Illinois House votes down statewide property-tax freeze, passes plan that exempts vast majority of communities
The Illinois House of Representatives voted against a proposal to freeze property taxes, denying much-needed relief to Illinoisans, who bear the third-highest property-tax burden in the nation.
Illinois politicians voted down homeowners’ shot at property-tax relief April 20. But on April 21, those same politicians approved a property-tax relief bill. Problem is, it applies to a fraction of the state’s population.
The statewide proposal, an amendment to House Bill 695, would have frozen property taxes across the state. Under the plan, local governments could still increase rates, but only with approval from voters. Because this bill would’ve affected home-rule governments, it needed 71 votes to pass, but failed 56-49, with four representatives voting present. Fourteen Republicans voted no on the measure.
House Bill 696 is nearly identical to its failed predecessor, except that the property-tax freeze within this bill exempts all home-rule communities. That’s no small exemption: 7.8 million Illinoisans live in a home-rule municipality such Chicago, Naperville or Peoria. This number also doesn’t account for Cook County, which is also home-rule, and would be exempted from this property-tax freeze.
HB 696 needed a simple majority to pass, which it got – and then some – with 71 yes votes, 31 no votes and five representatives voting present.
Property-tax reform is one of the most important issues facing Illinoisans, and enacting a freeze would’ve done a lot of good for a lot of people.
Illinois’ property taxes are the third-highest in the U.S. When Chicago’s most recent property-tax hike is factored into the equation, the Tax Foundation believes Illinois will have the highest property taxes in the nation. Property taxes burden people and businesses more than any other tax: Illinois collected $27 billion in property taxes in 2013, compared to $23.5 billion in income taxes.
A person who buys a $200,000 house in Illinois would pay $4,640 in property taxes
And property taxes have continued to rise, outpacing the state’s sluggish growth in household income for more than two decades.
A property-tax freeze won’t fix the problem on its own – even if Illinois froze its residential property taxes today, it would take 28 years for residents’ property-tax burden to return to 1990 levels.
But it’s a start – and it’s one that all Illinois homeowners deserve. HB 695’s defeat is a signal that not enough lawmakers are willing to part with their tax-and-spend ways. But it’s well past time Illinois politicians take action; otherwise, those who can afford to will continue fleeing the state.