Elburn residents thought their taxes were going up $3K. Then they learned it’s a backup tax

Residents of an Elburn neighborhood came away from a recent Village Board meeting relieved that their property taxes weren’t set to go up $2,000 to $3,000 a year.

A notice sent out by the attorney for homebuilder Lennar Homes to residents of the Fox Pointe subdivision had announced a public hearing about the establishment of a Special Services Area for the subdivision. Many of the residents said the notice was vague and confusing and about 30 of them showed up to the board’s public hearing July 7.

Village officials explained to the residents that the SSA would be a dormant entity, meaning it only would be used as a backup to allow the village to levy a special tax should the homeowners association fail to maintain the common areas of the subdivision.

The village is responsible for village-wide services such as police, street and sidewalk maintenance, water and wastewater management.

A subdivision’s homeowners association is responsible for services specifically for that subdivision that the village does not provide such as the care and maintenance of common areas such as open spaces and stormwater management.

Village President Jeff Walter explained that typically Elburn’s public works director works with HOAs.

“We try to work together to make sure the HOA understands what needs to be done and how,” Walter said. “The SSA is only going to come into play if the HOA is not maintaining it to that level and the HOA dissolves and that’s a whole process.”

Village Administrator Chris Ranney said that of the eight SSAs established in Elburn, only three are active and the remaining five are on standby or dormant.

The SSA “protects the homeowners. Should something happen to the HOA, it will continue to take care of things to the standards that you guys have,” Ranney said.

Several of the residents said the meeting was helpful and they had a better understanding of how SSAs work.

“Thank you for clarifying this because the document I got did not explain any of this,” Susanne Morden said. “It also scared me to think that our taxes were going to go up $3,000 if we don’t maintain the pond.”

Grant Sabo is a member of the homeowners association board, although he said he attended the meeting as a citizen.

“After we heard what the trustees had to say, [the residents] were relieved,” Sabo said after the meeting, crediting village officials with doing “a nice job of explaining everything. They were patient with our questions, too. They listened to the concerns of the community.”

Graham McDonald, also a member of the HOA board, had a different take. McDonald said he felt some of the messages communicated during the meeting were inconsistent.

“I have no trust that the village will listen to us and stick to their word,” McDonald said. “I have zero trust in the village trustees.”

He mentioned an earlier situation with the village regarding fencing within Fox Pointe, where he did not feel the village was listening to the residents and said there was “no consistency between messages.”

During the public hearing, McDonald asked for some clarity on how many signatures were needed on a petition to prevent the creation of an SSA. If a petition signed by 51% of the electors within the subdivision and of the owners of record were presented to the village within 60 days of the public hearing, the ordinance establishing the SSA would not be implemented.

Walter responded: “Of course, you can do what you want, but I would not advise you to fight this. I’d let this get into place, because should the HOA dissolve, then there’s nobody to take care of anything. Then it falls on the general fund to take care of this, and the general fund is not an open bank account to take care of everything throughout the village. It’s not going to be taken care of the way the HOA will take care of it.”

After the meeting, McDonald said he will go ahead with the petition against the creation of the SSA. He said he thinks the HOA will have no problem maintaining the development to an even higher standard than that of the village.

“We’re giving too much power to certain people,” McDonald said. “They want us to risk $3,000 a year.”

Walter had explained during the meeting that should the SSA get activated, it would be set up with a tax rate not to exceed $1.50 per $100 of equalized assessed value, or EAV. However, he said that the actual levy would be something less than that.

For example, according to the village’s website under special services areas, although the tax rate for the active SSA set up with Elburn Station was not to exceed $1.50 per $100 of EAV, taxes levied for the SSA in 2024 to be paid in 2025 were a rate of 40 cents per $100 of EAV.

Sabo said that he hasn’t decided yet about the petition. However, he did say that residents in Fox Pointe want to live in a beautiful neighborhood, and the HOA would never fail to meet the standards they set.

“I can guarantee that won’t happen,” Sabo said.

Some residents expressed some concerns about how the common areas are being taken care of now. Public Works Director Phil Van Bogaert told them that the village has not “accepted” the responsibility for maintenance of the subdivision and it will not until all of the deficiencies have been taken care of. Only then will Lennar receive the escrow money it put up with the annexation of the property.

“If we don’t accept it from Lennar, they’re still on the hook,” Van Bogaert said.

The Fox Pointe residents now have 60 days from the public hearing on July 7 to comment, ask questions and make a decision about the SSA.