Rhonda Linders is convinced township governments opposed to a property tax freeze boils down to a simple matter of every government being for itself.
“I think it is greed,” Linders, coordinator of the Alton Tea Party and a Jersey County Board member, told the Rockford Sun. “As a county board member, it seems like another branch of government taking their share of the taxes.”
In its current, House-amended form, Senate Bill 851 would establish a two-year property tax freeze for Cook, Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage and Will counties. Passage of the bill would mandate that those counties are only allowed to increase property taxes with voter approval.
All other counties would be subject to referendums asking whether a property tax freeze should be imposed for 2018 and 2019 or that all governments within a county jurisdiction be subject to a property tax freeze over that period and to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law for levy year 2020 and the foreseeable future.
Regarding SB851, Bryan Smith, the executive director of the Township Officials of Illinois, had sent a legislative alert to township officials asking them to urge their state lawmakers to oppose the measure.
The legislation was not brought up for a vote in the Senate before the veto session ended.
“Considering the fact that most towns/counties are ran by Democrats, the issue will never come up, and if so it will never fly,” Linders said wqhen asked how lawmakers should handle all the opposition they’ve faced over the tax freeze proposal. "The only exception I see to local government cutting back in my area is Madison County and that is why we will be moving to that county and out of Jersey County.”
Linders said for many voters determining where they stand on the issue probably seems easy.
“It might put more money in their pockets and less in government pockets, but many voters are living off government pensions and do not want their ox gored,” she said.
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