Kane County Reporter

Kane County’s treasurer has proposed delaying this year's first property tax installments from June to September, but other county and local governments see little value to the plan.

David Rickert drafted the legislation to present to the Kane County Board. The county could absorb the $340,000 lost in the three-month delay by using the more than $4 million balance in the Kane County Property Tax Freeze Protection fund, Rickert told the Chicago Tribune.

Ricker said that property taxes would remain the same. He said the proposal could serve as a model for other counties as residents and businesses across the state have been adversely impacted by the economic shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said each county could decide if it needed to delay late payment penalty fees.

“Mortgage escrow accounts and tax prepayments would be on time,” Rickert told the Tribune. “Also, the second installment would come in as usual, and at the very least, 50% of the first installment would come in by the due date.”

North Aurora Village President Dale Berman believes delaying taxes will affect the school district the most, though he doesn't think it will hurt their revenue stream.

“It’s a question of who can best survive and what individuals you would hurt the most. It’s a tough call,” Berman said.

Sean Michaels, president of Sugar Grove Village, is pretty sure 80%-90% of homeowners put money in escrow for their property taxes. He thinks next year might be a better time to consider a proposal like Rickert’s idea.

“It’s sort of like rent forgiveness – a lot of people weren’t let go from their jobs until some time in late March so it seems like forgiving the rent in May rather than the first of April would make more sense,” Michaels told the Tribune.

Rickert turned the issue to small business owners and taxpayers. He said local governments must maintain fund reserve balances, which gives them more options to meet obligations than private citizens.

“Many small businesses and taxpayers are in a much more difficult position with lost income that they will not get back, and some may go out of business or face bankruptcy,” he said.

DuPage County Treasurer Gwen Henry said they already have an option to waive penalties based on existing code, making Rickert’s proposal unnecessary.

“There is a provision for a 60-day waiver, but you have to show you’ve been impacted and it’s not for everyone,” Henry told the Tribune. “It would impact our budget if we waived the penalties.”

Henry’s estimate of how many taxpayers have property taxes held in escrow was much lower, at about 40%. Local governments continually tell them they need money, to which she tells them if she collects it, they’ll get it.

Martin Lyons, city treasurer for Aurora, doesn’t see much upside in delaying tax collections.

“The city tax bill is about $85 million and $30 million of that goes to the police and firemen’s pension funds,” he told the Tribune.

The city would be OK with the delay, but pulling money out of already strained pension funds to liquidate investments is not a good idea. Lyons is certain that any delay in collecting taxes would require cutbacks and a reduction of services.

“It would stop the flow of basic services and we’d have to cut staff and you’d see an immediate reduction by June or July,” Lyons told the Tribune.