(The Center Square) – State Sen. Neil Anderson is vowing to do all he can to finally provide relief for long stressed-out Illinois homeowners.
Proposed by Anderson earlier this year, Senate Bill 1862 seeks to end property taxes for state residents who have lived in and paid on residential properties for at least three decades.
“I think it’s just a fundamental idea that at some point you have to own your own stuff,” Anderson told The Center Square. “Right now, in America, and I don’t care what state it is, you can pay your house off, pay property taxes for 40, 50 years and then you fall on hard times, can’t pay your property taxes and now the government can take it. At some point, you have to own your stuff. It has to be yours and you don’t owe anybody anything.”
Anderson, R-Andalusia, said he is now focused on winning over more support for his proposal, including from Democratic legislators, arguing in the end, the measure stands to be in the best interest of essentially every resident.
Illinois residents on average pay in the neighborhood of 2% or almost $5,200 annually on real estate taxes based on a median home value of $250,500. With taxpayers facing some of the highest property tax rates in the country and the state being home to long rising outmigration numbers, Anderson said residents across the state are paying the price.
“Living in a state with some of the highest property taxes, if we can have some hope for some people to say after 30 years you don’t have to pay anything more, not only is it right I think it incentivizes people to stay here,” he said. “The people that have the means, they’re just not going to put up with it anymore. When you have more people leaving because of high taxes and the only people you’re replacing them with is illegal immigrants that pay nothing and get free healthcare we’re in trouble.”
U.S. Census Bureau data shows from July 2022 to July 2023 Illinois lost 32,826 residents, marking the 10th straight year of decline for the state for the area.
Cosponsored by state Sens. Dave Syverson, R-Cherry Valley, Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, and other Republicans, SB 1862 now sits in the Assignments Committee.
Legislators are scheduled to return to the Illinois Statehouse for six day in October.
