Lake County Gazette

The Waukegan Finance Committee has recommended the approval of a proposed aggregate tax levy of $33.98 million for the 2023 tax year. The recommendation was made during the committee's meeting on Oct. 16. The Waukegan City Council Finance & Purchasing Committee made the recommendation, and it is expected to be finalized at the City Council's meeting on Nov. 6.

According to the Illinois Truth in Taxation Act, the city is required to estimate its proposed aggregate tax levy at least 20 days before adopting it by ordinance. The City Council will take final action to adopt the tax levy for the 2023 tax year at its upcoming meeting.

In a subsequent meeting, the Waukegan City Council approved the determination of the proposed aggregate tax levy, which includes debt service, at a total of $37.3 million. This figure is consistent with the 2022 funding across nine categories.

The breakdown of the tax levy shows that the Police Pension fund contribution will increase slightly to $10.35 million. The Fire Pension contribution will rise by nearly 5% to $8.51 million. Refuse Collection will see the most significant increase of almost 11% to $6 million, while the Library will receive $4.7 million again in 2023. Capital Projects, on the other hand, will see a decrease of 14.4% to just under $2 million.

In the 2022 Tax Distribution, the city of Waukegan had a share of 24.85% with a tax rate of 2.4296. The Waukegan Community Unit School District No. 60 had the largest portion of the tax distribution at 51.2% and a tax rate of 5.0024.

Overall, the Finance Committee's recommendation of a $33.98 million aggregate tax levy for the 2023 tax year will now move forward for final approval by the Waukegan City Council.