House GOP Pitches Property Tax Savings
Rep. Tim Ozinga (R-Mokena) is sponsoring legislation to send pension savings to schools in an effort to reduce property taxes.
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House Republicans are set to make high property taxes their top issue during the spring legislative session and leading to the November election.
Nearly every time the House gavels in, a House Republican speaks on the travails of Illinois’ property tax system. Tuesday was Rep. Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa), by the way.
The House GOP released a plan Wednesday sponsored by Rep. Tim Ozinga (R-Mokena) they believe will help reduce property taxes around the state.
The legislation, HB 3467, would direct savings from the projected decrease in property tax payments to be distributed to school districts to bring down property tax rates.
The idea was the brainchild of former Rep. Mark Batinick, who introduced a similar bill two years ago, but it appears the GOP wants to make property taxes the cornerstone of their agenda in 2024.
Republicans argue pension payments are going down as a share of the state budget, thanks to the Jim Edgar era “pension ramp” winds down and the state sees savings from the 2011 “Tier II” pension reform and legislation that allowed pension buyouts for some state employees.
As pension costs decrease, the legislation would take those savings and send them to schools to drop property tax rates in their districts.
“With the passage of this legislation, school districts would be required to lower their property tax levies to an amount equal to the relief,” said Ozinga. “The time to ignore this issue has ended, and the problem is not going away. Lawmakers need to step up and provide real solutions to help our most vulnerable residents.”
One House Democrat we spoke to Tuesday, on a condition of anonymity, called the proposal “dead on arrival,” noting there are too many pressures on state spending to lock taxpayer money into giving “rich suburban districts” more money.
We asked Ozinga about skepticism Democrats would hear the bill but didn’t hear back from him Tuesday night.