Kane County Reporter

Chris Lauzen has spent much of his lifetime in public service.

The 69-year-old was an Illinois state senator from 1993 to 2013 and then served as chairman of the Kane County Board from 2012 to 2020, after which he left the county with $250 million in reserves.

So when he saw the current political leadership burning through that money, he set his eye on becoming Kane County treasurer.

Lauzen has an impressive record for fiscal responsibility, having frozen the property tax levy — saving residents an estimated $68.6 million — and paid down public debt during his time as Kane County’s top administrator.

"We froze the property tax levy. We actually froze the amount of property tax money that we used to run the county and the forest preserve," Lauzen told the Kane County Reporter. 

"And that was actually for 10 years. I was chairman for eight years. But the year before I ran on a platform that we're going to freeze this property tax. I can't promise that we're going to reduce it, but at least we're not going to make your lives harder. And we were successful. So that year before, when I was running on that promise the board, before I was elected, they did not raise it that year. And then there was a residual effect after the eight years where this past year they did not raise it."

"So it's for a decade we've demonstrated that, no, you don't have to increase the levy by the maximum or any amount by each year. So we froze the property tax levy. We paid down the public debt by 70%."

Lauzen has produced a set of slides showing the property tax levy freeze and resulting taxpayer savings. 

In 2020, when Lauzen left office, he said the county had a $250 million surplus and within a year the county was in deficit spending.

He said that and the failure to properly invest the county’s savings have led him to return.

He said he is running on a three-part promise.

"My first promise of three of I'm running for this in the next, you know, 60, 90 days is I'll make the taxpayers want at least $4 million — actually, I think that by the end of the campaign with where interest rates are, the promise I'll make sure that we earn an extra $2 million a year. That it takes pressure off of property tax increases. If we make it in on property tax revenue, interest income, then, you know, take some of the pressure off. But they are spending like crazy," Lauzen said. "Which brings me to the second promise, which is I'm going to be a watchdog of the how they're spending. Naturally, the ability to spend money and authority to spend money is in the hands of the 24 board members and the chairman, but what happens is they make it so complicated. And frankly, a lot of the board members don't have financial background, don't have a business background. So you listen to the discussions and you despair."

He said he's making sure constituents know where their money is going.

"The general fund is about $120 million a year. They've increased by about 25% in just the last two years with where they seem to be going with this current budget. But a 25% increase, maybe 25% to 30% increase in just two years by profligate spending. It's just wild, wild spending so I can let people know and I can put it into layman's terms," he said. "I've been communicating what money means to people since my adolescence, so I can do that as a watchdog."

Lauzen said the third promise is to implement treasury management best practices in Kane County.

The campaign to prevent a referendum on a sales tax from appearing on the ballot was also spearheaded by Lauzen.

"Who spends the money that you work hard to earn better, you or government? 
If you spend your money better, why are tax-borrow-and-spend-more politicians proposing to abdicate their responsibility/duty (to make decisions which they are paid to make) and exposing citizens to $13-15 million per year more in county sales tax on essential goods like gas at the pump, baby diapers, clothing, eye glasses, home supplies and much, much more?
 County taxpayers rely on you, as their county board member to protect them from financial insecurity. 
Politicians are saying that they need your money more than you need your money," Lauzen’s mailer reads.

Kane County opted against pursuing the referendum at a board meeting on Aug. 9.

"When board members are given accurate information, and when several members work together in a concerted way, taxpayer interests are protected… Effective leadership," he said on Facebook at the time.

On his website, Lauzen describes his background and track record.

"As Kane County Board chairman and your former state senator, I have had the privilege of serving the residents of Kane County with honesty, competence and common sense. I am very proud of my record for serving the people. With your support, I will continue to serve you as Kane County treasurer – devoting my work to improve the lives of Kane County residents," the website reads. "My priorities as chairman included freezing the county property tax levy, treating people as respectfully as possible and providing honest competent administration through austerity and innovation."

Back in early July, Lauzen held a meeting in which he and others discussed how to win a Republican majority on the county board.

He noted the purpose of the meeting was to win “back at least a working majority on the Kane County Board on Nov. 8."