Ogle County taxpayers could see small drop in property tax bills next year

OREGON – Taxpayers in Ogle County could see about a 0.4-cent drop per $100 on their property tax bills next year if the proposed county budget is approved Nov. 19.

The Ogle County Board Finance Committee is recommending a property tax rate of 69 cents per $100 equalized assessed value for fiscal 2025. The 2024 rate is 69.4 cents per $100 EAV.

Ogle County’s estimated EAV – one-third of the value of all the property in the county – rose to $2,072,246,529. It’s an increase of more than $101 million over the 2023 EAV.

“That’s a large amount, and that is the primary driver of what changed the tax structure in terms of the increases in revenue,” Finance Committee Chair Jeff Billeter said during the county’s Oct. 28 budget hearing.

The proposed 2024 property tax levy is $14,294,200. That’s an increase of $607,133 from the amount levied in 2023.

Proposed appropriations to more than 80 funds total $63,680,582, which includes the almost $14.3 million property tax.

The county’s largest fund is the General Fund, to which the Finance Committee is proposing an appropriation of $19,183,051, which is a 5.5% increase from fiscal 2024.

The revenue, which includes $5,595,000 of property tax levy, is expected to result in a surplus of $375,949 in the General Fund at the end of the year, Billeter said. The total expected General Fund revenue is $19,559,000, he said.

Department heads were asked to reduce their non-salary budgets by 10% for fiscal 2025, Billeter said.

“They did a great job with that, and it made a huge difference in the General Fund,” he said.

Some of the other funds that will receive part of their revenue from property tax levy dollars include the County Highway Fund ($1.98 million), IMRF Fund ($1.4 million), Mental Health Fund ($1,101,280), Federal Aid Matching Fund ($990,000), Social Security Fund ($950,000), Insurance Premium Levy Fund ($775,000), County Bridge Fund ($650,000), War Veterans Fund ($394,340), Senior Social Services Fund ($294,500), Co-Operative Extension Fund ($130,000) and the TB Care and Treatment Fund ($34,080).

The Ogle County Board next meets at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 19 on the third floor of the Ogle County Courthouse, 105 S. Fifth St., Oregon.

The proposed budget can be viewed at bit.ly/3f9Uuvd or by visiting OgleCountyIL.gov and looking under the “County” tab along the top of the webpage, and clicking on “Transparency.”