Freeport Taxes Going Up Again:
City Says Property Values Are Falling, But Homeowners Know Otherwise
By Joshua T. Atkinson, Republican Candidate for State Senate, IL-45
FREEPORT, IL – November 15, 2025
City Council Set for First Reading of Ordinance #2025-63 on Monday, November 17th
The Freeport City Council will conduct the first reading of Ordinance #2025-63 at its November 17, 2025 meeting. The proposal would increase the Library property tax levy by roughly 5 percent for the 2025 tax year, collected on 2026 bills. Freeport’s Finance Director, in a memo to council, argues this increase is necessary because the City’s overall assessed property value declined by $105,004.
But here’s the critical contradiction that taxpayers need to understand:
Most Freeport homeowners saw their own home values go up on their most recent assessments. If individual property values are rising, how is the City’s overall value falling?
The only logical answer is the one City Hall refuses to admit:
Freeport is losing its tax base. Families are moving away. Homes are being abandoned or demolished. Investment continues to go elsewhere.
That isn’t a taxpayer problem.
That is a leadership problem.
A Library That Deserves Support — and a City Government That Must Answer for Failure
The Freeport Public Library has long been known as one of the best-run services the City provides. Under former Director Huffines, the Library earned strong community support, developed innovative programming, and operated as a key resource for students, job seekers, seniors, and families on tight budgets.
Even today, the Library continues to deliver value far beyond its cost.
But this levy request is happening only because Freeport continues to shrink. The Library did not create the conditions forcing a tax rate increase. The Library did not cause the community’s value to decline.
City Hall’s failures did.
If the City were attracting new residents and businesses and retaining the ones we have, the levy increase would be unnecessary. If this administration were growing Freeport instead of facilitating its decline, the Library could sustain itself without raising taxes.
What Mayor Miller Won’t Say
Mayor Jodi Miller and City Manager Rob Boyer want residents to believe that the Levy increase is unavoidable due to simple math. But the math only tells half the truth.
The missing half reveals their 8+ years of failures:
• Population loss accelerating under this administration
• Unsafe neighborhoods and unchecked crime driving families away
• Blight spreading faster than it is remediated
• Business closures outpacing openings
• Homeowners selling and leaving while insiders receive incentives
Worse, this same leadership continues to give away taxpayer resources:
• Hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Greater Freeport Partnership while economic performance continues to lag
• Tax breaks, discounted deals, and access to public assets benefiting a small circle of politically connected individuals, including former State Senator and Chesney mentor Brian Stewart and Mayor Miller’s relative Peter Alber.
When outcomes are bad, the burden rolls downhill to the taxpayer.
That is the pattern.
That is the problem.
The Truth in Plain Words
If the community is losing value, homeowners end up paying more.
If the community grows and improves, homeowners pay less.
Right now, Freeport families are being punished for City Hall’s inability to manage growth, build trust, and deliver results.
Mayor Miller’s slogan has been - “Proven Results.”
The evidence shows the opposite - “Epic Failures.”
A declining tax base.
Higher taxes - Thank you, Home Rule!
Fewer people staying.
More people leaving.
That is the truth. That is Mayor Miller’s track record.
Attend the Meeting. Demand Accountability.
The ordinance will be discussed Monday, November 17 at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers. Residents will have the opportunity to provide public comment.
This community supports its Library.
This community values education, opportunity, and public access.
But this community should not continue to pay more because leadership continues to achieve less.
It is time for Mayor Miller and her administration to stop blaming taxpayers for the consequences of failed governance and start doing the job the people elected them to do.
Support the Library.
Demand accountability.
Freeport deserves better.
