By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current

ROCKFORD — The city will collect roughly the same amount in property taxes next year, marking the ninth straight year it has either reduced its levy or left it flat.

City Council members on Monday passed a 2022 budget with general fund operating expenses of $181.5 million and a property tax levy of $47.1 million, when factoring out the township road and bridge portion of the levy.

We are doing more with less here at the city of Rockford to ensure that we drop down our property taxes,” Mayor Tom McNamara said in an interview with Steve Summers during This Week in the Stateline on 95.3 The Bull, a partner with the Rock River Current. There is “still more work to be done, and we’re going to continue to vow not to increase our property taxes.”

The overall tax rate that most city residents pay dropped from 15.26 in 2015 – the highest ever – to 12.86 last year. It’s expected to decline again this year, but the final calculation isn’t made by the Winnebago County Clerk’s Office until April. How your bill changes will depend largely on how the assessed value of your home changed year to year.

“By not taking the maximum allowed on our levy, we have left $17 million in property taxes in the hands of our residents and our business owners in just the last five years,” McNamara said in a news release.

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What to expect on your property tax bill

The city is one of 11 taxing bodies that make up most Rockford homeowners’ bills each year. Its portion of the tax rate is expected to drop from 2.79 last year to 2.68 this year.

That means the owner of a $100,000 home would pay about $733 in taxes to the city. Last year, the owner of a $100,000 home paid $764 for the city’s portion of the tax bill. The total bill to all taxing bodies was roughly $3,515 when accounting for the homeowner’s exemption but no other deductions.

What you pay this year will depend on how much the value of your home changes. The taxable value of property in the city increased 5.8% this year, pending any changes made during assessment challenges before the board of review. So, if your $100,000 home had the average increase it would now be worth $105,800, and you would pay about $785 on your city’s portion of the bill, a $21 increase from last year.

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 This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.