My 2009 Kane County Real Estate Tax Bill, The Biggest Hog at the Trough and Classic Rock From the Who
April 25, 2010
My 2009 Real Estate Tax bill arrived Saturday. It sure doesn’t feel like property values have stabilized, but that’s what my bill says. My homes Fair Cash Value increased slightly by 0.19%. Of course, my property tax went up far more than that at 2.85%. In other words, my taxes are going up 2.66% more than my assessed value, indicating various governmental bodies still continue to tax to the max. So where does it all go? Well, my bill has nineteen different taxing bodies getting a cut. So, I wondered, is there a way to see which taxing bodies are doing a good job controlling costs and which are not? If I create an index using my 2007 tax bill as a baseline, wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume that if the percentage of my taxes going to each body stays flat or declines year over year, that that is indicative of a body that is living within its means? Consider the following analysis.
| Taxing Bodies: % of Total Tax Bill 2007 – 2009 | ||||
| ranked high to low | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | Comments |
| Geneva School District 304* | 62.79% | 63.51% | 63.64% | Increased ’08 vs ’07 and ’09 vs ’08 with both years greater than ’07 baseline |
| Elburn Fire District* | 8.26% | 8.19% | 8.15% | Decreases ’08 and ’09, both under the ’07 baseline |
| Geneva Park District* | 5.57% | 5.54% | 5.52% | Decreases ’08 and ’09, both under the ’07 baseline |
| Waubonsee College 516* | 5.32% | 5.40% | 5.31% | Increased ’08 vs ’07, but ’09 now less than ’07 baseline |
| Kane County* | 4.47% | 4.51% | 4.46% | Increased ’08 vs ’07, but ’09 now less than ’07 baseline |
| Mill Creek SSA | 3.58% | 3.24% | 3.35% | Decrease ’08 vs ’07, slight increase ’09 vs ’08, but ’09 still < ’07 baseline |
| Geneva Library* | 3.57% | 3.58% | 3.54% | Increased ’08 vs ’07, but ’09 now less than ’07 baseline |
| Kane County Forest Preserve* | 2.66% | 2.61% | 2.62% | Decrease ’08 vs ’07, slight increase ’09 vs ’08, but ’09 still < ’07 baseline |
| Blackberry Twp Road Dist.* | 1.94% | 1.79% | 1.80% | Decrease ’08 vs ’07, slight increase ’09 vs ’08, but ’09 still < ’07 baseline |
| Blackberry Twp | 1.68% | 1.47% | 1.42% | Decreases ’08 and ’09, both under the ’07 baseline |
| Mill Creek Water Reclamation | 0.18% | 0.17% | 0.17% | Decreases ’08 vs ’07, ’09 flat to ’08 but ’09 still < ’07 baseline |
| 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | ||
| *includes pension line item | ||||
Isn’t it interesting that the only one of the eleven taxing bodies above that has gone up every year and the only one that is not equal to or less than a 2007 baseline as a percentage of my overall tax bill is Geneva School District 304. The only one. Of my 2.85% tax increase, District 304 is responsible for1.95%, equal to 68.4% of my total tax increase. But hey, what’s a couple hundred more bucks a year to feed the biggest hog at the property tax trough? It’s for the kids, right? Surely it’s not for the bloated administration and staff or Superintendents contract, an overly generous 3 year teachers contract, a 27 acre boondoggle, new buses every year, dubious P-Card purchases, opening and staffing unneeded Fabyan Elementary or failing to establish a hiring freeze etc etc etc ad nauseam. The majority of the current Board sees nothing wrong with any of this. If you do, the next School Board election is April, 2011 when three of the seven positions will be contested. You’ve got a year to get informed, to pay attention and to make up your own mind. Just don’t be fooled by glib claims of a newfound fiscal conservatism and responsibility from the incumbents. We saw this cynical ploy in the last election, and they’ve failed to walk the talk since. So enjoy the classic rock video below and allow the Who to remind you to not be fooled again!
