Illinois needs property tax relief now

By

Tom Morrison

State Representative 54th District

Illinois voters have some big choices to make on Election Day. They can elect candidates who will actually work for the reforms we need in Illinois, or they can support candidates who will keep raising taxes as the only solution to the state’s budget woes.

House Speaker Michael Madigan and gubernatorial candidate JB Pritzker are ready, willing and yes, even eager to raise taxes yet again in Illinois.

The last thing Illinois needs is more tax hikers in Springfield.

We all as taxpayers understand the need to pay taxes to fund government services and programs, but once your state has become the state with the highest overall tax burden, is it really a good idea to push for even tax increases? (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/13/here-are-the-highest-and-lowest-state-and-local-tax-rates.html)

If raising taxes is the best way to get our state moving forward, why do we have the worst credit rating of all 50 states, and why do we have $250 billion in pension debt? Why do we continue to have the country’s greatest migration to other states?

Illinois has lost more than 600,000 people in the last 10 years, and one of the main reasons people are leaving is our state’s high property taxes. They’re indisputably among the highest in the country. Compared to our neighbors in Missouri and Indiana, we’re paying 2 to 3 times as much in property taxes.

The Legislature should impose an annual 1% hard tax cap on any property tax increases with allowances for local referenda. The Legislature also needs to help make the cost of government less expensive in Illinois by giving local governments more tools to negotiate with their employees, to lower procurement costs and to explore consolidation options.

We also need to look at ways to reduce the number of units of local government. Illinois has 7,000 units of local government – more than any other state. It is little wonder our taxes are so high. Reducing the number of units of local government is one way to reduce the cost of government, which will help lower property taxes.

It is time to do more than just talk about lowering property taxes. How many more people will have to leave Illinois before we get serious about property tax relief?

Instead of setting us on a course to become the state with the highest property taxes in the nation, we should be looking to lower the property tax burden in Illinois.

The majority party in the House and Senate continues to ignore the need for property tax relief and have instead chosen to play games. House Speaker Mike Madigan, who also owns a property tax appeal law firm with some of Chicago’s most expensive commercial properties as clients, has on numerous occasions put up sham property tax freeze bills with no intention of them becoming law.

Enough is enough. Let’s stop playing games and do the right thing for Illinois residents by enacting meaningful property tax reform.