First the city, then the county and school district and even townships. Local units of government are approving their property tax levies. The results are both predictable and frustrating.
Social media, seemingly the preferred form of communication among the younger crowd these days, contains plenty of complaints about the increasing level of taxation local units of government are approving. The city improved a 7% increase in its preliminary levy for 2026. Scott County OK’d a 9.97% increase in its preliminary levy for the year to come. We’ve yet to hear what the school district is planning for its base levy. We all know the district is asking taxpayers to approve additional per-student local aid.
Hopefully, local units of government will find ways to lower their proposed levies and minimize the impact upon taxpayers. No matter what some of the most ardent cynics might want folks to believe, elected councilors and commissioners aren’t immune to the tax levies they set.
While desiring a reasonable level of taxation is to be expected, in the case of counties, nobody should be surprised. The cost shifts from the state down to its 87 counties is in part the result of the GOP making good on its promises to reduce federal spending. In the case of Scott County, the concerns include the mandates the state places on the county yet declines to fully fund.
But this is nothing new. Scott County has been complaining about unfunded mandates for years. The New Prague School District is also unhappy with legislation the state passed and then sent the bill to local units of government to pay.
A portion of the impact taxpayers face comes from the notion their property’s value increases, and thus so does the taxes it generates for the city, school district, county and township. A property worth $1 million logically generates more tax revenue than a starter home worth $250,000.
And yet the people who live in both houses utilize local government services. When it snows, they both want the streets plowed efficiently. Should they need to call the police, they both want an officer in their driveway not long after hanging up the phone. They both want clean parks and good schools for their children. They want the library open when it is most convenient for them. If their parents need assistance through county human services, they want those services provided at a minimal cost.
But as we all know, nothing comes for free these days. The snowplow driver, the patrol officer, the public works employee, the teacher and the county library employee have negotiated through their unions reasonable wage increases.
Ideally, those increases are based on performance as much as practical. The point is, like everything else, the cost of providing services increases whether it’s because of tariffs, weather conditions, geopolitical trade wars or other conditions beyond the control of folks on main street. Purchase a cup of coffee lately?
Later this year, generally in early-December, you’ll have the chance to attend a tax hearing held by your city, county and school district. It’s a chance for folks to weigh-in on the proposed level of taxation the local unit of government has assigned to your property and the community as a whole. Most folks simply complain the increase in the levy is too high. They almost never bring reasonable suggestions for lowering it, almost never make suggestions impacting themselves. After all, it’s always easier to move somebody else’s cheese.
After all, nobody’s going to show up and suggest New Prague schedule one patrol officer be scheduled for a typical weeknight. The county reducing the number of hours the library is open by 40% probably won’t be the popular suggestion of the week. Odds are, a decision to delay plowing snow until 6 inches is on the ground won’t be well received, or the schools letting the grass grow on its ball fields grow extra-long won’t be well received, even if it saves plenty of money.
Social media contains plenty of trolling by people espousing states eliminate property taxes. What they never seem to mention is how those states will pay for services folks expect and demand.