a 21.77% increase over last year.

The district is seeking to collect $39.5 million in property taxes, according to a news release. The levy is calculated on the equalized assessed value of the district and, as of Oct. 30, the Grundy County Assessor’s Office estimated that value to be $1.4 billion, with a rate setting EAV at just over $990 million. That $990 million figure accounts for exemptions and tax increment financing adjustments.

Notably, $520 million of that $990 million is attributed to Constellation’s Dresden Nuclear Generating Station, and it was determined by a negotiated agreement between the company and seven local taxing bodies, according to the release.

Chief Business Official Jason Smith shared two scenarios with the school board: one assuming no change in the assessed value of the GE-Hitachi Nuclear energy facility in Goose Lake Township, and another reflecting an increase in the site’s value above the current $6.13 million evaluation.

“For the last four years, we have filed tax objections against the valuation,” Smith said. “What the levy represents is one that places additional value – about $200 million more – than what the board of review has traditionally placed on GE-Hitachi. That figure is based on an appraisal commissioned by the school district and six other public bodies that receive tax payments from that site. That is what we believe to be the true value of the facility, and that will be our argument before the board of review.”

Smith said the tentative levy positions the district to capture any additional value that might be assigned to the GE-Hitachi property.

“If the board of review should rule in our favor, we will be able to capture that portion of the EAV,” Smith said. “Remember, this is a mechanism for us to be able to capture the value that we are arguing for with respect to the GE-Hitachi facility.”

Located on Collins Road in Goose Lake Township, the GE-Hitachi facility houses 17 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel, the majority of which is shipped to the site from nuclear facilities in California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Nebraska, according to the release. It is the only high-level nuclear waste storage site in the country.

The district first objected to the valuation of the GE-Hitachi site in 2021, when the board of review adjusted its EAV from $3.2 million to $6.13 million. The district is again filing another objection and appealed to the Illinois Property Tax Appeals Board for the 2021-24 tax years.

District 1 Superintendent Chris Spencer said the levy filing does not mean a 22% tax increase for residents.

“Taxes are not going up 22%,” Spencer said. “The proposed increase simply ensures the district can capture any additional dollars if our valuation appeal is successful.”

Smith said the final levy can be adjusted before its official adoption, and a truth in taxation hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3. The final levy must be approved and filed with the county clerk before the third Tuesday in December.