Kane forest district tax levy likely to increase, but tax bill may not

While attempting to put as positive a spin on it as possible, it appears Kane County Forest Preserve commissioners are likely to raise the district's tax levy.

About half the forest preserve commission met Friday and agreed to propose the full panel vote on a hike of about $65,000, which is the smallest increase possible and could still result in lower tax bills for many county residents.

If the measure is approved, it would be the first time in three years the district will collect more property tax dollars than the year before. The new tax dollars would be from the roughly $120 million in new construction in the county over the past year.

But there's good news for taxpayers: Even if the levy goes up, district officials expect many tax bills will go down.

Assuming a home's equalized assessed value does not increase, the owner of a $233,000 home would pay $38 in property taxes to the district, estimates show. That's a $1.75 less than this year's bill.

The bad news? Homeowners could save a little more if commissioners keep the levy flat for a fourth year. In that case, the owner of that $233,000 home could see property tax savings of as much as $2.14.

The 11 commissioners present Friday were generally sympathetic to fellow commissioner John Hoscheit's assertion that including new construction in the tax levy is actually the most fair way to calculate it. Otherwise, people who built new homes are shouldering less of the tax burden than their neighbors.

"As more consumers and taxpayers come into the county, are we going to spread the cost or not?" Hoscheit asked. "When you have budgeted salary increases, unless you're going to cut staff, you have to have the money coming from somewhere. This is still a tax decrease; it's just a lesser decrease."

But the commissioners worried taxpayers may view any levy increase - even if they are paying less individually - as the government asking for more money it doesn't need.

"For the average person that I run into, any time you don't freeze the tax, they don't even hear past that," Commissioner Theresa Barreiro said.

Commissioner Becky Gillam said she's already received a few letters from constituents asking the levy stay flat at least one more year, even though they understand their tax bill will be lower under the proposal.

Those early responses may yet mean some "no" votes Tuesday when the full board considers the increase.

Also potentially fueling "no" votes is the county board's practice of keeping tax levies frozen for as long as possible. Hoscheit reminded fellow commissioners the county has benefited from rising sales and income tax dollars to keep that promise, but that's money the forest preserve doesn't receive - plus, it's already increased the lease rates for farming on forest district property to match the market.