(The Center Square) – Some at the Illinois statehouse say the state is on fire with burdensome property taxes and the firehouse is locked by majority Democrats.
By several metrics, Illinoisans pay the second-highest property taxes in the country. Most recently, WalletHub pegged the Land of Lincoln just behind New Jersey.
State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Ugaste, said one commercial property owner in his district is about to give up, as his $300,000 property has a $60,000 annual property tax bill.
“No one wants to pay for the building a second time to the government over a five-year period of time,” Ugaste said during a news conference in Springfield Thursday.
One measure Ugaste pitched is to take a quarter of the state budget, use most of that to pay needed pension obligations and use the rest to send to school districts with the mandate they reduce property taxes.
“This could provide property tax relief over the next 21 years of up to $82.4 billion here in Illinois and would allow for further growth,” he said.
The state is on fire, Ugaste said, and legislators from both sides are firefighters. Minority Republicans have tools he said they’re ready to deploy.
“However, the Democrats are the ones with keys to the firehouse and they won’t let us in so that we can use the equipment that we have inside to put out the fire,” he said.
Ugaste said with Democrats in control of what legislation advances, Republican ideas are kept from making it across the finish line.
Statehouse Democrats have announced membership of a partisan working group to discuss the issue of property taxes. Such working groups typically conduct business behind closed doors.
“I’m eager to join this working group and to hear from a wide range of stakeholders and policy experts so we can craft smart new approaches to cutting property taxes,” said state Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Palatine, in a separate news release. “I’m confident that my colleagues are as committed as I am to relieving that strain and allowing people to put their money towards creating better lives and helping their communities flourish.”
Republicans aren’t included in the working group. Standing with Ugaste Thursday, state Rep. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, said without real relief this year, the state will continue losing people.
“It is a five-alarm fire right now, because look at other states growing,” he said. “We lose congressional seats, other states are growing dramatically. States around us, same weather, grow 1% a year, so it’s a huge problem right now and we’re chasing more and more people out of Illinois if we don’t address it immediately.”
Legislators return Tuesday with a deadline to advance bills out of committee set for next Friday.
