The Vermilion County Board has approved a new budget and tax levy covering the fiscal-year 2023-2024. But the new levy was approved in a close vote with ten board members voting in favor and eight against it. There were seven board members absent and two vacancies.
The vote came after Terry Quick, a citizen living along Greenwood Cemetery Road, complained about a jump in his taxes….
Audio Player{AUDIO: “My taxes, the assessed valuation of this went up 80-percent in one year. I don’t see where you have a reason to do that…80-percent in one year. I’ve got a neighbor to the north of me – his went up 101-percent. A neighbor to the south of me went up 90-percent.”}
Quick feels his neighborhood was singled-out for higher taxes…
Audio Player{AUDIO: “I’ve asked several people from the surrounding area – ‘Did your taxes go up?’ And they look at me like they’re dumbfounded. Catlin, Oakwood, Westville, Bismarck – several people that I’ve asked.”}
Quick says he was told property in his area had been re-assessed.
Estimated expenditures in the county’s new budget for FY 2023-24 total $53-million, 210-thousand dollars…compared to $47-million, 600-thousand dollars during this fiscal year. The overall assessed valuation of property in Vermilion County rose from one-billion, eighty-five million, 284-thousand dollars in Fiscal Year 2022-23 to one-billion, one-hundred-ninety-three thousand dollars in FY 2023-24.
The overall levy amount of $17-million, 171-thousand dollars is up from $16-million, 284-thousand dollars for the current fiscal year.
Also during their meeting, the County Board gained two new members.
(In the photo Lon Henderson – on left – is sworn-in by Judge Mark Goodwin. McMahon was unable to attend the meeting but the Board approved his appointment as well.)
Lon Henderson of Danville replaces Tom Morse who moved out of his district. And Jim McMahon is filling the vacancy created by the recent death of board member Bruce Stark.
