Kane County tax bills in the mail, will be higher again

Kane County property tax bills will arrive in mailboxes by the end of the week, and they'll show the average homeowner's tax debt has increased about $100.

Information released by Kane County Treasurer David Rickert shows the average Kane County property tax bill is about $6,106. The bad news is that's a 1.69 percent increase over the tax bill local residents received last year. The good news is the size of the increase follows a trend in recent years of being notably smaller than the previous year. Tax bills payable in 2011 went up by 2.08 percent compared to 2010. In 2010, bills increased by 3.64 percent compared to 2009. In 2009, the increase in local tax bills was the highest in recent years with a 4.82 percent bump up compared to 2008.

However, more and more Kane County taxpayers are filing property assessment complaints in hopes of lowering their individual tax bills. Kane County officials fielded 3,133 of those complaints in the latest filing period. That marked a 36 percentage point increase in complaints from the 2010 tax year, a record in the county.

Depending where you live, your share of the local tax burden may be more than fellow Kane County residents in other communities. A homeowner with a residence in Elgin Township has a higher tax bill, on average, than any other Kane County resident. The average tax bill for a resident who owns a $300,000 home in Elgin Township is $8,903 this tax cycle. In comparison, the owner of a $300,000 home in Campton Township has an average property tax bill of $7,431.

For the owner of a $300,000 home, the highest average tax bills are for residents in Elgin Township at $8,903, Aurora Township at $8,728, and Rutland Township at $8,727.

The lowest average tax bills are for homeowners in Campton Township at $7,431, St. Charles Township at $7,728, and Hampshire Township at $7,918.

Taxpayers can go to kanecountytreasurer.org to view their tax information and print out duplicate bills. Also available on the website is a list of all unclaimed funds held by the treasurer.

The first installment of the tax bill is due June 4 and the final payment is due Sept. 4.