By Verna Slate, Williamson County Bureau
MARION — More than $106.5 million in property tax money moved through Williamson County for the 2024 tax year, according to figures from County Treasurer Ashley Gott's office, reported by the Southern Illinoisan.
That's a big number for a county this size, and it lands on kitchen tables every year around the same time, whether the raise came in or the roof needed fixing or not. The Southern Illinoisan's report on the figures from Gott's office is the clearest public accounting available so far of just how much moved through the county last year.
What isn't in dispute: the bills keep climbing, and the people paying them want to know why. This county has heard enough podium talk over the decades to know that numbers on a handout are only worth what they can be checked against. The Times will keep watching how that $106.5 million actually gets spent, and whether homeowners in Herrin, Carterville and the smaller towns see it come back to their streets.
— Compiled from reporting by the Southern Illinoisan.
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