A referendum question asking voters in Tuesday’s election for a Kane County Forest Preserve tax increase that would go to fund improvements to its preserves and the protection of more land appears to have been approved.
Unofficial results from Tuesday night showed that 55.36% of voters were in favor of the tax increase and 39.13% were against, with all precincts reporting.
The property tax increase would be around $10 per $100,000 of home value, which comes to about $3 per month for the average Kane County property owner, according to the district’s webpage on the referendum. The district would receive around $6.9 million next year from the tax increase, Forest Preserve Commission staff previously said.
The funds generated by the tax increase would support forest preserve maintenance, improvements and educational programming, the district’s referendum webpage said.
The Kane County Forest Preserve District would also be able to move forward with a number of large projects, according to past reporting. These projects include an expansion to a program reintroducing bison to the Burlington Prairie Forest Preserve, improvements to the Rutland Bog that would allow it to be opened up to the public, an Urban Ecology Field Station at Arlene Shoemaker Forest Preserve and a multi-level wildlife observatory at the Muirhead Springs Forest Preserve.
The tax increase would also go to replenish the district’s Land Acquisition Fund, which was fully spent or committed, past reporting shows. This would allow the district to acquire up to 125 acres of open space and natural areas per year.
Other benefits of the tax increase include up to an additional 250 acres per year of restored wildlife habitat, new trails, new recreation areas, increased flood protection and more, according to the webpage.
Without the tax increase, the district would have still brought in an extra $289,517 in property taxes, plus an additional amount between $105,000 and $135,000 from new construction, district staff previously said.
Even with the tax increase, property owners would see the Forest Preserve District portion of their property taxes lowered over the next few years as bonds previously approved by voters get fully paid off. For a $300,000 house, yearly property taxes would go down roughly $25 by 2027, even with the tax increase from the referendum, according to past reporting.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
