Dear Mascoutah CUSD 19,
On behalf of the Mascoutah 19 Board of Education, I’m pleased to announce that District 19’s Tax Rate for Fiscal Year 2025 will decrease by around 7%—from 4.7771 to 4.4375. The Board approved the new tax rate on Tuesday, April 16, during their regular monthly meeting, and it was then filed with St. Clair County on Friday, April 19. Mascoutah 19 already has one of the lowest school district tax rates in St. Clair County and, with this significant decrease, will likely be the lowest. Please access the FY25 Tax Rate Presentation to learn more.
In December of 2023, you received information related to our initial tax levy request, which included an inflated guesstimate of a 21% increase to our EAV (Equalized Assessed Value). EAV is determined by St. Clair County and final numbers indicate that Mascoutah’s EAV will increase by roughly 15% next year—which is still larger than historic norms. This increase accounts for new growth, expiration of TIF 2B, and an increase in our home and property values (which are individually assessed by St. Clair County).
That December communication also mentioned a pilot program that is starting this year that will reimburse Mascoutah 19 for lost revenue due to the Illinois Disabled Veterans Property Tax Exemption program. We are incredibly thankful for the efforts of our local legislators, especially State Sen. Chris Belt (57th District) and State Rep. Jay Hoffman (113th District), for making this pilot program a reality. The District is very supportive of all our Veterans as well as the Disabled Veterans Property Tax Exemption program. However, the program did have some unintended consequences in terms of an EAV loss to District 19 in the amount of 14.75%, or roughly $2.3 million in lost revenue, for this year alone. The reimbursement program will cover 45% of that lost revenue in year one and then 90% in subsequent years moving forward. Although the District is not obligated to use the funding to offset taxes, the Board and Administration made a commitment to using reimbursement revenue to reduce the amount of property taxes collected. We are excited and proud to be able to fulfill that commitment.
Mascoutah School District 19 is honored to be one of the best performing school districts in all of Illinois. That success is one of several factors that make Mascoutah a very appealing place to live, which means we should anticipate continued increases in new housing, business development, and property values in the years to come. However, please know that we are committed to keeping our tax rates, school fees, and extracurricular fees low while still maintaining the highest of expectations.
Thank you for all that you do, and I wish you a wonderful rest of the school year.
Sincerely,
Dr. Dave Deets
Superintendent, Mascoutah CUSD 19