by Brad Weisenstein, Editor Property taxes in Illinois are nearly double the national average. Until state lawmakers trim down thousands of local governments and pursue pension reform, those bills wills remain high. The average American family spends $2,375 on property taxes for their home, but the average Illinois family spends nearly double that amount. Illinois is again the second-highest state for property taxes, behind New Jersey, in a new survey by WalletHub. Illinois taxes average $4,705 on a $205,000 house, the national median. This is the third consecutive year the two states ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the property tax survey. Illinois’ median home value is less than the national median at $187,200, but taxes on that home still average $4,299, WalletHub reported. Illinois realizes it has a problem, and state lawmakers in the spring created the 88-member Illinois Property Tax Relief Task Force. It was charged with finding solutions by the end of 2019. So far, no official report has been released to the public. The group’s Republican members refused to sign off on a draft that mainly rehashed old ideas, said state Rep. Mike Murphy, R-Springfield, a member of the task force. He said substantive ideas were rejected, and the draft contained only vague suggestions. “There’s nothing in here that says ‘tomorrow we’re going to file legislation saying this,’” Murphy told The Center Square. He said he expects the task force would mainly be used as a way to push Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive income tax hike, which Pritzker in his Feb. 19 budget address said voters must pass in November or else he would cut $1.4 billion for schools and other state services from the 2021 budget. Proponents of the plan, which Pritzker calls the “fair tax,” claim higher income taxes can be used to reduce Illinois’ property taxes. But despite Illinoisans shouldering two of the largest income tax hikes in state history in the last decade, the state’s property taxes remain among the highest in the nation. ge 10
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