Each November, the Coal City Community Unit District #1 Board of Education approves placing its tentative property tax levy on file — the annual request designed to fund district operations for the coming year.
For tax year 2025, payable in 2026, the school district is seeking to collect $39.5 million in property taxes. The amount outlined in the tentative levy represents a 21.77% increase over the previous year extension.
The levy is calculated on the equalized assessed value [EAV] of the district and as of Oct. 30, the Grundy County Assessor's Office estimated that value to be $1.4 billion with a rate setting EAV of just over $990 million. The latter figure accounts for exemptions and tax increment financing (TIF) adjustments.
Of that $990 million, $520 million is attributed to Constellation’s Dresden Nuclear Generating Station, a value determined by a negotiated agreement between the company and seven local taxing bodies including the school district.
In the coming weeks, a legal notice framed by a heavy black border will be posted in the local newspaper announcing a public hearing on the proposed property tax levy and while it may appear frightening to taxpayers, the proposed increase is actually a means of protecting their interests.
In preparing the tentative 2025 levy, Chief School Business Official Jason Smith developed two scenarios:
- One assuming no change in the assessed value of the GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy facility in Goose Lake Township.
- Another reflecting an increase in the site’s value above the amount currently recognized by the Grundy County Assessor and Board of Review.
The Board of Education approved the latter version at its November 5 meeting.
“For the last four years we have filed tax objections against the valuation,” Smith explained. “What the levy represents is one that places additional value — about $200 million more— than what the Board of Review has traditionally placed on GE-Hitachi. That figure is based on an appraisal commissioned by the school district and six other public bodies that receive tax payments from that site.”
He added, “That is what we believe to be the true value of the facility, and that will be our argument before the Board of Review.” The value of the GE-Hitachi site and other properties throughout the county have been published. Now that they are published, appeals and objections to those values must be filed with the Board of Review within 30 days of publication.
Smith noted that the tentative levy positions the district to capture any additional value that might be assigned to the GE-Hitachi property.
“If the Board of Review should rule in our favor, we will be able to capture that portion of the EAV. Remember this is a mechanism for us to be able to capture the value that we are arguing for with respect to the GE-Hitachi facility,” Smith said.
Located on Collins Road in Goose Lake Township, the GE-Hitachi facility houses 17 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel, the majority of that shipped to the site from nuclear facilities in California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Nebraska. It is the only high-level nuclear waste storage site in the country.
The district first objected to the valuation of the GE-Hitachi site in 2021, when the Board of Review adjusted its EAV from $3.2 million to $6.13 million. No changes have been made since then. The district plans to file another objection in the coming month and has also appealed to the Illinois Property Tax Appeals Board (PTAB) for the 2021–2024 tax years.
The tentative levy is available for public inspection on the financial operations page located under the district tab on the website.
Superintendent Chris Spencer emphasized that the levy filing does not mean a 22% tax increase for residents.
“Taxes are not going up 22%,” Spencer said. “The proposed increase simply ensures the district can capture any additional dollars if our valuation appeal is successful.”
Smith added that the final levy may be adjusted prior to its official adoption. A Truth in Taxation hearing will be held at 6:00 p.m. on December 3, at the start of the regular Board of Education meeting.
The final levy must be approved and filed with the county clerk on or before the third Tuesday in December. The Board of Review hearings are expected to occur in early 2026 with the final levy extension completed in the spring.