The Lee County Board approved its 2025 property tax levy and fiscal 2026 budget Thursday in almost unanimous votes.

The county’s 2025 property tax rate is set at 82.42 cents per $100 of equalized assessed value, up from the 2024 rate of 79.46 cents. Officials expect that it will result in an estimated bill increase of $13.03 for a home valued at $150,000, according to the approved tax ordinance.

The total 2025 tax levy request is $9,904,565, which is $441,506, or 4.67%, more than what was levied for 2024, according to the ordinance.

The fiscal 2026 budget is balanced, meaning the county plans on spending the same amount of money it takes in, as required by state law, according to the approved budget ordinance.

The board voted Oct. 23 to place both ordinances on file, which is standard practice for all ordinances to allow residents to voice their opinions.

At Thursday’s meeting, all present board members voted to approve the budget, and all except board member Mike Koppien voted to approve the tax levy. Board members Chris Norberg, Mike Book and Jennifer Dallas were absent.

Lee County property owners: what it means for you

Property taxes are billed using the 2025 calendar year from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 and are payable in fiscal 2026, which is what the budget is built using. For Lee County, fiscal 2026 runs from Dec. 1 to Nov. 30, 2026, Lee County Financial Director Reid Mitchell told Shaw Local.

The amount billed to individual properties is calculated using a taxing body’s rate and the property’s equalized assessed value, which is determined by multiple numbers related to the value of a property, Mitchell said.

A resident’s bill “could go up or down depending on how your assessed value changed,” Mitchell said.

Lee County is only part – usually about 10% – of the total amount billed to a property, Mitchell said.

“There are multiple other taxing bodies that we have no control over. They set their own levies,” Mitchell said.

For example, on a Dixon property owner’s bill, about 54% would be from Dixon Public Schools District 170, about 24% from the city, about 9% from Lee County, about 5% from the Dixon Park District, about 4% from Sauk Valley Community College, and about 4% from Dixon Township and its road district, Dixon Finance Director Becky Leslie told Shaw Local.

Mitchell encouraged residents to speak with county officials if they have questions or concerns about their bill.

“We are doing our best to look at the impact to our residential tax base, and we’re trying to limit that as much as possible,” Lee County Administrator Jeremy Englund told Shaw Local.

For information, call 815-288-5676.