The City of Peoria has proposed a slight decrease in its property tax rate for next year, but many residents still may end up paying more.
In Tuesday’s first special meeting as part of the annual budget process, the Peoria City Council unanimously approved an estimated property tax levy totaling around $41 million, with a tax rate decrease of about one cent per $100 of equalized assessed value.
“It does increase the overall amount collected by the city equal to about $1.9 million more when you take all the aggregate levies into play,” said Finance Director Kyle Cratty, noting that bonds for the Peoria Public Library and Peoria Civic Center are not factored into the city portion of the levy for truth-in-taxation purposes.
“When you take those into account, the rate for both the city and the library will go down next year.”
The recommended budget revisions for the next fiscal year propose $348 million in spending, with $338 million in estimated revenue and approximately $10 million in use from the existing fund balance.
For truth-in-taxation calculations, the 2027 collectible property tax levy is estimated at almost $36.4 million, at a rate of $1.33. The city’s portion amounts to $29.4 million at a rate of $1.07.
In response to a question from Andre Allen, Cratty acknowledged that residents still are likely to see higher property tax bills.
“For individuals who are seeing increases in their property tax bills — if it is related to the city’s component, and I think that that is a component — it is due to the fact that their property values are actually increasing,” explained Cratty. “That is usually driven by comparable sales in their area, and just the overall sales growth and inflationary growth in Peoria.”
The vote on the estimated property tax levy and rate came during a more than 2.5-hour meeting that featured 10 city department heads giving overview presentations of their planned spending in the 2027 revisions to the biennial budget. The meeting also saw approval of a $1.4 million estimated property tax levy for Peoria Township.
Both the city’s and the township’s levies will require final approval prior to being filed in Peoria County. Those votes are targeted for Dec. 8, when the council is expected to adopt the revised budget.
