CAMPTON HILLS – Jason Estes lives life on the edge – on the edge of Campton Hills, that is.

Estes lives next door to John and Carol Koutsky, the couple whose subdivision, Cheval de Selle, disconnected from the village in 2008. Later that year, the Koutskys successfully annexed their property, at 4N621 Chaeaugay Lane, back into Campton Hills.

The village ends at a wooden fence on one side of his back yard and after a small rise behind it.

He missed the entire swirl of controversy surrounding the village's new incorporation by referendum in April 2007 – because he did not move in until a year later. He missed the legal wrangling over areas that disconnected. He missed its first election of officers.

But he did not miss its referendum to keep the village or not in November 2008.

And Estes' vote to keep the village, despite the fact his subdivision had disconnected, was one of the 367 that clinched the village's future as an incorporated entity.

"Ultimately, given where we're at with unincorporated status, I don't see unincorporated being able to stay forever," Estes said. "I'm surprised Elburn has not swooped in from the south in this whole period. With Campton literally at my back step – it's only a matter of time. I still don't know the pros and the cons. But having a police force is very beneficial."

Six months after residents voted to keep Campton Hills, the village functions with a divided electorate. A random sampling of resident opinion still comes up mixed.

Village attorney William Braithwaite said the Koutskys sought to annex back into the village for its better police protection. The Koutskys do not have a listed phone number, did not answer their door, nor respond to a written request left outside.

Neighbor Tim Young, who lives across the street from the Koutskys, said he has no idea why they wanted to be annexed into the village. He said they are not close.

"I don't know what the story is," Young said. "They wanted police protection – which is really very strange because there's not a whole bunch that goes on around here ... and I've lived here 20 years."

Unlike Estes, Young is relieved to be unincorporated Kane County again.

"I don't want anything to do with that village," Young said. "I'm so glad to be out of it. I don't get the advantage of being Campon Hills."

The village has a zero tax levy and promised to do business with its portion of state-shared revenue. Officials said they would not ask voters to levy a property tax to pay its bills. Young said he does not believe it.

"It's going to cost us something to do this," Young said. "No matter what anybody says, eventually there's going to be property taxes."

Young admitted he did not vote the first time when Campton Hills was first incorporated, but he voted in November to dissolve the village.

Another resident, Steve O'Leary, voted against the village twice.

"I think that we should never have incorporated into a village," O'Leary said, as he cooked some pork ribs in a smoker. "I voted against it two times. Now it's a village. I still believe we should dissolve the village and I will continue to vote that way if it continues to come up on a ballot. I think it's additional government that's not needed. I'd like an opportunity to vote again."

O'Leary said he gets questions about his opposition.

"I think folks in support of it have good reasons to support it; I've just got a different take from a too-much-government standpoint," O'Leary said.

Resident Frank Smith is a convert. He voted against the village the first time, but in favor of it the second time.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Patsy Smith a few weeks ago," Smith said. "I was very against the village to start with. Because one of the reasons I moved out here was the rural nature of Kane County. But Patsy and her staff have done such a great job, I have completely changed my mind. And I am now a willing supporter of the village."

Frank Smith lives on Route 64 and especially appreciates the police department's speed enforcement on the main thoroughfare in front of his house.

"(Chief) Greg Anderson and the rest of his guys are absolutely top notch," Smith said. "I think we have a much better police presence than when we were unincorporated Kane County. They have done a terrific job slowing people down on Route 64."

As to the continuing division in the community, Smith said all should abide by the election results.

"It's a Democratic society; we had an election," Smith said. "The electorate spoke."

Smith compared grumbling against the village to not liking Barack Obama as president.

"I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. I did not vote for him," Smith said. "He got voted into office, so now it's incumbent upon me and everyone else in this country to do the best we can to support him ... If you live in Campton Hills, the village is now everybody's village. It's incumbent upon those of us who live in the village to do their best to help the village board and help Patsy and help the police department do the best they can."

Still, when someone asks where he's from, Smith does not say he's from Campton Hills; he says he's from Wasco.

"Most people I end up talking to don't know where either one of those places are anyway," Smith said. "I say Wasco because I've lived here since 1991. I think at some point, Wasco will become no longer and it will be Campton Hills. But old habits die hard when you've been used to describing where you live for the last 18 years as Wasco."