Kane officials reach tax deal with religious center near Elburn

Some Elburn-area residents have envisioned a flood of children into local public schools, and higher taxes, if a nonprofit Hindu group is allowed to build new residential housing on 142-acre property.

But Kane County officials may have found a compromise Tuesday that most neighbors can embrace.

The property, on Keslinger Road near Elburn's eastern border, is the former location of a Seventh-day Adventist board school. It closed in 2007 and fell into disrepair. Hindu-based M.A. Center bought the property in 2012.

Now it wants to expand its housing options for volunteers, M.A. Center members and visitors to its various retreats.

That plan involves construction of 72 duplex units and 192 dorm-style apartments. The duplexes will range from 650-square-foot cottages to 2,100-square-foot, three-bedroom residences. All those units will be for M.A. Center members living on the property on a long term, full-time basis.

Those members will pay what not-for-profit officials describe as a fee to live there. County officials describe that fee as rent.

The 192 apartments will come in the form of a three-story building. They will feature one bedroom with an attached bathroom, similar to a dorm or hotel room. The idea is to use those units for short-term stays at the center ranging from a weekend up to nine months.

For nearby residents, the fear is the number of school-aged children those 264 new residential units may attract. Even a short-term, nine-month stay is long enough to see a child through an entire school year. The 13 residential units at the center right now already send seven children to Kaneland schools.

"The reason I'm here is for taxes," said Elburn resident Tom Snyder. "I moved from Geneva last year to Elburn simply for taxes. I reduced my taxes by about 33 percent. All I'm looking for is equality and no discrimination on me or anybody else in Elburn. I want to be sure when we look at that tax ruling that every one of those units is taxed equally and (valued) at the same rate that I'm paying taxes on."

Members of the county board's development committee openly negotiated a resolution with M.A. Center representatives during the meeting.

The 13 existing residential units at the property already pay property taxes. That's already an improvement from the days the land was used by the Seventh-day Adventists. The 72 duplex units will also pay property taxes in recognition of the rent-producing nature of those structures.

The 192 apartments, however, will operate more like a hotel. None of the guests staying there will be allowed to send children to local schools. As such, those units will receive the religious-use property tax exemption for the property.

The center also plans to construct a K-12 Montessori school on the property that will be used by residents and guests and be open to the public.

Committee members embraced those concessions; however, they held the plans within the committee for another month. That will allow the tax agreements to be put in writing before the project moves to the next step of county approval.