The city of East Peoria will keep its property tax levy unchanged for 2025.
That means existing property owners will actually pay a little less to the city, because newly assessed properties will now be taking on a bit of the burden to get the city to its $5.9 million tax collection.
But as Mayor John Kahl notes, the city is just one of ten taxing bodies East Peoria residents will see on their property tax bills.
"The city always gets raked over the coals when people get their property tax bills every year, because they go up substantially in East Peoria. That is no fault of the city," he said. "We've towed the line for decades, 30 years, if not more, and we're hoping to set a positive example by keeping the tax levy dollar amount the same, which will absolutely decrease the tax rate. So I'm hoping other taxing bodies follow suit."
School districts traditionally make up the largest proportion of an overall property tax bill in Illinois. Commissioner Mark Hill said he believes East Peoria Grade School District 86 and East Peoria Community High School District 309 appear to be taking a similar course based on presentations at their November school board meetings.
"They're holding the line at their tax levy, and effectively should be lowering their tax amount as well based on the expected increased assessment," he said.
Maximum price set with construction manager for new Camp Street police station
East Peoria is locking in a maximum price of just under $21.6 million for the city's new police station.
The city council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the agreement with River City Construction. Mayor John Kahl said the project is long overdue.
"We're going to be scratching some dirt here yet this month on this it'll be a two story building, just under 41,000 square feet of what I call functional space. Not one square inch will be wasted on this building," he said.
The new police station on Camp Street will create a new, dedicated space for the police department, which currently shares a building with the fire department on West Washington Street.
"The new police station will provide so many things that will be better for our department," said commissioner Dan Decker. "Chain of evidence, just housing of people that they need to house for a short period of time. It is nice that we're finally able to get to a point of doing this for many reasons."
The new building is set for completion in 2026.
