Residents within the Village of Grant Park will see a slight decrease in the village’s tax rate on their property tax bill, Trustee Gerry Morgan told the board at its May 4 board meeting.
The village received the PTELL report, which was favorable for Grant Park.
“Basically, this lets us know what the property taxes are going to be for residents and how much we’re going to receive,” Morgan said.
The report indicated an increase in the Village of Grant Park’s equalized assessed valuation, resulting in additional revenue.
“Which is good, because when we asked for our levies in December and they came through in April, what we’re going to receive is basically $5,000 more than we projected in January. Residents actually, unless their equalized assessed valuation went up, they will have a reduction in their property tax,” Morgan said.
“It won’t amount to too much — it’s only like .0115 but still, it’s better that they get less tax than more,” Morgan said of the lower tax rate.
Property tax bills are made up of multiple taxes that go to various taxing bodies, such as schools and fire districts; the village is only one of those bodies. It is their rate that would slightly decrease. Other taxing bodies set their own tax rates.
In other financial news, the village’s full-time employees will receive 3 percent raises, an extension of health insurance for vision and dental coverage with the village paying 80 percent of the cost for employee coverage, and will continue the stipend at $800 a month for full-time employees, as applied in previous fiscal years. The new deal for full-time employees will be in place through FY 2029.
Part-time police employees also will see a 3 percent raise this year and each fiscal year through 2029, and part-time temp employees in the village will see an hourly wage at $18 per hour, up from $15, with no additional raises. The part-time cleaner’s wage for the village’s community center was approved at $20 per hour.
Morgan also provided an update on the village’s TIF agreements. The last payment for Flanagan’s was made, so their TIF will fall off. TIF agreements remain in place for Hendrick’s and Taylor buildings, as well as HD Auto, which is requesting an extension.
“If you go by HD Auto, you can see he’s done a remarkable lot to his building to make it look really nice. The issue he has is that when they ordered the garage doors, which also are going to be replaced, they were immediately put on an indeterminate back order. So, he’s requesting, if possible, could we extend the deadline for him to complete his TIF agreement,” Morgan informed the board.
The board agreed unanimously.
The village will host a Memorial Day service on May 25, at 10 a.m., and the farmer’s market, called Kimberly’s Artisan Market, is on track with 70 vendors, including food vendors. Mayor Ben Detloff urged the community to support the event, which will be held each Sunday through September, starting on May 24, from 1 to 4 p.m., in the parking lot on the east side of the police station.
“We’re hoping for her sake this works out very well. It’s going to bring a lot of people into the community,” Detloff said.
As was discussed at the last board meeting, the board also ratified the continued appointments of Spesia and Taylor as the village’s attorney and swore in Sgt. Alberto Castillo as the village’s new police chief.
Additionally, the board reappointed Neil Piggush as the village’s engineer, Road Commissioner Steve Sullivan, Building Inspector Chris Karstensen, Adjudication Hearing Officer Brian Hiatt, Adjudication Secretary Kerry Zizic, and Zoning Board Chairman Matt Shrontz.
In other news, the village declared its salt spreader surplus property and approved its sale. Detloff reported Hilgert Park is anticipated to be completed sometime in June, and he will keep everyone apprised.