Spending down, taxes up in Kane County

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GENEVA – Kane County is asking a little more next year in property taxes.

But thanks to the slumping economy, the county expects to spend less than it did last year.

On Wednesday, the Kane County Board approved its budget and requested property tax levy for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

In all, the county expects to spend about $242.9 million in the period running from Dec. 1, 2008, to Nov. 30, 2009. Of that, about $77.8 million will be spent in the county’s general fund, which is used to pay for the county’s day-to-day operations.

Those figures are both down from last year’s budget. In 2007-08, Kane County budgeted about $277.5 million overall and $82.2 million in the general fund.

Kane County Finance Director Cheryl Pattelli said the 5.3 percent decrease in the general fund is the county’s attempt to cope with the slumping economy, which has driven down sales tax collections and a number of other revenue sources.

The 12.5 percent decrease in the overall budget was driven mainly by the completion of the work at the new Kane County Jail.

“That was paid for in 2008, so we were able to take that off the books this time,” Pattelli said.

At the same time, the county board Wednesday voted to request about 7 percent more in property taxes than it received last year.

In all, the county requested about $52.6 million in property taxes in 2008-09.

That request, however, likely will be reduced, as it depends on the amount of new construction in the county in the last year.

Kane County Supervisor of Assessments Mark Armstrong noted that in past years, the tax levy request almost is routinely adjusted down. Last year, for instance, the county requested almost $49.8 million in property taxes. But when the value of the new construction was applied to the levy request in March, the county’s tax levy was adjusted down to $49.1 million.

This year, Armstrong said, the county has estimated that it will record only about $300 million in new construction in 2008, down substantially from all-time highs in 2006 and 2007, when Kane County logged about $500 million and $450 million in new construction, respectively. If the county’s 2008 estimates are accurate, it would mark the lowest recorded level of county construction activity since 1999, he said.