City Council approves property tax levy, land transfer for Mercy Gardens program

     Decatur, IL – Highlights from the December 2, 2024 Decatur City Council meeting include approval of the 2024 property tax levy, land transfer supporting The Good Samaritan Inn’s Mercy Gardens program, and a 4-year contract with the City’s AFSCME employee union.

2024 Property Tax Levy
     On Monday night the Decatur City Council approved the 2024 Property Tax Levy, to be paid on 2025 property tax bills. Council was given options for increasing the levy between 5 and 7 percent, and they ultimately approved a 6 percent increase to the levy, which will result in the City levying $16.73 million in 2025. This means a Decatur property owner with the median average property value of $135,000 in 2024 would pay about $10 more in property taxes to the City of Decatur in 2025.
Property owners should be aware that the City of Decatur accounts for about 16 percent of their total property tax bill. How much the other 84 percent of their bill may increase or decrease will depend on what the other taxing bodies set their levy at.
Council set the City’s property tax mill rate at $1.525 per $100 of Equalized Assessed Value (EAV), which is slightly higher than the 2023 rate of $1.509. This, combined with the estimate that Macon County’s EAV could increase 4.91 percent next year, results in a slight increase in property taxes owed to the City for most Decatur property owners in 2025.

Land transfer for Mercy Gardens program
     Council is continuing its support of The Good Samaritan Inn’s Mercy Gardens program. They approved the transfer of approximately five acres of property to the non-profit for expansion of their urban agriculture project. More than a block and a half of formerly residential properties will continue to be converted into gardens.
In 2023, the City Council authorized a plan to use a State Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) grant to fund a majority of property acquisitions, demolitions, and other street work necessary to prepare the land for agriculture purposes. The first cover crop has been planted for soil enhancement and Good Sam said it was ready to accept the property to move the project forward.
Good Sam will now fence in and secure the property and begin building necessary structures to support their program. Once the land is ready, produce and other plants will be planted and eventually used for the daily meals served at Good Sam, and also sold at local farmer’s markets to feed the community.

AFSCME union contract
     Council also reviewed and approved a 4-year contract with the City’s AFSCME union. Highlights of the contract include a 4 percent cost-of-living increase for each year, and a relaxing of residency requirements to a 50-mile radius from the City of Decatur corporate limits. The collective bargaining agreement was approved by the union membership already and will be in effect from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2028.

More information about these topics can be found in the City Council meeting packet, downloadable/viewable here: www.decaturil.gov/389/Agendas-Minutes