This political season has seen a lot of discussion about property taxes. And for good reason!  Illinois has the second-highest property tax burden in the nation, making it a topic guaranteed to get voters’ blood boiling.

However, voters across Illinois might be surprised to learn that taxing bodies in 64 counties across the state have placed a whopping 131 tax-related referenda on the November ballot seeking to create new taxes, raise existing ones, issue debt or expand their authority to tax.  In a state with the second-highest unemployment in the Midwest and the second-highest outbound migration of any state, this is a clear indication that government is out–of-tune with the financial pain of Illinois taxpayers.

Of the twenty-nine sales tax hikes, fourteen are “County School Facility Occupation Taxes,” which is an additional sales tax of up to one percent. Of those fourteen, eight have failed in the past at least once and, in some cases, multiple times.  In Whiteside County, in Western Illinois along the Mississippi River, this will be the question’s fifth appearance on the ballot.  A relatively new tax passed in 2007, it’s now in effect in 24 counties.  Though exclusively dedicated to “school facility purposes,” this can be a vague notion.  Just two days after approval by the voters of the central Illinois community of Shelbyville in the 2014 primary election, the local school board toyed with the notion of using these new dollars to expand the press box at their football field.

Of course, the lion’s share of the tax proposals are property tax hikes, the cash cow of local government.  Here in Illinois, homeowners are already suffering under the burden of the second-highest property taxes in the country, yet many local governments are asking for more.  According to the Illinois Department of Revenue, the 5,976 units of government which levy property taxes took in a cool $26.8 billion from Illinois homeowners in 2012.  And as a recent Civic Federation report notes, “all collar county communities analyzed (in the report) experienced significant property tax rate increases between 2003 and 2012, ranging from a 31% increase in the portion of Naperville located in Will County to a 169% increase in Waukegan.”

In northwest Jo Daviess County, one is specifically earmarked for the maintenance of cemeteries.  In Bureau County, a fire protection district placed three separate property tax increases on the ballot.  Genoa Township in DeKalb County is hoping to “be authorized to levy a new tax for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purposes.”

Six communities (primarily in Cook and Lake) are seeking to become Home Rule communities, a designation which grants authority to impose a limitless sales tax without voter approval.

AFP-Illinois is once again joining forces with local activists to battle tax hiking referenda as part of our organization’s Local Anti-Tax Initiative, marking the fourth election cycle we’ve undertaken this effort. Unfortunately for taxpayers throughout Illinois, the crushing pension shortfalls and potential school funding changes mean AFP will be fighting joining local folks to fight higher property taxes for years to come.

Counties with the most tax-related referenda:

1-      Cook (18)

2-      Lake (10)

3-      Champaign (6)

4-      Bureau, DuPage & Will (4)

5-      Jo Daviess, Ogle, Piatt, Tazewell & Winnebago (4)
Honorable mention: Kane, Kankakee & McHenry (3)

Largest Bond Referenda:

1-      C.U.S.D. No. 4 (Champaign)                                   $149,000,000.00

2-      New Trier High School District No. 23 (Cook)    $89,000,000.00

Quincy School District No. 172 (Adams)             $89,000,000.00

3-      C.U.S.D. No. 25 (Champaign)                                 $40,000,000.00

4-      C.U.S.D. No. 116 (Lake)                                           $29,000,000.00

5-      C.U.S.D. No. 201 (DuPage)                                     $26,000,000.00

6-      Village of Villa Park (DuPage)                              $23,000,000.00

7-      Hoover-Schrum School District No. 157 (Cook)  $22,900,000.00

8-      Joliet Park District (Will/Kendall)                                    $19,500,000.00

9-      C.U.S.D. No. 101 (Kane)                                          $15,000,000.00

10-  Glen Ellyn Park District (DuPage)                                    $13,500,000.00

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