WOODSTOCK – The McHenry County Board approved a smaller 2013 budget and froze its property tax levy.

County Board members voted, 22-1, to approve a $250 million budget for the fiscal year starting Dec. 1. The county’s spending plan holds next year’s property-tax levy flat, rejecting a 3 percent increase for inflation that governments are entitled to under the tax cap.

The county will collect $2.3 million less than last year in tax revenue by holding its levy flat. The levy freeze applies only to the portion of property-tax bills that funds county government, not schools, municipalities, townships or other taxing bodies. County government, on average, accounts for 10 percent of a McHenry County homeowner’s property-tax bill, according to county staff.