Kane forest commissioners look at hiking property tax levy

With a desire to end the reliance on riverboat gambling money bailouts, Kane County Forest Preserve commissioners may decide to ratchet up the property tax levy.

For years the district has kept its levy flat. But for the past two, that's only been possible because of bailouts from the county using riverboat gambling proceeds.

The bailouts were relatively easy to come by; forest preserve commissioners serve a dual elected role as county board members, effectively allowing the separate taxing bodies to share resources when needed.

Two years ago, the county gave the forest preserve district $150,000 to shore up its budget; this budget year, the district got $250,000 from the fund for improvements at Brunner Family Forest Preserve near Carpentersville.

Forest preserve commissioners agreed Tuesday the district can't rely on riverboat money forever, especially with profits dwindling in recent years at Elgin's Grand Victoria Casino.

Commissioner Doug Scheflow, who represents Elgin, said he doesn't like the idea of the forest district's budget hinging on county funds.

"It seems to me that was a mistake, taking money from the riverboat," Scheflow said. "Long-term, we can't continue to do it. I think we should separate ourselves from the county when it comes to our levy."

That means finding money for operations, and currently, the district's largest income source besides property taxes comes from fees charged for farming on forest district property.

The county itself has managed to keep its own tax levy flat by cutting expenses and collecting more income taxes and sales taxes than budgeted.

One way for the forest district to find new cash would be to account for any new construction in its property tax levy. Last year, there was about $101 million in new construction the district didn't account for in its levy.

But accounting for new construction means the district would need to collect more taxes, and it's not entirely clear whether doing so would be enough to make ends meet.

Ken Stanish, the district's finance director, said including that growth in the levy would have brought in about $55,000 of new money to the district.

Commissioners agreed to have Stanish come up with projections showing how much would be added to the district's budget if the tax levy was increased to include new construction.

"I don't think anyone here is abandoning the idea of holding the line on taxes," Commissioner Mark Davoust said. "If we don't at least consider this, you're asking all of the current taxpayers to take the brunt of the new growth without capturing it as we go."

Commissioner John Hoscheit, who also oversees riverboat funds for the county, said either route is still a win for local taxpayers.

He says keeping the levy the same is a property tax reduction, because not accounting for the new growth decreases the average individual tax payment to the forest district.

"Our mindset has been that if a freeze is appropriate, we'll do it," Hoscheit said. "But we have to look at what the impact of that will be on our operating budget. We have to look at new construction and see how that will help us."

The full forest preserve commission won't vote on the 2016 tax levy for several months.