Bartlett mayor late on property taxes 3 consecutive years

For three consecutive years, Bartlett Village President Michael Kelly acknowledges, he has been late in paying property taxes on his home and law office.

Kelly made the acknowledgment when asked about Cook County documents showing overdue taxes.

Kelly, who took office in 2009 after 12 years as Hanover Township supervisor, most recently was delinquent on his 2010 taxes, totaling $25,983 from the two Bartlett properties. He paid the bill in its entirety Tuesday afternoon, about five hours after the Daily Herald questioned him about it.

That morning, Kelly said he was aware he was behind and said he was planning to “get them paid really soon.”

On Friday, he said he went in person Tuesday to the Chase Bank on Route 59 in Streamwood to pay them.

According to the Cook County Treasurer's Office, the first installment of $4,304.31 for Kelly's Patricia Lane home and $8,076.16 for his law office, at 118 W. Bartlett Ave., was due April 1, 2011.

The second installment — $3,851.04 for the home and $8.087.19 for the office — was due Nov. 1.

As part of the payment he made last week, Kelly was hit with a monthly 1.5 percent penalty Cook County property owners face when they don't pay installments on time.

Kelly said he wasn't going to make excuses or try to defend his tardiness.

“I, like everyone else, just do the best I can,” he said. “I understand it's my responsibility to pay them. They have been paid.”

He would not discuss why he has consistently been behind in paying the taxes.

Kelly only noted that, eventually, he always pays the bills — and any penalty that comes with them — in full. “Times are tough for a lot of people,” including himself, he said.

According to the Cook County Clerk's Office, Kelly missed both installments' due dates for his 2009 and 2008 taxes on the same two properties.

For each of those years, the combined taxes again came to a total of more than $20,000. The length of time Kelly fell behind in those payments ranged from 30 days to 16 months.

County documents show that he also was delinquent for the first installment of his home's 2007 property taxes and on the second installment of his law office's 2006 property taxes. Both of those payments were made less than two months late.