
November 5, 2024 – Monday’s Decatur City Council meeting included discussion on the 2024 property tax levy, an agreement to construct a new water pipeline to increase the City’s water supply, and approval of a natural gas use tax affecting a small number of businesses.
Vulcan watermine pipeline
On Monday night the Decatur City Council agreed to a contract with Burdick Plumbing & Heating to construct a pipeline from the City’s Vulcan watermine connecting to the South Water Treatment Plant. The watermine, a former Vulcan sand and gravel pit, is just west of the Lake Decatur dam. With the approved separate pipeline, the City can pump an average of 2 million gallons of water per day from this source, which represents about seven percent of daily demand from the water treatment plant. The new pipeline will provide supplemental water in times of drought or other emergency. The water from this source is higher quality than Lake Decatur and can be treated more efficiently when the treatment process of lake water is challenging, saving taxpayers money.
The contract for $1.17 million was 12 percent lower than the engineer’s estimate. The project is estimated to be completed summer 2025 and is funded from the Water Bond Fund.
Municipal natural gas use tax for alternative supply
Council also reviewed and approved a natural gas use tax on alternative gas supply. This item was tabled at a previous City Council meeting and brought back for approval at Monday’s meeting. The tax will impact approximately 450 utility accounts – mostly commercial businesses – that are using an alternative natural gas supplier (not Ameren). Ameren is already collecting the 4.25 percent tax when they are the supplier, but a tax was not being collected when an alternative provider was supplying natural gas. Council agreed that bringing parity and equity to natural gas utility taxpayers was important, as is the much-needed revenue this will generate.
The approved tax will be the same 4.25 percent per therm on alternatively supplied natural gas. Two companies will be paying the bulk of this tax: ADM and Primient. Considering their large usage, Council agreed to a stipulation that manufacturers which use more than 40-million therms annually will only pay the tax on the first 40 million therms each year.
2024 property tax levy discussion
Discussion on the 2024 property tax levy began Monday night. This was a discussion only item and they did not set the levy. The City of Decatur accounts for about 16 percent of residents’ total property tax bill. Council was presented with options and members gave initial thoughts on what they would set the levy at.
A Decatur property owner with a property value of $134,500 in 2024 (average median home value) could pay about $15* more to the City of Decatur in property taxes in 2025. This would be if Council approves a rate of 1.5357 per $100 of EAV. This represents a 7 percent increase in the total levy and is a slight increase in the property tax mill rate compared to last year’s 1.5091 rate. The Council will vote on the property tax levy on December 2, 2024.
In 2023, Council approved a 3 percent increase in the levy, although the property tax mill rate was lower than the previous year. A large increase in EAVs (average 10.5 percent) along with other taxing bodies raising their levy/property tax rate led to higher property tax bills.
*This is only an estimate and entirely depends on what a resident’s property value is assessed at. This assumes an average EAV increase of 5.14 percent for Macon County
In other business, Council approved a use of available TIF funds to continue revitalization efforts around the Tillamook Ice Cream plant. The company’s investment has risen from their initial estimate of $50 million to over $66 million. Tillamook will install matching decorative fencing along MLK Jr. Dr. & Marietta St. that will match the fencing across the street on the west side of MLK Jr. Dr. along the Crossing Healthcare campus. This will cost between $100,000 to $150,000 and the City will reimburse Tillamook using available TIF funds.