• Editor’s Note: This article shares information from the Frequently Asked Questions about the 2015 (payable 2016) Kane County Property Tax Bills document published online through the coordinated efforts of Kane County Supervisor of Assessments Mark Armstrong, Kane County Clerk John A. Cunningham and Kane County Treasurer David Rickert.

There’s always an important explanation that goes with each community’s tax levy changes from one year to the next.

It’s true that the data is the data. But it’s also true that there’s good news and bad news in almost every scenario — and that’s one of the reasons we provide phone numbers for each community: so that you can get the most pertinent information from the most local source.

Last year, for example, Pingree Grove led the league in percentage increase of its tax levy, and the same is true this year. But it’s also true that Pingree Grove’s tax rate generally went down last year because the levy increase was due to expansion of the tax base. So if you pay property taxes in Pingree Grove and your tax rate went down, that’s good news.

Following last year’s Tax FAQs article, Pingree Grove Director of Finance Thomas G. Walter called to explain that Pingree Grove, in fact, added property totaling more than $12 million for the tax extension levy last year.

“The addition of new property is what led to a double-digit increase in the amount of the levy,” Walter said.

The distinction of having the biggest levy decrease for 2015 property taxes (payable in 2016) goes to Barrington Hills, which lowered its tax levy by 4.2 percent year over year.

Lastly, it’s always important to remember that a city or village only accounts, on average in Kane County, for about 10 percent of your total property-tax bill. Schools are the highest, averaging 68.5 percent of the pie chart. For the sake of comparison, Kane County — which held its levy flat for the fourth straight year — accounts for 4.3 percent of the average taxpayer’s bill.

Kane County Municipal Levies

Here’s the order of percent change, from biggest increase to biggest decrease year over year:

1. Pingree Grove — 12.9%
2. Elgin — 11.4%
3. Hoffman Estates — 4.9%
4. Algonquin — 4.6%
5. Carpentersville — 4.6%
6. Hampshire — 3.2%
7. North Aurora — 2.7%
8. Elburn — 2.2%
9. Geneva — 2.2%
10. Sugar Grove — 2.2%
11. South Elgin — 1.9%
12. Aurora — 1.8%
13. Gilberts — 1.7%
14. Virgil — 1.2%
15. Wayne — 1.2%
16. West Dundee — 1.1%
17. Montgomery — 1.0%
18. Sleepy Hollow — 0.9%
19. Maple Park — 0.8%
20. Burlington — 0.7%
21. St. Charles — 0.0%
22. Big Rock — 0% (zero levy)
23. Campton Hills — 0% (zero levy)
24. Kaneville — 0% (zero levy)
25. Lily Lake — 0% (zero levy)
26. Huntley — (-0.6%)
27. Bartlett — (-0.9%)
28. East Dundee — (-0.9%)
29. Huntley — (-0.9%)
30. Barrington Hills — (-4.2%)

Q: Did my city/village hold its property tax levy flat as compared to last year?

A: The answer varies by city or village; please see the following data:

Again, for information about how these tax levies were determined, please contact the municipality that developed the levy ordinance. Phone numbers are listed below:

SOURCE: Frequently Asked Questions about the 2015 (payable 2016) Kane County Property Tax Bills