Yes, tax bill are in the mail, even as this is written. Yours should be arriving in the dependable U.S. mail any day now — maybe even today.

We know from a previous Kane County Connects article containing press-release info from the Kane County Treasurer’s Office that the county will collect a little less than $1.27 billion in property taxes this year.

So, where does all that money go? And where does it come from?

The short answer is that most of it goes to public schools. And most of it comes from homeowners.

Here’s how it breaks down, according to a recent press release from the Kane County Treasurer’s Office.

Where the Money Comes From

As you can see by those charts, 74.7 percent of the property tax pie comes from residential property. That compares to 74.6 percent last year.

• Commercial property taxes got a smaller slice of the pie this year: 14.4 percent this year compared to 14.6 last year.
• Industrial property taxes paid a bigger share of the total: 8.8 percent of the pie this year, 8.6 percent last year.
• Farmland property taxes changed by a 1/10th of a percent: 1.9 percent this year, 2.0 percent last year

So, the bottom line is that the burden on residential taxpayers is getting a wee bit bigger — but only a wee bit. For the most part, it’s status quo.

Where the Money Goes

Again, the chart tells the story.

But for the sake of comparison, schools got a smaller slice of the pie than last year. This year, schools got 68.5 percent and last year received 69.1 percent of total property taxes paid in Kane County, according to charts provided by the Treasurer’s Office.

Here are some other comparisons:

• Cities (up): 10.2 percent this year, 9.8 percent last year,
• Forest Preserves and Parks (down): 6.7 percent this year, 6.8 percent last year
• County (same): 4.3 percent this year, 4.3 percent last year
• Libraries (same): 3.1 percent this year, 3.1 percent last year
• Townships (down): 2.6 percent this year, 2.5 percent last year
• Tax Increment Financing Districts or Other (down): 1.6 percent this year, 1.5 percent last year

Click here to see last year’s story: Where Does Property Tax Money Go? Where Does It Come From?

Questions? Here’s Where to Look for More Info