Algonquin Lowers Tax Levy

Thanks to healthy retail sales and additional revenue from new intergovernmental agreements, Algonquin is asking for fewer taxpayer dollars next fiscal year.

Algonquin is lowering its tax levy by 1.1 percent to $5.575 million, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your property taxes will go down.

Jack Walde, finance director for Algonquin, said that a decrease in Algonquin’s property tax levy is not a guaranteed drop in your property tax bill because of the appeals process. Since taxing bodies are guaranteed a set dollar amount, if one homeowner is successful in getting the assessed value reduced, those that don’t appeal pick up the reduction.

In other words, if your neighbor gets a decrease and you don’t, your taxes might increase.

Since the village of Algonquin taxes account for just 7 percent of the tax bill, the average homeowner’s overall reduction would be minimal. Still, taking into consideration the current economic climate, village Manager Bill Ganek said that the village has not asked for an increase in the past three years.

Walde said that 34 percent of Algonquin’s revenue each year comes from property taxes.