Campton Hills pursues special tax levy for subdivision
Campton Hills officials are moving ahead with a controversial cost-sharing arrangement to address failing drain tiles and flooding in the Evening Prairie subdivision.
Whether homeowners take up the offer remains to be seen.
A public hearing scheduled for June 3 should determine whether some 40 property owners are OK with the deal, which would cost them each about $3,000 over the next decade, or $300 a year.
It's probably the cheapest option anyone is going to see, say village officials, who've already committed $10,000 in Campton Hills tax dollars to the project and are counting on $106,500 more from Kane County.
"This is a way to spread it out and maybe make it a little easier to handle," Village President Patsy Smith told several Evening Prairie residents at a village board meeting Tuesday. "We'd love for you to cooperate with us, but that's your decision."
No one from the public spoke about the issue before the board voted unanimously to pursue a special service area, which is essentially an even tax levy that only Evening Prairie and surrounding areas would face to help pay the expense over 10 years.
The homeowners were more forthright in protesting the move at a meeting earlier this month, saying they felt past Kane County planners and some neighbors should be held responsible for the situation. Several said flooding has been an issue for decades, though not everyone in the neighborhood experienced flooding. Residents blamed the problem on poor planning when the subdivision was first being built 40 years ago and the construction of a private pond that frequently backs up.
The alternatives to a special service area don't appear any better.
Smith said a special assessment to fund the project based on property values would cost at least $50,000 more in legal expenses. And if the system collapses, as experts say could happen, residents would have to wage costly legal battles on each other over the impediment of public water and might also face having their homes condemned, village and county officials have said.
The June 3 hearing, set for 8 p.m. at the Campton Township Community Center, 5N082 Old LaFox Road, should help gauge whether there are enough unhappy property owners to call off the arrangement. For that to happen, more than half would have to sign a petition on behalf of the subdivision between Silver Glen and Burlington roads.
Should the homeowners turn down the deal, Smith warned, the county could potentially withdraw its tentative funding -- resulting in more than $100,000 in added costs for the residents.
"It's really up to them," she said.