Mexico’s taxes are increasing slightly, but the difference is less than a penny.

The city of Mexico set its property tax rate for the 2026 Property Tax Levy following a public hearing during the Aug. 24 city council meeting. Council approved the proposed rate of $0.7679 per $100 of assessed valuation — a $0.0088 increase from the 2025 rate.

“The 2026 assessed value for the year has been set at $185,475,275,” Vicki Duenke, City of Mexico finance director, said.

The Parks and Recreation and Public Health tax rates stayed the same at $0.10 and $0.20, respectively, and the increase was in the general fund rate. Based on that, total proposed revenue for the city would be $1,424,265.

“There is a slight increase, about $25,000 worth of tax, representing the increase for new construction and improvements in the city,” Duenke said. “Because there was a significant decrease in the personal property valuation category, there was no increase in revenues or result of reassessment.”

Duenke explained that the change in personal property value was due to a couple reasons, but the biggest decrease came from corrections made the prior year. Last year, the Altona Solar farm had been included in the assessment. 

“They kind of caught up and realized that the tax abatement Chapter 100 existed for them, so that was removed,” she said. 

Additionally, there was a duplicate report for some of the equipment used by Creative Food Ingredients, and there was a slight decrease of valuation for some of equipment at Spartan that contributed minimally. 

The hope, Dunke said, was that Western Smokehouse Partners would offset the adjustments, but the city and county are still working on getting its assessments included. 

“We’re working closely with the assessor’s office and making some calls to them to make sure we get them off on the right foot,” she said.