Dixon city tax rate to drop

DIXON – Dixon’s city tax rate will drop for the third year in a row under a tax levy proposal presented to the City Council on Monday night.

During a tax levy public hearing, Dixon City Finance Director Becky Fredericks said the proposed budget calls for $4,867,609 to be levied for fiscal 2024, about $240,000 higher than the previous fiscal year.

Fredericks said she recently received an updated estimated assessed valuation from the Lee County Clerk’s Office that points to a decrease in the total proposed tax rate for Dixon residents for the third year in a row.

The tax rate in fiscal 2023 was 2.4161%; it will be 2.3199% for Dixon residents in fiscal 2024.

“I think it is a great testament to the development and the growth that the city has seen,” Fredericks said.

As an example, she said a homeowner whose home is worth $100,000 paid $805 for the city portion of taxes in fiscal 2023. That amount will drop to $773 in fiscal 2024 if the house is still worth $100,000, she said.

Fredericks then went back 10 years to 2013, when a home worth $100,000 cost the owner $817 for the city’s portion of property taxes.

“So we are even less than we were in 2013,” she said. ”I understand this is not counting inflation and the increased value of our homes, but just kind of looking at where a $100,000 home was assessed in 2013 as opposed to where the tax rate is for 2023. So I found that pretty interesting,”

No member of the public commented during the hearing. The levy next will go in front of the council for approval at its Dec. 4 meeting.

Beautify Dixon award

Amanda Wike of the Dixon Chamber of Commerce and Main Street updated the council about an award bestowed by the state last week on the many committees, collectively known as Beautify Dixon, that volunteer throughout Dixon.

She said members of the Garden Club, the Preservation and Beautification Committee and Dixon in Bloom collectively provide more than 1,000 hours of community service per year maintaining community gardens and coordinating petunias and holiday decorations.

Beautify Dixon was one of two organizations within the state recognized for outstanding volunteerism, Wike said.

“We just wanted to recognize them and thank them for all of their efforts,” she said.

Mayor Glen Hughes said he often hears other communities’ leaders say they have difficulty getting volunteers.

“That does not appear to be the case, at least as far as the Chamber and Main Street and Petunia Fest go,” Hughes said. “This community is really blessed in terms of the volunteerism that happens here.”