City Council approves annual tax levy for FY19

Corryn Brock, Associate News Editor

The Charleston City Council approved the annual property tax levy along with four resolutions.

The 2018 grand total tax levy is $4.8 million.

A public hearing over the levy will not be necessary under the Truth in Taxation law. The law “requires a taxing district to compare the amount of its proposed aggregate property tax levy to the amount of taxes extended for the district in the prior year. A notice must be published in a newspaper and a public hearing must be held if the proposed aggregate tax levy is more than 5 percent greater than the previous year’s tax extension,” according to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The City of Charleston’s Truth in Taxation increase was 4.98 percent.

The council approved amendments to the intergovernmental agreement between the City of Charleston and the City of Taylorville.

The City of Charleston currently provides ambulance billing services for the City of Taylorville for a fee of $25 per claim; the fee will now be increased to $30. This increase is due to the City of Taylorville requesting more record-keeping services from the City of Charleston.

According to Mayor Brandon Combs, once the City of Taylorville passes their ordinance the intergovernmental agreement will be extended from April 30, 2020 to April 30, 2021.

The council authorized the execution of a $15,000 contract with Variety Attraction for entertainment for Red, White and Blue Days that will be on July 3, 2019 at Morton Park. John Michael Montgomery will be performing for Red, White and Blue Days under the contract.

The Charleston City Council meeting originally scheduled for Jan. 1, 2019 was rescheduled for Jan. 2.

Olivia Meents, who represented student government, spoke to the council about the recent safety walk on campus. The findings from the walk will be presented during the Student Senate meeting Dec. 5.

Combs said he is wishing Eastern students luck on upcoming finals.

“It’s crazy that finals are next week. It seems like school just really started,” Combs said. “I do wish [Eastern students] good luck on finals and that they all have a good break.”

Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].