The Aurora City Council last week approved a $92.5 million property tax levy for taxes payable in 2025, which is roughly a $4.3 million – or 4.87% – increase over last year’s levy.
However, despite the increase in the dollar amount of the levy, the city’s property tax rate is expected to fall to its lowest amount since 2009 because of the increase in the city’s overall equalized assessed value due to rising property values, new growth and the dissolution of Tax Increment Financing District 3, officials have said.
While the city won’t know the exact change in assessed value until March or April 2025, the property tax rate for the city should be falling to around $1.67 for each $100 of assessed value from about $1.69 for each $100 of assessed value, officials said.
City estimates show that this would lead to a roughly $87 increase in the city’s portion of the tax bill on a $300,000 house, Aurora Chief Financial Officer Chris Minick said at a special City Council meeting earlier this month where the 2025 city budget was approved.
Money from the property tax levy increase is going toward two main areas – the construction of public buildings and increases to state-mandated pension fund contributions for the fire and police departments, according to Minick.
He said at a City Council Finance Committee meeting in November that the debt levy will be increasing by around $1.75 million to partially pay for the cost of constructing the new Public Works facility on the far East Side and three fire stations. In total, these four buildings will cost around $100 million, he said.
This increase to the debt levy is the first since 2005, Minick said at the time.
Meanwhile, the portion of the property tax levy going toward the city’s general fund, which is the city’s basic operating fund, will go down by around $466,000, or almost 1%, over last year’s levy, officials said.
The city’s property tax levy represents about 33% of the city’s general fund income budgeted for 2025, according to past reporting. The rest comes from sales and gas taxes, food and beverage tax, hotel tax and building permits.
The Aurora City Council voted 10-2 to approve the tax levy at its Dec. 10 meeting, with Alds. John Laesch, at large, and Ted Mesiacos, 3rd Ward, voting against it.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
