ROCHELLE — At its meeting Monday, the Rochelle City Council held discussion on its 2024 tax levy.

City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh said the city is looking at a three percent increase in its levy for this year, or $3,069,195 in collected property taxes. The city collected $2,932,578 in property taxes last year. The city's equalized assessed value (EAV) has seen an increase from $311,565,381 to a new estimation of $322,256,037.

Based on the estimated EAV, the city's tax rate would decrease .006612 per $100 EAV for the three percent path. The average homeowner will see a decrease to the city's portion of their property taxes. The proposed 2024 levy includes funding the city's police and fire pension funds as recommended by the pension boards’ actuarial studies. The levy will be up for approval at the city council's Nov. 12 meeting.

"We really do try to find ways to reduce our costs as much as possible," Fiegenschuh said. "At the end of the day, the taxpayers are funding this whole operation. Without them and their ability to pay, we can't fund it. We do anything we can to control costs."

Salaries

The council voted 6-1 to approve an ordinance increasing mayor and city council salaries beginning May 1, 2027. Councilman Bil Hayes voted against the increase. Council/mayor salaries have not been increased in over a decade.

The mayor's salary will be raised from $18,000 to $24,000 annually and council salaries will be increased from $5,000 to 7,200 annually. The city compiled data on salaries elected officials make in similar communities.

The reasoning behind the 2027 time frame is that no current member of the council is guaranteed to benefit from the increase until after they've all gone up for re-election.

Fiegenschuh said Monday that he believes the increases are warranted due to the complexity of elected officials' jobs.

Late fees

The council voted unanimously to waive all late fees for Rochelle Municipal Utilities residential customers through Dec. 31, 2025 due to current "difficult financial times." The city also waived late fees during the COVID-19 pandemic. All late fees for commercial and industrial customers will remain in effect.

"With the difficult times that a lot of people are facing, anything that our utility can do to help people, I think we should do," Fiegenschuh said. "And waiving late fees is one of those things. This is another way we can help folks."

TIF

The council unanimously approved ordinances to officially create its new Eastern Gateway tax increment financing (TIF) district, which includes the Caron Ridge Shopping Center (former site of Sullivan's Foods) and vacant farm land between Illinois Route 38 and Caron Road. The Eastern Gateway TIF District consists of approximately 82 acres and 10 parcels. The city hopes the TIF District will address property blight and vacancy, aging infrastructure and assist with overall redevelopment of the district.

As part of the approvals Monday, the city reached an agreement with the Rochelle school districts to reimburse them for the impacts they'll see to their taxing base due to the TIF's formation.

Redevelopment

The council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing a redevelopment agreement with Rochelle Hub, LLC, regarding 1663 S. Main St. Rochelle Hub, LLC has an option to purchase commercial real estate at that location and intends to develop it by constructing improvements to operate a trucking and transportation business.

The property is currently serviced by a well and septic system. The city’s building code does not allow for private wells or septic systems within city limits. The phased improvements agreement approved Monday will require the city to provide sewer and water to the property within the next 10 years, but no earlier than five years.

"We have developers in the area that are very interested in potential data centers," Fiegenschuh said. "I bring that up because I think it'll be less than 10 years when water and sewer is extended out there. I think it will be much sooner than that if at least one of these projects lands in Rochelle."

Crossing

The council unanimously approved $88,539 for emergency repairs to the city's railroad crossing at the Caron Road Americold entrance. The crossing has become a hazard and is the only ingress and egress point to the facility. The whole crossing will be removed and replaced over a streamlined three-day weekend to minimize impact of its closure.

Retiree

The council recognized Cliff Smart upon his retirement from RMU's water department after 31 years of service.

"We work with the public every day and I think we have an outstanding group of people in the utilities," Smart said. "It's our responsibility every day to make sure people have drinkable water. I've had support from my wife and kids and everybody. You can't put a measure on that. Thank you for letting me serve the city."

Proclamation

Mayor John Bearrows read a proclamation in honor of National Family Literacy Day on Nov. 1 and presented it to the Rochelle Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.