As the property tax cycle for 2023 is set to wrap up at the end of this month, the same cycle for 2024 payable in 2025 is just getting started.

Monroe County Treasurer Kevin Koenigstein was joined by Monroe County Supervisor of Assessments Dawn Goff to deliver a report to county commissioners Tuesday morning. 

Koenigstein said there were only about 100 parcels of county property with outstanding tax bills from 2023 payable in 2024.

A tax sale for any remaining properties with delinquent tax bills will go up for auction Feb. 26 at the Monroe County Courthouse.

Koenigstein added that all but .1 percent of property taxes for 2023 has been collected, and he expects the number to be closer to .05 percent by the date of the tax sale. 

A delinquent tax list was printed in the Feb. 12 issue of the Republic-Times.

The final tax distribution for 2023 taxes will be made during the first week of March, Koenigstein said.

On a positive note, Koenigstein pointed out the 2024 property assessments for tax bills to be paid in 2025, also published Feb. 12, have been mailed.

Goff said her office will be open for 2024 assessment appeals until March 14.

After all appeals have been processed, the Monroe County Board of Review will convene during April and May to make final adjustments on the most current assessments.

After that process is complete, Koenigstein estimated the State of Illinois could return the county’s tax filing by mid-June, which would result in the Monroe County clerk calculating final rates for all taxing bodies in the county and delivering tax bills to the treasurer’s office by the beginning of July.

Koenigstein admitted the timing will be based on how quickly the state processes the county’s information, but he was confident in estimating property tax due dates of late September and mid-November.

The February publishing date is the earliest assessments have been available in the past several years, and if Koenigstein’s projections are accurate, it will be the first time since 2021 the second tax payment date will fall within the same fiscal year as the bills were issued.

In other business Tuesday, commissioners approved an ordinance change which will remove a set rate for travel reimbursement of county employees.

Hotel and meal rates will now be reimbursed using the federal General Services Administration rate, which calculates lodging and food costs by date and location. 

The issue has been discussed at several recent meetings, with Monroe County Clerk Jonathan McLean suggesting the change to relieve his office of what he described as a burdensome task of storing and filing receipts associated with employee travel.

The ordinance will also include an Internal Revenue Service-mandated 75 percent reimbursement rate for the first and last day of a work-related trip requiring an overnight stay.

The issue of miscellaneous expense reimbursement was once again tabled to allow commissioners to further explore options. 

According to McLean, only employees who have an overnight stay are eligible for meal reimbursement, otherwise it would count as a “fringe benefit” and be subject to taxation and be included as employee compensation.

Alicia Emmerich of Oak Hill was also on hand during the county board meeting Tuesday.

She reported the county-owned senior living and rehabilitation center in Waterloo is back to battling COVID-19 and Influenza A after a short break from the illnesses in January.

Emmerich said masking mandates are in effect at Oak Hill.

When asked by commissioner Vicki Koerber why the facility differentiates between COVID and flu strains given the similar symptoms, Emmerich explained the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies them as separate illnesses and imposes separate requirements for removal from quarantine.

With the amount of regular employees out with illness, Emmerich said Oak Hill’s reliance on employment agency staffing was up slightly in February, although it was down $36,000 from December to January.

She also reported all three service areas of Oak Hill are “operating at a positive,” meaning the facility’s senior living, assisted living and rehabilitation wings have been profitable recently.

Emmerich also noted a recreation room in Oak Hill’s Magnolia Terrace senior apartment complex should be completed within 60 days. 

The rec room was made possible in part by contributions from the Oak Hill endowment fund, a privately-funded organization with the mission of supporting various projects at Oak Hill.

Commissioners also approved a “quit claim deed” from the Monroe County Health Department for approximately 8.6 acres at 6128 Old Red Bud Road in rural Waterloo.

The land was purchased from Monroe County Electric Cooperative in May through the health department to be used as a “dual use property” in part for Monroe County Highway Department storage and the site of any potential mass vaccination events.

 The quit claim deed reverts ownership to Monroe County rather than the health department.

Monroe County Engineer Aaron Metzger was also on hand Tuesday for approval of a resolution granting “access control authorization” for the proposed extension of Rogers Street and realignment of Country Club Lane. 

A similar resolution was passed earlier this month by the Waterloo City Council.

The project, which is a joint venture between the city and county, although the county highway department will be handling most of the project work.

Commissioners also approved bids for the county’s aggregate maintenance program for purchase of materials for road improvements this year.

The next meeting of the Monroe County Board will be Monday, March 3, beginning at 8:15 a.m. at the Monroe County Courthouse.