• Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles on Kane County Connects regarding the 2014 property tax bill that will be sent out to Kane County residents, starting April 24, 2015. You can also see your tax bill online starting on or about April 20. Subsequent articles will look at the top 10 Kane County taxpayers, an estimate of the average property tax bill by township, plus where the property tax money comes from and where it goes.

What’s a relevant tax statistic, anyway? And why is it relevant to me?

Those certainly are two excellent, and if I may say so, “relevant” questions you might be asking when you see the tax chart presented in the annual press release from the Kane County Treasurer’s Office.

Before I get too far in this article, another great reference for property-tax information was published TODAY on the Kane County Supervisor of Assessments website, the Kane County Treasure’s website and the Kane County Clerk’s website: Frequently Asked Questions about the 2014 (payable 2015) Kane County Property Tax Bills. We’ll do some follow-up stories from that publication on Kane County Connects, as well, but there’s no reason to wait for the next article. I encourage you to consult the FAQ early and often.

Regarding the Treasurer’s Office release, the “Relevant Tax Statistics” chart offers a quick summary of the total amount of real estate taxes collected in Kane County. The number alone is worth pondering: $1.255 billion, with a “b.”

Relevant Tax Statistics

As you can see from the chart, the number of parcels only went up by 125 year over year.

The chart shows that the “Average Bill” is going up, as well, this tax season, by about $283.85. Part of that is because of increased levies by various taxing bodies throughout Kane County. Part is due to an anomaly in the tax-collection process over the past two years, primarily affecting taxpayers in the Elgin and Huntley areas, including the U-46 School District, the city of Elgin and Elgin Community College taxing districts. For more information, see this FAQ page on the Kane County Clerk’s Office website, call the Kane County Clerk’s Office at (630) 232-5964 or visit KaneCountyClerk.org.

Just for the record, your tax bill is NOT going up because of the Kane County portion of your bill. The tax levy for Kane County has stayed flat for four straight years.

Next in the series: Top 10 Kane County Taxpayers. Can you guess who, what and where they might be?

For More Information

• For questions about exemptions or appeals, call the County Assessment Office at 630-208-3818 or visit KaneCountyAssessments.org.
• For questions about how tax rates are developed, call the Kane County Clerk at (630) 232-5964 or visit KaneCountyClerk.org.
• For questions about tax bills or payments, call the Kane County Treasurer at (630) 232-3565 or visit KaneCountyTreasurer.org.
• FAQ page on the Kane County Clerk’s Office website

Read the Series

• Tuesday: Your Tax Bills Are Coming!
• Today: Relevant Tax Statistics
• Thursday: Top 10 Kane County Taxpayers
• Friday: Estimate of Average Property Tax Bill by Township
• Monday: Where Your Property Tax Money Goes, Where It Comes From