Lake County ballot question lets voters sound off on statewide property tax proposal
An idea to fix Illinois’ fiscal woes with a statewide property tax made headlines in May. Voters in Lake County will be asked whether state lawmakers should have the power to impose such a tax.
On Nov. 6, Lake County will ask voters to weigh in on a statewide property tax proposal floated earlier this year. Included on voters’ November ballots will be a nonbinding referendum asking whether Illinois should adopt a constitutional amendment prohibiting lawmakers from imposing a new property tax at the state level.
The Lake County board voted 11-7 in August to approve a resolution to include the referendum question on voters’ November ballot. The county itself did not take a position on the proposal.
Under the title, “Ballot for banning the creation of a statewide property tax,” the referendum question reads, “Shall the Illinois General Assembly amend the State Constitution to ban the creation of a new statewide property tax?”
A “yes” vote signals support for a constitutional ban on the statewide property tax. A “no” vote signals opposition to such a ban.
While a statewide property tax has not been an agenda item for state lawmakers, some prominent voices outside the General Assembly are entertaining the idea. In May, a group of economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago released a report proposing Illinois adopt a new, 1 percent residential property tax to help pay down the state’s pension debt. That tax would come on top of the local property taxes Illinoisans currently pay.
The nonpartisan Tax Foundation found that the additional 1 percent property tax would deliver Illinoisans the most severe property tax burden among the 50 U.S. states. Currently, the Tax Foundation’s 2019 State Business Tax Climate Index ranks Illinois 45th on its 50-state property tax scale.
Chicago Fed economists argued the measure is Illinois’ “best option” to pay down the state’s severe pension debt, which stands at $130 billion, according to state government data. Moody’s Investors Service – one of the top three credit rating agencies – pegs Illinois’ pension debt at $250 billion.
Illinoisans will cast their general election ballots Nov. 6.