Edgar Co. (ECWd) –
The Edgar County Board held a tax hearing on November 5th, 2025. The room was standing room only, with many standing outside the room that was clearly not big enough for the turnout of concerned citizens.
One thing that became evident during the meeting was that people can no longer afford these never-ending tax increases. What many people may not realize, just about every public body is doing exactly what the county board did: raise taxes to the allowable limit without a hearing.
I do not recall hearing a single discussion on what cuts have been made in order to avoid raising taxes.
Notable points: the 1% public safety tax, which is a sales tax, not a property tax, is not going to the public safety entities in the county as promised when it was placed on the ballot. Instead, it is being used entirely to pay for the new jail.
I urged everyone to put eyes on every public body that appears on their tax bill. When they all raise their levy by 4.9% every year, allowable limit without a truth in taxation hearing, we hear them say it’s only a little bit. We need to know if those raises are because they can’t survive without it or just because they can. The latter has been the case with most public bodies we have looked into. For those who sell these tax increases as only a minor amount on your bill, remind them when there are 7-10 different public bodies doing the same thing, it’s not a little bit when looked at in proper context.
The video of the first part of the meeting can be viewed at this link or below.
