A week ago one of my buyers said he wanted to take a second look at a townhouse in Aurora. The showing instructions said to call the seller to schedule showings, so when speaking with the seller, I took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about his home. One of my questions was whether the home was in a Special Service Area (SSA).
According to S. B. Friedman & Company, a real estate and development advisory firm based in Chicago, a Special Service Area “allows local governments to tax for and deliver services to limited geographic areas within their jurisdictions.” Special Service Areas can be used for a variety of support, infrastructure and land & building improvements. For more details on SSAs read S. B. Friedman & Company’s paper, “Special Service Area Implementation Steps & Requirements“.
I asked the seller whether his home was in an SSA for 2 reasons. First, the Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 4.0 used overwhelmingly for the sale of homes in Chicago’s suburbs requires the seller to specify whether the home is in a SSA. Second, the listing for another townhouse I had shown my buyer in a neighboring subdivision mentioned that it was in a Special Service Area, so I thought there was a good chance this townhouse might be as well.
The seller didn’t know what a Special Service Area was. After I explained it to him, he didn’t think that his home was in a SSA. Just to be on the safe side, I called the City of Aurora and asked them. Sylvia in the Finance Department informed me that the home was in not one, but 2 Special Service Areas! One of them was active. The other was dormant meaning that no tax was currently being imposed, but the City of Aurora could start taxing for the SSA in the future, if certain conditions arose.
It is especially important to ask about SSAs when buying in a new development! Builders typically require buyers to use their contract instead of the Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract 4.0. Thus, whether the development is in a Special Service Area might not be disclosed. This happened to one of my clients who bought new construction in Montgomery, just southwest of Aurora. He didn’t learn that his home was in a dormant SSA until he sold it!
Fran Bailey specializes in downtown Chicago, Lincoln Park and Lake View condos, co-op apartments and houses. She has shared home buying and selling advice since 2006 and written about over 130 Chicago high rises. To schedule showings for any listings, get a 
