Metro East Sun

Mike Babcock (R-Bethalto) wonders how much more functional Springfield would be if lawmakers simply put the will of the masses before everything else.

“Politicians in Springfield have gotten to the point where they only work for small groups as opposed to all of Illinois,” the former Republican House candidate told the Metro East Sun. “There’s an opinion out there that you can solve all the world’s problems by just taxing more. That won’t work because everything has elasticity and it’s definitely not what the majority of voters are asking of their lawmakers. We’d do well to just listen to the will of the people.”

Babcock argues a new WalletHub survey that finds for the third straight year Illinois is home to the second-highest property taxes in the country behind only New Jersey is a clear illustration of just how wrong lawmakers have gotten things. As part of their study, researchers hammer home how taxes on a home valued at $205,000 in Illinois are almost three times higher ($4,700) than they are for the same priced home in nearby Kentucky or Indiana ($1,760).

For Babcock, the hefty price all the dysfunction has come to is no great surprise.

“People feel like they have no way out and this exodus of people will continue to go off as will this selloff of property as long as people are faced with dealing with these egregious taxes,” he said. “On the flip side, those left behind face a drain from all the rising fees that take money out of their pockets and ultimately impacts the way they’re able to provide for their family. You can see all the trickle-down effect stemming from the rising taxes.”