South West Illinois News

Williamson County's property taxes are going down.

That's not a typo.

While Illinoisans have finally seen a budget passed after a wait of more than two years, they won't be seeing any tax breaks, as individual and corporate rates went up 32 percent on July 1 as part of the budget agreement. In fact, one of the reasons Gov. Bruce Rauner attempted to veto the bills making up the budget was because none addressed his big concern: sky-high property taxes.

But in the southern part of the state, Williamson County can boast not only a balanced budget but a surplus that will help decrease the tax bill of county property owners.

Williamson County Commissioner Ron Ellis told the Southwest Illinois News that the county’s fiscal responsibility is more than just good accounting.

“I am very proud we have a balanced budget,” he said. “We have two Republicans and a Democrat on the board, and we all believe the same way. We all three are business owners, and you have to be fiscally responsible to the people you represent. In this case, in Williamson County, we have 65,500 people who live in the county, and it is our obligation and our duty to be fiscally responsible. Because of that, for the entire time I have been on the county board, which is about 10 years, we’ve had a balanced budget and a cash surplus.”

This year's reduction in property taxes is tied to a 1997 bond issue for a self-funded pool for worker’s compensation claims. Funding for the pool was raised through a 20-year tax levy, and as the bond was paid off, premiums decreased, according to the Southern Illinoisan.

“We cut our real estate tax by $500,000,” Ellis said. “We gave that money back to the taxpayers this year and still have a balanced budget. We had a bond that was in the process of maturing, and this year, I felt that it wasn’t right to levy (taxes) for a payment that is being reduced.”

Ellis said Williamson County was the only one in the state to give back money from a real estate tax.

“We run the county the exact way you would run a business,” Ellis said. “If you are going to be successful in business, you have to be in the black. You can’t spend more money then you bring in.”

According to the Southern Illinoisan, Williamson County has passed its saving back to the taxpayers on several other occasions as well.