Elgin’s council members held the first of two annual hearings for changes to the city’s tax rate and proposed budget expenditures, allocating funds that reach just over $26 million.The proposed annual budget is predicated on adoption of the “voter approval” property tax rate of $.498/$100 valuation, a reduction of nearly $.05 over the current rate, and only $.03 lower than the city could adopt without automatically triggering an election.This results in the city having a reduced property tax rate of almost 25% from four years prior, and contributes 31% of general fund revenue for the 20232024 budget of $26 million-plus,