Byron Generating Station pays a fixed amount of property tax every year, set in advance under a settlement that covers tax years 2022 through 2027. That payment funds most of the Byron school district's tax base. The district built its recent borrowing around the same end date. If you're weighing a home in Byron against one in Oregon, Stillman Valley or Rochelle, you'll learn more from that deal's calendar than from comparing tax rates.
The tax bill line that looked like a jump
Some buyers first run into this on an actual Byron tax bill. In 2024, Ogle County added a third school line, "Byron Unit 226 Bonds," that hadn't been on bills before. Because the line was new, the prior-year column showed "0," even though the 2023 bill already included a bond rate of 0.43 inside the main school rate. Seen side by side, the bond line looks like a brand-new charge.
The district put out an update on May 23, 2025, explaining the change and saying it had not raised its rate. Here are the figures it published:
| Byron Unit 226 fund | 2023 bill | 2024 bill |
|---|---|---|
| Byron Unit 226 | 3.87475 | 3.42168 |
| Byron Unit 226 Pension | 0.01429 | 0.01365 |
| Byron Unit 226 Bonds | 0 | 0.40759 |
| Total | 3.88904 | 3.84292 |
The district said the split came from the plant agreement. The county had trouble applying the fixed payment to Constellation's bill because state law doesn't allow a debt service levy to be reduced. To distribute the payment correctly, the county pulled bonds out as their own line, and only taxing bodies that are part of the Constellation agreement show bonds separately. The format of a Byron tax bill traces back to the plant deal.
The 2024 bill had a second quirk. The Illinois Department of Revenue applied a multiplier to all assessed values, and it was applied to Byron Station by mistake. Since the plant's value is fixed by contract, the error pushed the school rate down artificially. The district said the rate would have been 3.86 instead of 3.84, and that Ogle County had told it the error would be fixed for 2025 bills.
What the settlement fixed, and why it took a settlement
The plant's assessment was appealed almost every year after the two reactors came online in 1985 and 1987. The 2023 agreement between Constellation Energy Generation and 12 taxing bodies settled appeals going back to tax year 2012 through 2021. It also set the station's equalized assessed value at $500 million and its tax payment at exactly $33,666,667 for each tax year from 2022 through 2027. The Ogle County Board approved it unanimously.
That payment is a little lower than before. For tax year 2021, the station's EAV was $503,088,717, and Constellation paid $34,900,997.44 in 2022. County Board Chairperson John Finfrock called it "only a 2.9% reduction" and said the fixed amount "makes it easier to budget – for six years." The article's own dollar figures work out to about 3.5%. Either way, the reduction is small. The bigger change is predictability.
Each body's share of the $33.67 million is set in the agreement:
| Taxing body | Annual share |
|---|---|
| Byron CUSD 226 | $18,442,741 |
| Ogle County | $3,550,378 |
| Byron Fire Protection District | $2,656,657 |
| Byron Forest Preserve District | $2,247,989 |
| Oregon Park District | $2,196,742 |
| Rock Valley College | $2,132,975 |
| Byron Library District | $826,993 |
| Oregon CUSD | $690,351 |
| Rockvale Township Road District | $505,193 |
| Byron Museum District | $175,143 |
| Rockvale Township | $163,884 |
| Kishwaukee College | $77,621 |
The Byron Park District isn't on that list, though it shows up on a Byron homeowner's bill. In the 2025 rate report for city tax code 00340, the park district's rate is 0.51956. The Oregon Park District is on the list. Two park lines that look alike on paper have very different exposure to the plant.
How much of the school district's base this is
The school district doesn't publish a percentage. You can get a rough one from its levy resolution. For tax year 2024, the district reported a non-debt extension of $25,175,390. The plant's $18.44 million share is about 73% of that figure. Adding the separately reported $2,986,973 debt service extension brings the share to about 65%. This is a back-of-envelope calculation comparing extensions, not actual collections, and the multiplier error makes the 2024 numbers a little blurry. The point stands, though. One taxpayer covers about two-thirds or more of the Byron school levy.
That explains a result that surprises people who assume a nuclear plant means very low rates. In the 2025 Ogle County rate report, the total for Byron city code 00340 is 8.24169. Rochelle city code 00443 totals 8.37760 in the same report. The two codes are made up of different taxing bodies, so the comparison shows correlation only, not cause. Still, a gap that small suggests the plant money has gone more into what the districts provide and plan than into a dramatically lower rate.
The school district's update supports that. It says its total rate has dropped from 4.03 in 2018, and that the agreement's "financial stability" allowed it to "plan and complete some very overdue repairs and renovations." It paid for those projects with bonds, structured "in a manner that keeps the tax rate stable, around 3.87, and the repayment schedule close to the timeframe of the long-term tax settlement agreement." In the 2025 rate report, the two school lines total 3.84104.
The calendar a buyer is actually signing up for
Illinois property taxes are paid a year behind. The plant's tax year 2021 value produced the bill Constellation paid in 2022. Based on that pattern, the dates look like this:
- 2026 bills cover tax year 2025 and fall within the fixed-payment term. Byron's school district says taxes are generally paid in June and September.
- Tax year 2027 is the last year of the $500 million EAV and the $33,666,667 payment.
- 2028 is when Finfrock said the parties can renegotiate the station's value.
- 2044 and 2046 are the reported end dates of the operating licenses for Units 1 and 2, which were renewed in 2015. As of its September 15, 2026 update, the NRC's subsequent license renewal status page did not list Byron among future filings or applications under review.
No public source predicts what a renegotiated value would be. If you buy in Byron this fall, you're buying into a few more years of a known plant payment, followed by a negotiation with no set outcome. Someone holding a home for five or ten years will see the bills that come after that negotiation.
The 524 acres that get mentioned every time 2028 comes up
The other part of this story is the land around the plant. In 2024, Constellation asked Ogle County to rezone land near the station. On June 27, the Regional Planning Commission voted 3–2 to recommend denying the original 596.33-acre request. The Byron City Council voted 5–0 to support the rezoning on July 17. Marion Township trustees voted 5–0 against it on July 22. After seven parcels were dropped, the Zoning Board of Appeals recommended approval 3–2. On August 20, 2024, the County Board voted 18–4–1 to rezone 10 parcels in Rockvale and Marion townships from AG-1 Agricultural to I-1 Industrial, about 524 acres in all.
In a 2025 update to the county zoning ordinance, data centers became a conditional use in I-1 zones. That means public notice, ZBA hearings and County Board approval are required. At the July 21, 2026 County Board meeting, board chairman Bruce Larson said there had been "no requests, no formal actions to bring any data center to Ogle County," and that the county was researching standards for water use, water quality, energy use and noise.
"The county is not actually seeking any commercial entity to bring a data center to our county." Bruce Larson, Ogle County Board chairman
A privately run advocacy website launched in April 2026 argues for a data center as a way to diversify revenue once the plant settlement ends. It says it has no affiliation with Constellation or local government. That's an argument from supporters. No application, developer, or tax arrangement has been reported. Shaw Local and the Rockford Register Star have covered the settlement, but neither has reported a link between a data center and its renegotiation.
The next public meetings are on the county calendar. The Assessments and Planning & Zoning Committee meets October 13, the County Board on October 20, and the Zoning Board of Appeals on October 29. No data-center item had been posted for any of them when this was written. Larson also said the county plans a community open house on the ordinance, with no date announced yet.
A few direct questions
Does the plant deal lower my individual tax bill?
A homeowner's bill comes from each taxing body's rate applied to that parcel's taxable EAV, after any exemptions. The Byron city code total dropped from 8.30071 in the 2024 report to 8.24169 in 2025. A lower rate alone doesn't guarantee a lower bill, since assessments change too. For your specific parcel, check with the Ogle County Treasurer or a tax professional.
Is the plant's contribution shrinking each year?
No. The agreement sets the same $500 million value for every year through 2027, with no step-downs.
Which homes are tied to the plant payment?
That depends on the taxing bodies in a property's tax code. Byron CUSD 226, Byron Fire, the Byron Library District and the Byron Forest Preserve District all receive shares. So do Oregon CUSD and the Oregon Park District, which means some properties outside Byron are affected too.
Reading a Byron tax history means knowing which lines are tied to the plant and how many years the fixed payment has left. For any home you're considering, Carla Benesh can go through its tax code and recent bills with you, and price a Byron listing with that same calendar in mind. Request a Free Market Valuation to get started.
