Record back taxes owed in Kane County

A record number of Kane County property owners who owe back taxes are expected to have their debts sold this year and face the possibility of losing their assets, officials said Monday.

County Treasurer David Rickert blames a struggling economy and the sub-prime mortgage crisis for what he predicts will be a 25 percent spike in parcels involved in tax sales.

Rickert told the county's public service committee Monday 8,000 property owners currently face tax sales -- a number he predicts will be closer to 4,000 by the Oct. 26 payment deadline.

That's about 800 more landowners than last year who could eventually face losing their assets and investments over back taxes. About half the properties are in Aurora, he said.

"Obviously, neither the board nor I want anybody to go to tax sale," Rickert said. "It's one of the less pleasant functions of my office."

In a tax sale, property owners' tax debts are sold at auction to the bidder willing to charge the lowest interest rate.

Residential property owners have three years from the date of the sale to pay back the debt with interest, or face losing their properties. Commercial property owners, on average, have about 2½ years to settle the debt.

Rickert said tax sales on average take place over about $3,000 in back taxes, so owners usually prefer to pay off the debt rather than lose an investment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The interest rates are typically 2 percent or less, he said.

This year's list of properties includes parcels in Elgin, Dundee Township, St. Charles and Geneva, among others. Rickert said the properties are "across the board" as far as demographic backgrounds.

"You're going to see just as many go to tax sale from lower-middle-class ends of the county to what I consider upper-middle-class ends of the county," he said. "A lot of the feedback I'm getting from customers is that the economy just isn't doing well, that they don't have as much income."

The county's tax sale is planned for 9 a.m. Oct. 29 at the Kane County Government Center, 719 S. Batavia Ave.

If the mortgage trend continues, Rickert said, next year's sale might last two days instead of one.