Illinoisans get just 20% of promised tax rebates after nearly a month

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s election-year budget includes one-time property tax rebate checks so far averaging $200 per homeowner. Only a fraction of the rebate checks have been mailed.

Only $1 of every $5 promised as property tax rebates for Illinois homeowners had been sent by Oct. 11, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The state started sending rebate checks Sept. 12, but as of Oct. 11 only $250 million of the $1.2 billion Gov. J.B. Pritzker promised to send property owners had been issued, according to information obtained from the Illinois Comptroller. More than 1 million rebate checks had been mailed out, with the average check being roughly $200.

Illinoisans have seen their property taxes jump an average of $2,288 since Pritzker took office. Only half of property owners qualified for a rebate check.

Pritzker has used the temporary relief to campaign on the claim his budget “lowers property taxes.” Illinois property taxes are the second highest in the nation and double the national average.

“Taxes on my property are already astronomical. I live in Park Forest and we pay some of the highest taxes in the state of Illinois. When I purchased my home I didn’t understand the process until my first tax bill came: $14,000 on a $98,000 home,” said the Rev. Phalese Binion.

“This is not the American Dream. This is the American nightmare,” she said.

Burdensome property taxes push residents to other states where they can save thousands every year. A $200 check just once, and just before the election, doesn’t sound like much of an invitation to stay.

Real property tax relief – the kind Pritzker pledged to deliver when he first ran for governor – would save Illinoisans money every year, improve their home values and make Illinois more attractive to new residents.

But Illinois political leaders are going in the opposite direction, presenting voters with another property tax hike hidden within the first question on the Nov. 8 ballot: Amendment 1. Property taxes are on pace to rise another $2,149 for the typical homeowner during the next four years. Amendment 1 would likely accelerate those tax hikes by empowering government union bosses to make greater demands over a wider range of topics, plus halt lawmakers from limiting those powers. Taxpayers would be forced to fund those demands.

Amendment 1 is being called a “workers’ rights amendment” by those with something to gain from it, but voters need to understand the gains for the minority of Illinois workers who are in government unions would come at a cost to everyone in the form of higher taxes.

“Amendment 1 is going to harm me personally because it will raise my property taxes,” Binion said.

Residents can learn how much Amendment 1 could cost them through the property tax hike calculator.

Correction: Earlier versions of this article incorrectly included other tax relief amounts in the calculation of how much in property and income tax rebates would be sent and how much had been received by Illinoisans.