Famed broadcaster and entertainer Arthur Godfrey once said, “I am proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is I could be just as proud for half of the money.”
Over the past several years, soaring inflation and interest rates have made everything from groceries to housing more expensive, and this has created undue hardships for many people. Given the tough economic times we’re all facing, I’m very pleased to inform you that strong stewardship and an increase in the city’s overall Equalized Assessed Value (thanks to the casino and other new businesses) has allowed us to substantially reduce our property tax rate in recent years. Our 2019 city property tax rate (payable in 2020) was 2.29 while the 2023 rate (payable in 2024) is only 1.91. Although we didn’t quite make the halfway mark, we lowered our city property tax rate by 16.4%.
This information can be found on the Vermilion County Clerk’s website, under Property Tax info.
Since we all just received our property tax bills and I’m often asked questions about them, I want to walk you through how they’re calculated and break down why we pay what we do.
Periodically, Township Assessors place a Fair Market Value (FMV) on each property, which the County Assessor then divides by one-third to get your Equalized Assessed Value (EAV). If you receive any exemptions, such as those for homeowners, veterans, or people with disabilities, your EAV is then decreased by the statutorily permissible amount. Finally, the EAV is multiplied by the tax rate for each of the various taxing districts and added together to determine the total property tax you pay.
There are nine taxing districts in the city of Danville. The following seven are common to nearly every property owner. For context, I am placing the percentage (rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent) of my total tax bill paid to each next to the entity that receives it: Danville CCSD #118 (the school district – 49.3%), City of Danville (19.5%), Vermilion County (14.0%), DACC 507 (5.9%), Danville Road & Bridge (4.4%), the Conservation District (1.1%), and the Vermilion County Airport Authority (the Airport – 0.8%). Each of us also lives in one of three Townships: Blount, Danville or Newell. I live in Danville Township; therefore, it receives 5.1% of my property taxes. Danville Sanitary District is the 9th taxing body, but they do not currently levy a tax.
Property taxes in the city of Danville only fund the library and police and fire pensions. Last year, $2,134,923 went to the library and $4,781,851 went toward pensions. Additionally, the $2,972,744 in public safety pension fees collected as well as all the cannabis tax and 80% of all casino revenue (a combined total of $2,172,198) went toward additional pension payments. These additional payments have resulted in the police and fire pensions being 6.3% and 9.3% better funded than they were five years ago.
So, you may be wondering, “If the city tax rate has gone down, why have my property taxes gone up?”
Increases likely came about in one of three ways. First, your Township Assessor may have increased the value of your property. This happened to a lot of folks throughout Vermilion County this year. Second, you may have lost an exemption because you failed to renew it. This may be easily remedied by working with the County Assessor. Third, one or more of the other taxing bodies may have increased their tax rate. For example, the Vermilion County Board recently voted 10-8 to increase its property tax levy by 4.99%.
Finally, you may find yourself asking, “If our property taxes only pay for the pensions and the library, how does the city fund other services it provides?”
There are two primary ways. One is through fees that residents pay for items like sewer and garbage collection. The second is through various taxes received, such as a portion of the state income and sales taxes. Given that sales tax is one of our largest sources of revenue, the best way to ensure that your money improves our community is by shopping locally. This provides funds to improve our quality of life while helping our local businesses and their employees not only survive but thrive.
Strong stewardship helps us keep our property tax rate lower and shopping locally helps us make Danville an even better place to live, work, invest, and play.