McHenry County sales tax increase brought in more revenues than property tax it replaced, officials say
About a year and a half after McHenry County shoppers began paying a sales tax to fund the McHenry County Mental Health Board, officials say it generated more revenue than the board received from property taxes.
County voters approved an additional 0.25% sales tax in March 2024. It took effect July 1, 2024.
In exchange for that yes vote, county leaders removed almost $11 million of the county property tax levy that funded the Mental Health Board.
County Administrator Scott Hartman said late last year that the sales tax was on track to provide more money for mental health services than the property tax. County leaders recently confirmed that it happened.
The sales tax generated about $11.15 million in fiscal 2025, county leaders said. That’s more than the roughly $10.97 million the Mental Health Board got in fiscal 2024.
Hartman said the sales tax is a better tool because it gives homeowners property tax relief.
He touted it as “a huge victory” for the county board and voters to have that property tax relief.
“I can’t help but think” how the Mental Health Board would have fared if it was still funded by property taxes, Hartman said, adding the sales tax allowed the McHenry County Board to focus on other priorities.
The property tax levy for the county was about $73.8 million in fiscal 2024. Nearly $11 million went to the Mental Health Board.
The county property tax levy dropped to about $65 million in fiscal 2025. Most of the drop was because of the sales tax switch, although the county board chose to take some, but not all, of the inflationary increase allowed that year.
With the fiscal 2026 levy that was just passed, the levy increased to $67.7 million.
County officials said they have reduced property taxes over the past decade, with the levy being about $79.4 million in 2017. The county’s share is 6.5% of residential tax bills, officials said.
“The budget numbers for 2025 prove decisively that voters approved a win-win when they passed the referendum — they eliminated a property tax levy and replaced it with a fairer, more sustainable sales tax,” McHenry County Board Chairman Mike Buehler said in a county news release. “What’s more, as McHenry County’s sales tax revenues continue to increase, the Mental Health Board is in a much better position now to address mental health needs and challenges.”