St. John is touting continued growth, low taxes and stable finances. Clerk-Treasurer Beth Hernandez presented the 2024 financial report during the annual board of finance meeting Wednesday.
She said new construction exceeded projections by 24-percent last year, with 290 new homes and seven commercial properties. "So miscellaneous revenue generated from building permits helps to fund our general fund, and . . . our general fund covers, primarily, our public safety officials. So it's important that we're making sure that that fund remains healthy," Hernandez said.
The assessed value in the town grew by almost 10-percent in 2024, which, Hernandez said, helped keep St. John's property tax rate the lowest in Lake County. "This is great for taxpayers in our community," Hernandez said. "I think there was one year Winfield might have beat us, like, by a little bit, but we've remained the lowest, I would say, going on 10 years, for the most part."
Meanwhile, the town government's total cash reserves and investments grew from more than $44 million to over $49 million last year, although some of that increase is due to a paving bond. Hernandez praised the town council for helping keep spending well under budget.
"So instead of us going through a formal budget reduction process, we worked together as a team internally to trim any fat that we could," Hernandez said. "This is something that I'm personally proud of because it has positively changed our financial trajectory."
Council president Mike Bouvat said the council members who took office last year felt the town hadn't been heading in the right direction financially. "There were challenges, and I think this council, the majority, were pretty much all on board on making good decisions, being prudent with the money for the taxpayers of the town of St. John," Bouvat said.
Council member Ann Oster joked that they were the first DOGE, referring to the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency.
