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 per 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, or SSA, 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 would only 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 (HOA) is responsible for services specifically for that subdivision that the village does not provide, such as the care and maintenance of common areas like open spaces and stormwater management.

Village President Jeff Walter explained that, typically, the village’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 currently 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 that the meeting was helpful, and they had a better understanding of how the SSAs actually 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 an individual 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 later said he felt that 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.”