February 15, 2025
Dear editor;
More than half a million people call Kane County home. We live here because we know that Kane County is a safe, healthy, and prosperous place to live. We want to have a sense of safety and security in our daily lives. Public Safety is a top priority for Kane County, making life better for us and our families right here where we live, work, and play.
Public Safety in Kane County includes our sheriff, the courts, the state’s attorney, the coroner, the circuit clerk, 911, and the Office of Emergency Management. It takes a lot of hard-working people to keep us and our children safe. Because of this, 71% of our expenditures from our General Fund are for Public Safety.
Kane County has been on a belt-tightening budget for many years. Since 2013 Kane County has taken almost no increases to the property tax levy, leaving the current levy far behind the cost-of-living increases in the economy. Some dips in general fund spending around 2020 were due to COVID money which covered a good portion of our general fund expenses, giving a false appearance of big jumps in spending over the last four years. But don’t be fooled, Kane County is lean and mean when it comes to saving the taxpayers’ money.
Now Kane County has introduced a referendum on the April 1, 2025 ballot asking you, the voter, to approve a 0.75% sales tax for Public Safety. This means you would pay an additional $.75 on a $100 purchase of tangible personal property bought at a retail store. This tax would not apply to daily necessities such as food and prescription medicine. It would not apply to big ticket items like cars or trucks. This is not a property tax, because we know that our homeowners are already doing their fair share. Another benefit to this sales tax is that both residents and non-residents who shop, visit, or work in Kane County are contributing to funding public safety.
Kane County needs to maintain our public safety funding to ensure effective operation of our public safety offices. We need our specialty courts to continue providing mental health services and prevention initiatives. We need to protect our children from abuse and exploitation, including child pornography.
My family and friends will be voting “Yes” on this important referendum. If you would like more information about the Kane County Public Safety Sales Tax Referendum, please visit our website at www.kanesafe.og or call me at 630-605-9244.
Mavis Bates, Kane County Board Member, Aurora