Fact check: Working Illinois families pay more under Pritzker
Gov J.B. Pritzker is on a bus tour celebrating his accomplishments for working families in Illinois. Accomplishment No. 1: Working families have paid more than $4,000 in additional taxes since Pritzker took office.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is heading around Illinois on a bus tour speaking about working families. They are at the center of his campaign, but not his administration – unless he needs their taxes.
The tour kicked off in Elk Grove Village, where Pritzker took credit for his effort and record for working families.
“I told many of you that if I were elected, I would work every single day to put Springfield back on the side of working families, and I’m proud to stand here with you in 2022 and say we’ve done just that,” Pritzker said Aug. 24.
Pritzker didn’t mention when he first ran for office the price working families would have to pay. Because of his permanent tax and fee hikes, the average Illinois family has paid an extra $2,721 since Pritzker took office.
To fight rising inflation, Pritzker passed one-year temporary relief saving families $556, so they’re really losing $2,165 in net tax hikes.
If that weren’t enough, Illinoisans have paid $2,288 more in property taxes under Pritzker. Don’t worry, he has temporary relief for that, too: the median, one-time rebate is $279. That makes it a $2,009 property tax hike for working families.
Property taxes in Illinois will continue to rise a guaranteed $2,149 should voters approve Amendment 1 on Nov. 8. The amendment grants government unions unconditional power to make endless demands with the weight of the Illinois Constitution, regardless of what it costs taxpayers.
Pritzker isn’t the only one hitting the road. The U.S. Census estimated Illinois’ 2021 population shrank by over 140,000 people. That didn’t stop him from touting himself as the state’s “chief marketer” in a forum with the Illinois Farm Bureau.
Working families in Illinois have a long history of paying more and getting less. Rejecting Amendment 1 is a small but crucial first step to some tax relief for families across the state.