Latest news with #ChrisLauzen
Chicago Tribune
02-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Elgin News Digest: Elgin Police Department begins Walk and Talk season Monday; first installment of Kane County property tax bill in the mail
Elgin Police Department begins Walk and Talk season Monday The Elgin Police Department will hold its first Walk and Talk event of the season from 1 to 2 p.m. Monday, May 5, starting at the corner of Cimarron Court and Chaparral Circle. Walk and Talks have been held annually for more than 10 years. Police officers go into different neighborhoods weekly in the warmer months to speak with residents and discuss neighborhood concerns. These walks are planned for this month: Tuesday, May 6, 1 to 2 p.m., starting at the Highland House Apartments, 717-721 Highland Ave.; Thursday, May 8, 1 to 2 p.m., starting on Pioneer Park Place in the Garden Crescent Apartment complex; Thursday, May 8, 8 to 9 p.m., starting at the intersection of Goodfield Landing and Gallant Fox Drive in the Highland Woods subdivision; Tuesday, May 13, 11 a.m. to noon, starting at the corner of Watch Court and Watch Street; Thursday, May 15, 1 to 2 p.m., starting in the 1300 to 1400 block of Creekside Court; Tuesday, May 27, 9 to 10 a.m., starting on Adams Street between Mosely and Gertrude streets. For more information, call 847-289-2700. First installment of Kane County property tax bill in the mail The first installment of the 2024 Kane County real estate tax bill will be in the mail this week and is due June 2, according to a news release from county Treasurer Chris Lauzen. Taxpayers can pay online at and doing so with an e-check is free, the release said. Payments can also be made by mailing a check to the Kane County Treasurer's Office using the payment coupon and envelopes provided with the tax bill or placing the payment coupon and check in the county's drive-up drop box behind Building A at the Kane County Government Center, 719 S. Batavia Ave., Geneva, the release said. In-person payments can be made at the county clerk's branch office at 5 E. Downer Place, Suite F, Aurora (only personal checks or money orders accepted), or at the Kane County Treasurer's Office in the Geneva government center during regular business hours. Many Kane County banks will accept on-time payments at their drive-up facilities, if accompanied with a payment coupon. The second installment of the bill is due Sept. 2. Kane County Fair Board awards 4-H scholarships to local students Samuel Haviland, of Elgin, and Autumn Kriegel, of Hampshire, have been awarded college scholarships by the Kane County Fair Board of Directors. Both high school students has been active members of a local 4-H Club and will receive $750 annually for four years, a news release said. Haviland is to graduate in May from Burlington Central High School. He is on the leadership team for Future Farmers of America; club treasurer for the A-Bit-More 4-H Club; secretary of the Kane County 4-H ambassadors; and a section leader in band and chorale. He plans to study agribusiness at Illinois State University, the release said. Kriegel, who graduates in May from Hampshire High School, is a member of the National Honor Society and an Illinois State Scholar. She has been awarded the National Rural and Small Town Recognition Award, and belongs to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, serves as a student class council member, and is the captain of the girls basketball team. She wants to major in accounting at Iowa State University. Kane Forest Preserve District offering free wood chips Sunday The Forest Preserve District of Kane County is offering free wood chips to the public from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, May 4, at Burnidge Forest Preserve in Elgin and Big Rock Forest Preserve in Big Rock. Forest preserve district staff will be on hand to help load chips with a tractor at both sites, according to a news release. Using non-district machinery for loading is not permitted. Residents should bring their own shovels and containers, officials said. The public is welcome to take as many chips as they can haul away while supplies last. The chips are from hardwood trees removed throughout the county because of storm damage or clearing efforts. Burnidge Forest Preserve is at 14N035 Coombs Road in Elgin. Big Rock Forest Preserve is at 46W072 Jericho Road in Big Rock. Signs at both preserves will direct people to the wood chip pile location. For more information, call 630-232-5980 or go to Kane Specialty Courts Foundation fundraiser set for May 15 The third annual spring fundraiser to benefit the Kane County Specialty Courts Foundation will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 15, at the Kane County Judicial Building, 37W777 Route 38 in St. Charles. Hosted by Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain and Undersheriff Amy Johnson, the event will include a silent auction, 50/50 raffle tickets to purchase and live music, organizers said. Appetizers, dinner and dessert prepared by Chef Porfirio and the Kane County Adult Justice Center's Inn Recovery student chefs will be served. All proceeds will go to the foundation, which provides incentives and support for participants in Kane County's Adult Drug Court, DUI Court, Veterans Court and Treatment Alternative Court. Tickets are $75 and available on Eventbrite. A 30% discount is offered with the purchase of two tickets.
Chicago Tribune
29-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Kane County real estate tax bills coming soon, first installment due June 2
On Monday, Kane County Treasurer Chris Lauzen announced that 2024 real estate tax bills for Kane County residents, payable in 2025, will be in the mail on or before May 1. The first installment will be due on June 2, and the second installment will be due on Sept. 2, according to a press release from Kane County on Monday. Taxpayers can pay online at and e-checks are free, the news release said. Tax payments can also be made by mailing a check to the Kane County Treasurer's Office using the payment coupon and envelopes provided with the tax bill; by placing check payments with the payment coupon in the envelopes provided in the county's drive-up payment drop box behind Building A at the Kane County Government Center, 719 S. Batavia Ave., in Geneva.; many Kane County banks will accept on-time payments at their drive-up facilities, if accompanied with a payment coupon; or by making the payments at the Kane County Clerk's branch office at 5 E. Downer Place, Suite F, in Aurora, – personal checks or money orders only – or at the Kane County Treasurer's Office at 719 S. Batavia Ave., Building A, in Geneva, during regular business hours.
Chicago Tribune
14-02-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Letters to the Editor: Say ‘no more' Kane tax hikes — reject referendum; don't believe everything artificial intelligence tells you
Say 'no more' Kane tax hikes — reject referendum Taxpayers are government's 'bankers of last resort.' When politicians overspend and overtax in fiscally irresponsible ways, they rely on us to pay for it and it's ultimately up to us taxpayers to say 'no more.' According to audited financial statements filed with the Illinois State Comptroller's Office, Kane County Board's ruling Democrat super-majority and its chairman have increased government spending by 88% in just four years, nearly doubling general fund spending from $66 million in 2020 to $124 million in 2024. Now their so-called 'solution' is to ask you, the taxpayers, for an increase in sales tax applied to your taxable purchases to generate a staggering $51 million in new money annually. If the referendum passes, inflation (due to this mandatory tax) will increase. No doubt the folks who want to reach more deeply into your pockets will make the typical disingenuous 'de minimis' argument … it's only a $150 increase on $20,000 of annual sales taxable purchases for the typical Kane County family, including gas, diapers, hardware store supplies, etc. This is what's called 'death by a thousand cuts.' This sales tax increase is on top of the board recently raising the county-portion of your property tax bills for the first time in 12 years — only two weeks after they were reelected in November 2024. If passed, this referendum will increase taxes and reward politicians who have massively increased spending in only four years. My family will be voting 'no.' Chris Lauzen, Aurora Don't believe everything artificial intelligence tells you My computer updated itself recently when I wasn't looking and added artificial intelligence to my options when I do a search. I can honestly say it's a truly amazing entity. I can ask it virtually anything and within seconds I get a response. It's like having a conversation with Sheldon from 'The Big Bang Theory' TV show, without the condescension. Today I asked it for the average height of an American female and it quickly responded: 5-foot-4. I then proceeded to inquire about the average height of an American male and it said 5-foot-9. Finally, I asked for the average waist size of an American male and the answer was surprisingly 34 inches. Of course, that was something I wasn't expecting and didn't particularly want to hear. So, I asked it for the average waist size of a male over 65 and at last I got the response I was expecting: 40 inches. Bingo. Sometimes patience is required when talking to a genius. I guess the moral of the story is to be careful with the questions one poses to a higher intelligence. For one thing you may not be happy with the answer, and they just might be dead wrong. For instance, I asked AI for my background as I like to write letters to the editor to fill my idle time and consequently there is a trail of written words with my signature. The response I got back was anything but accurate. AI suggested I was a professor of comparative religion as well as a staff writer for a big city newspaper. Neither of which was even close to being true. It can only be assumed that in the future artificial intelligence will prove to be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand it's expected to make our lives much easier and might even cure cancer. But on the other, it can cause more trouble than it's worth if we are led to believe it's infallible. As we all know, that distinction is reserved exclusively for the pope and Donald Trump. Bob Ory, Elgin
