Over 50 tax questions on ballots in Illinois
Voters will see at least 51 binding referenda on taxes or bond issues in local governments across the state.
Voters will have a direct say over taxes through at least 51 ballot questions across the state related to property taxes, sales taxes and incurring bond debt that will mean increased taxes down the road.
Here’s what you need to know about those taxes and whether they will appear on your ballot.
Property taxes
At least 27 questions on whether to increase property taxes will be on ballots in Illinois, whether by authorizing a property tax levy increase or approving an entirely new levy.
Places where property tax hikes are on the ballot include eight fire protection districts, six school districts, the Bourbonnais Library District, the Herrin Park District and Antioch Township.
Sales taxes
A new 1% sales tax will be on the ballot in Adams, Lake and Tazewell counties. Residents in the village of Coulterville will vote on whether to double the municipal sales tax from 0.5% to 1%.
Bond issues
At least 12 school districts, three library districts, two fire protection districts, the Skokie Park District, the village of Lake Zurich and Moraine Valley Community College District 524 have bond questions on the ballot, asking voters to authorize public debt in amounts ranging from around $1 million to over $350 million.
Bond debt leads to increased taxes for residents. That could be in the form of increased property taxes, which some districts explicitly acknowledge. For example, Carpentersville Community Unit School District 300 estimates an annual property tax increase of around a $101 on a $400,000 home for its proposed $355 million bond question, according to the Daily Herald.
Or it could be in the form of preventing a tax from expiring. Bond debt is often secured by tax revenue dedicated to paying that debt. When that debt is paid off, taxing districts will often seek to direct that revenue to new bonds, thereby classifying the new debt as “tax neutral.” But in reality, if no new debt is issued, the revenue that was dedicated to the now paid-off debt could be returned to taxpayers.
If you are one of the 53% of Illinoisans who ranks taxes as one of the top issues facing the state and live in one of the districts where these questions are on the ballot, this election is your chance to weigh in.