The St. Charles City Council on Dec. 5 approved a $20 million proposed tax levy for 2016. The sum represents the total estimated city taxes for property owners next spring.
The city will submit its proposed levy to the county this month. The amount is consistent with 2015 city property taxes.
Before issuing property tax bills in the spring, the county will determine St. Charles' final property tax total based on actual 2016 new property growth. If the city's estimate of property growth is correct, the city property tax rate will decline from 99 to 88 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation – or EAV, said Chris Minnick, city finance director.
At $1.37 billion, the city's 2016 EAV estimate of property in St. Charles is slightly higher than the $1.32 billion actually assessed for 2015.
The city portion of property taxes is about 9.6 percent of the total county tax bills. The greatest portion of property taxes is for public schools.
New massage business licenses
Also during the Dec. 5 meeting, the city council approved two new massage establishment licenses. One was for Summer Spa, to be located at 1550 E. Main St., and the other was for Mixology Spa, an existing business at 116 W. Main St.
Fourth Ward Alderman Jo Krieger voted against issuing the licenses.
“We've had too many problems in the past. I'm opposed to it,” Krieger said.
Krieger noted massage license violations earlier this year in St. Charles and an alleged violation Dec. 1 at a Batavia massage business. The Batavia incident led to a prostitution arrest.
The St. Charles City Council next meets at 7 p.m. Dec. 19.