Batavia residents will see slight increase on their property tax bills next year

Batavia residents will see a smaller tax increase than originally planned after City Council members decided to use additional reserve funds to cover the deficit.

City Council members approved the 2025 budget and the 2024 property tax levy at their Dec. 2 meeting.

As approved, the city will levy an additional $500,000 in property taxes and use $3 million of reserve funds to cover the projected deficit. The result will be a property tax increase of about $34 a year for the owner of a $300,000 home in Batavia.

The city is facing a $3.5 million projected deficit in 2025. Finance Director Peggy Colby originally presented a plan to levy an additional $1 million in property taxes and use $2.5 million of reserve funds to cover the rest of the deficit.

Council members have been split while trying to decide whether to reduce the tax rate increase by using additional reserve funds to ease the burden on residents or save the funds for budgeted projects and operations.

The total original estimated 2024 property tax levy was $11,310,000, a 21.49% increase over 2023, which would have amounted to a 7-cent tax increase per $100 of equalized assessed value or a tax increase of about $67 a year on the city portion of the tax bill for the owner of a $300,000 home.

After several long debates at recent meetings, council members decided to decrease the tax rate increase to $500,000 by using an extra $500,000 from reserves. This change was first recommended at the Nov. 26 Committee of the Whole meeting.

With the extra $500,000 from reserves for a total of $3 million, the total levy amount decreased to $10,810,000, equating to a $500,000 increase to the property tax rate. This rate would raise residents’ property tax rate by about 4 cents per $100 of EAV or an increase of about $34 a year for the owner of a $300,000 home.

The last time Batavia residents saw an increase in their city property tax bill was in 2017 to fund storm sewer projects and several new staff positions.

The total 2025 budget is $164,106,570, an increase of about 6.5% over the 2024 budget. The increase is needed to cover increased costs of wages and pensions and capital projects, including a new roof for City Hall and street improvements.

One of the largest expenses in the budget is funding three new staff positions: a firefighter, an assistant public works director and an engineering technician. Several other positions also are needed but were not funded in 2025, including two more firefighters, two police officers, a public safety analyst, an HR analyst and a vacant IT position that was approved earlier this year.

Council members approved the budget in an unanimous vote.

Before the vote, alderman Tony Malay said he would not be supporting the levy because he does not think the city should be dipping into reserve funds so heavily and would rather levy the amount originally proposed.

Mayor Jeff Schielke reiterated his stance in favor of the reduced levy amount, saying the city will be in a much better position over the next few years with several multi-million dollar projects underway and a lot of new homes being built.

“Right now, Batavia has got so much new stuff under construction,” Schielke said. “We’re going to have a significant increase in the assessed valuation value of Batavia, so I’m optimistic.”

Council members approved the levy in an 8-6 vote. Aldermen Dustin Pieper, Kevin Malone, Malay, Leah Leman, Nicholas Cerone and Tim Lanci voted no.