Monroe County property tax rates for 2022 along with payment deadlines for those taxes payable in 2023 have been processed by the treasurer’s and county clerk’s office and should be in the mail as of Oct. 11.

Monroe County Treasurer Kevin Koenigstein reported tax bills for county residents should be mailed Wednesday, with due dates in November and December. 

Total taxes collected for all taxing bodies in Monroe County are up by just over $4 million.

The amount of property taxes Monroe County will be collecting in 2023 among its various districts is $69,490,119.16, with last tax year’s amount totalling $65,279,299.44.

The biggest hikes came from the school districts in Waterloo and Columbia. The Waterloo School District levied an additional $1.14 million for Fiscal Year 2022, with the Columbia School District requesting an additional $1.56 million.

While the tax rate dropped .055 percent for the Waterloo School District from last year’s tax bills, many property owners in Waterloo will see a slight increase in total taxes paid due to an increase in both the tax levy and equalized assessed valuation.

The Columbia school tax rate increased a little over .1 percent, meaning Columbia property owners will pay more to that district even if their assessments were the same as last year.

Of all taxes collected in Monroe County, over $45 million – or 65.4 percent – will go to school districts.

The Waterloo School District requested $24.12 million for FY22 and Columbia levied $16.75 million. Valmeyer will get $3.3 million from property taxes, with the Red Bud and New Athens school districts requesting $1.1 million and $211,000, respectively, of the Monroe County property tax intake.

The only other significant tax increase from FY22 was Monroe County, which was $510,954 more than the previous year.

The Monroe County share of total taxes collected is $8.5 million, or 12.3 percent of the total collected.

Similarly to the Waterloo School District, the Monroe County tax rate went down despite an increase in taxes requested.

Koenigstein recently reported the total assessed valuation for all taxable parcels in the county increased approximately $73 million dollars, resulting in the lower tax rate.

Other approximate levies and percentages for taxing bodies in Monroe County as compared to the total amount collected are as follows:

Southwestern Illinois College District 522, $4.53 million (6.6 percent); All fire protection districts, $2.77 million (4 percent; Road districts, $2.02 million (2.9 percent); Other – which includes Monroe County EMS – $942,079 (1.4 percent); and Levee and drainage districts, $431,203 (0.6 percent).

Cities and villages account for $4.74 million of total property taxes (6.8 percent), with a majority going to Waterloo and Columbia.

The City of Waterloo will get nearly $1.6 million this year, an increase of about $100,000.

The City of Columbia will also get just over $100,000 more than last year – about $2.95 million. 

A colored pie chart showing the totals and percentages will be available at republictimes.net.

The chart as well as detailed spreadsheets showing distribution for taxes collected in prior years may be found at monroecountyil.gov/departments/treasurers-office.

Koenigstein estimated county residents could see the first tax bills to arrive in the mail by this weekend.

Owners of taxable parcels in Monroe County will owe their first installment by Nov. 21 and their second installment by Dec. 21. 

Residents may pay their entire tax bill in their first installment, if they wish. 

Koenigstein also pointed out taxpayers are able to pay bills online at monroecountyil.gov.

He recommended using an “e-check” direct debit payment, which carries a $2 charge, rather than a credit card payment, which carries a fee of 2.35 percent of the total tax bill.