The DeKalb community is seeing meaningful property tax relief with the average homeowner paying over $300 less this year.
Property tax bills arrived in the mail late last week. Those bills show the City’s aggregate rate, which is the total of the rates of all the taxing bodies, dropped by $1.45 per $100 of equalized assessed valuation (EAV). That means the owner of a home with an EAV of around $145,000 will pay $338 less In property taxes compared to last year.
The City of DeKalb’s portion of the bill alone fell by $116 for the same home.
City leaders have made it a goal to use the exponential economic development happening on the southside to drive down taxes, while still leaving new revenue for services, and have encouraged other taxing bodies to do the same.
The City is one of three taxing bodies that delivered out-of-pocket tax relief of more than $100. Property taxes to the DeKalb School District fell $165 for a home with an EAV of $145,000, while the DeKalb Park District lowered taxes by $102. Overall, half of the taxing bodies provided tax relief, with the DeKalb Public Library, DeKalb Township and Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District also lowering their tax bills.
A detailed breakdown of property taxes since 2019 can be found here.
Please note, each property tax bill is different. For example, a homeowner may have seen a smaller decline if their property was reassessed or an improvement was made to the home, increasing its value.