Kane County tax bills see smaller increase
New property tax bills for Kane County residents will hit local mailboxes next week. The numbers show residents are seeing the smallest tax bill increase in at least four years.
Information released this week by Kane County Treasurer David Rickert shows the average property tax bill for local residents totaled about $6,004. That’s a 2.08 percentage increase over last year’s average tax bill of $5,881. Increases in the years before that were 4.82 percent in 2009 and 4.85 percent in 2008.
Smaller increases do not mean residents will necessarily be happy with their bills. In fact, information from Kane County Supervisor of Assessments Mark Armstrong shows a record number of residents filed complaints on their latest assessments. The Kane County Board of Review saw a 35 percent increase on the number of complaints compared to last year.
Lower assessments mean lower property tax bills, and by Armstrong’s account, 66 percent of all complaints received a reduced assessment. Of those who received a reduction, the average savings on their tax bills amount to about $550.
Armstrong’s office also tracked, for the first time, what made complaints successful. The No. 1 way local residents received a lower assessment, and thereby a smaller tax bill, was discussing concerns about their assessment with a local township assessor and earning a recommendation from the assessor for a lower assessment.
The second most successful route to a lower tax bill was presenting evidence directly to the board of review for why an assessment should be lower.
The first payment on new tax bills is due June 1. The second payment is due Sept. 1.
Top 10 Kane County tax bills:1. Simon/Chelsea Chicago Development (Aurora Outlet Mall): $3.22 million2. Geneva Commons: $2.36 million3. Algonquin Commons: $1.92 million4. Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc.: $1.88 million5. John B. Sanfilippo Son, Inc. (Fisher Nuts): $1.34 million6. Spring Hill Mall, LLC: $1.15 million7. Sherman Hospital: $967,3928. AMLI at St. Charles, LLC: $891,9439. Aurora Industrial Holding Co.: $788,00810. Regency Canterfield, LLC: $720,765