Mike Dittmar, president of the Village of Elizabeth in Jo Daviess County, believes a failed property tax freeze from this fall's veto session in the General Assembly obscured more important issues such as examining how small governments operate in Illinois and what their effect is on taxpayer burden for property taxes.
Eroding support for the property tax freeze backed by Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner – even from some in his own party who called the freeze a "sham" – kept senators from even considering the bill, according to an article on MyJournalCourier.com.
Dittmar said a debate over whether townships should self-determine their property tax status is part of a bigger issue at the heart of the matter.
"The problem comes with the ineptness of the Chicago politicians that has destroyed our state and left it bankrupt," Dittmar told the Northwest Illinois News. "If our state was run normally, then we wouldn't need to limit property taxes in the first place."
According to Dittmar, a "normal" system would be more fiscally conservative and wouldn't rely on townships. Instead, governance would shift to counties or "single-unit districts."
"Ultimately though, it is up to the citizens to vote that way," he added.
Proposed by Illinois Rep. Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumburg), SB 851 was the Senate counterpart to HB 696, which easily passed 71 to 31 last April, according to Illinois Policy. The bill would have locked in the current tax rate for the next two years for residents in Cook, Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage and Will counties, according to CBS Chicago.
For other counties, the particulars of implementation would have been left in the hands of local government boards and their constituents, according to a memorandum in opposition to the bill from Bryan E. Smith, executive director of the Township Officials of Illinois.
A CBS report said some Republicans characterized the bill as “pandering” in the wake of a 32 percent hike in state income tax earlier this year. Illinois households pay more than $8,000 annually in state and local taxes, ranking them No. 1 in the nation, according to Illinois Policy.
A Peoria Journal-Star story quoted Rauner as selling a property tax freeze to constituents last summer.
“I hear relentlessly about how difficult it is to raise a family, to make ends meet, how difficult it is to build a business in the state of Illinois with the property tax burden we’ve got," Rauner said, according to the Journal-Star.
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