Despite council handwringing, Woodstock OKs property tax levy increase

Woodstock residents can expect to pay a little more on their city taxes next year.

Woodstock City Council members approved the property tax levy Tuesday evening and opted to take the maximum they could.

Because the city has home rule status, it’s not subject to the property tax cap, but the city imposed that limit on itself when it became home rule in 2016.

City documents indicate the 3.4% levy increase the city approved was to pay for “unavoidable increases” to the police pension fund and other government funds.

A home worth $200,000 in Woodstock paid about $945 in city taxes last year, while a home worth that much this year can expect to pay about $1,054 next year under the new levy, according to city documents.

City council member Melissa McMahon said during the levy discussion Tuesday she was worried that hardworking people are being priced out of town, not just by the city but other taxing bodies. McMahon noted the city had raised water and sewer rates and mentioned the recently approved garbage contract.

Woodstock this past spring raised water and sewer rates 12.5%. A residential customer using about 2,200 cubic feet saw an increase from $180 per quarter to $202 per quarter. The city cited unfunded Environmental Protection Agency mandates as a reason for the increase.

Mayor Mike Turner mentioned the unfunded mandates during the meeting Tuesday, saying if anyone has concerns with their water and sewer rates, they should write to their state and federal lawmakers. He said the impact of Illinois and federal EPA on Woodstock infrastructure requirements were just starting and require the city to spend millions of dollars.

“We can’t ignore those requirements,” Turner said.

The mayor said the biggest problem a lot of people have, himself included, is with the “outrageous” property taxes in the state. He said that had to do with a lot of factors the city can’t control. He said he sees the complaints about higher taxes online gets people’s frustration. He said the City Council didn’t “like high taxes either, but we also have to deal in the reality of city operations and the demand for roads and we had to make a decision.”

Woodstock instituted a road program in 2021. It involved the city issuing about $56 million in bonds, and the total impact after year four of the program was an extra $226 in city taxes. There is one more year of the program.

Council member Bob Seegers said one of the main reasons he got on the council in 2021 was because he was disenchanted with the quality of the roads in town and where the city was spending and not spending money.

He said the decision to do the road program was made in 2021 because that was residents' top concern, and said he would bet it was still residents' No.-1 concern.

“You can’t spend on the wishlist when you have priorities” in infrastructure, Seegers said.

He said his criticism of past councils was the city not spending on infrastructure and instead spending on “luxury items.” He said he was a proponent on cutting spending on those luxury items.

Turner said the city didn’t take the increases allowed under the tax cap from 2010 to 2020, and even cut its share of property taxes 10% in 2017. Turner said in hindsight, the city maybe should have started taking the allowable amount under the tax cap around 2014 or 2015.

Council member Darrin Flynn said in those 10 years, the city wasn’t improving and maintaining streets and wasn’t buying equipment such as dump trucks and sludge haulers.

Now, Flynn said, “we’re playing catch-up.”

McMahon said many people aren’t getting an inflation increase in their wages.

“We can’t just go through it and be like, ‘Yep, fine.’ Like, ‘We need to hear your explanation,’” McMahon said.

Arlene Lynes, owner of Read Between the Lynes local bookstore, said during public comments that there are a lot of city services residents don’t take advantage of.

She asked about a gas tax earmarked for the roads.

City Manager Roscoe Stelford said the gas tax revenues was used to cover the debt service payment for the first year of the road program.

She said that as the water and tax bills go up for the property owners, those increases are going to be passed on to business owners who rent, like herself.

“In some regards, we’re making increases that perhaps [some] of our businesses are not going to remain sustainable,” Lynes said.

Despite the concerns expressed, ultimately, the levy increase passed the City Council unanimously.