Coal City Unit 1 School District anticipates taxes for residents will remain about the same

The Coal City Unit 1 School District has a tentative tax levy set to be approved in December, which would see the district’s tax rate on residents remain at $3.40.

The district is seeking to collect $34.2 million in corporate and special purpose property taxes in 2024, which would represent a 22.95% increase over the levy for tax year 2023. According to a Monday news release, the amount extended for debt service is $3.7 million, and the total estimated property taxes levy would be $37.9 million, an increase of 20.1% from the 2023 extension of $31.6 million.

“Taxes are not going up 20%,” said Board Vice President Shawn Hamilton. “In fact, over the last decade, the school district’s tax rate has increased less than one percent per year, and our $3.40 rate is significantly below the $4.44 tax rate in 2007. I am proud to serve on the board with a strategy of protecting our residential taxpayers through sound financial strategy and conservative budgeting.”

The increase largely comes from increased contributions from corporate property taxes. The levy is calculated on the district’s equalized assessed value of $959 million, $520 million of which is assigned directly to Constellation’s Dresden Nuclear Generating Station.

Chief School Business Official Jason Smith has two plans, one that accounts for no change in the value of GE-Hitachi’s Nuclear Energy facility in Goose Lake Township that currently sits at $6.13 million, and another that represents the value the district obtained through an appraisal. That appraisal valued the property at over $200 million, over what the Grundy County assessor and Board of Review placed on it.

“For the last three years, the District has filed tax objections against the $6.13 million valuation, so what the levy represents is one that places additional value over what the Board of Review has traditionally put on GE-Hitachi by about $200 million,” Smith said.

Smith said the figure is based on an appraisal commissioned by the seven taxing districts that receive property tax payments from that site. He said the district believes that is the true value of the facility, and they will be making that argument in front of the Board of Review.

“This levy strategy assumes that the Board of Review will respond favorably to our argument regarding the value of the GE-Hitachi Nuclear Waste Facility. As explained in previous years, this property is significantly under-valued, in the District’s opinion,” Smith said. “Our appraisal of that property is nearly $219 million, as opposed to the Assessor’s opinion (and Board of Review decisions) of $6.13 million. As a result, our levy request when compared to the extension received in 2024, represents a 20% increase. If the Board of Review should find in the District’s favor, this levy strategy allows the District to capture these additional industrial tax dollars, ultimately lowering the tax rate for the remaining taxpayers. In the event that the Board of Review holds the value of $6.13 million, the trigger rates outlined in our agreement with Constellation will apply, and the levy will be reduced, resulting in a 2024 tax rate (payable in 2025) of about $3.40. This is exactly what has happened in the 3 previous years of the District filing our tax objection. If we did not consider the GE-Hitachi facility, our levy request would have been an increase of about 1.23%.”

The GE-Hitachi Nuclear facility, located on Collins Road in Goose Lake Township, is home to 17 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel, the majority of which is shipped in from California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Nebraska. It is the only high-level nuclear storage site in the country. The district first filed an objection in 2021, and has done so every year since. The Board of Review adjusted the value from $3.2 million to $6.13 million that year, and there was no change in 2022 or 2023.

“Right now we have no estimate on what the time frame is, as most estimates that run through the docket in that system could be several years to a decade or so for a case to be heard,” Smith said. “However, this levy strategy protects the interest of the remaining taxpayers in the District, if and when the Assessor, Board of Review, or PTAB rule in favor of the District’s appraised value.”

The tentative levy can be reviewed by visiting the district tab at https://www.coalcityschools.org/.

The final levy must be approved and filed with the county clerk on or before the third Tuesday in November. To learn more, visit https://tinyurl.com/CC-Levy2024.