Will taxes keep pace with increases?
By Julie Arbach Valuations have gone up for most cities in the county, with increases ranging from one percent in Ruso to 17 percent in Underwood. Three cities, Benedict, Butte and Coleharbor showed a decrease of less than one percent. Will taxes follow at the same rate? McLean County Auditor/Treasurer Les Korgel said the verdict isn’t in yet, as some entities have yet to submit their budgets to the county. But, he did say taxes don’t necessarily increase at the same rate as valuations. Korgel said there are two pieces to the puzzle. "One is the valuation of property and the other is the amount of money that the tax districts need," said Korgel. "If the taxing entities don’t request anymore than last year, or even request less than last year, your taxes could possibly go down, even though your valuation went up." Two areas where that scenario doesn’t apply are the state levy or Garrison Diversion, which are statutory mills. Those mills remain the same regardless of the value of a mill, so if valuation increases, that amount will go up.
