Creating new special service areas for the sole benefit of Chicago Public Schools would mean hitting homeowners with an additional $100 million in taxes.
Illinois lawmakers can learn valuable lessons from states that have protected essential government services from swings in the economy.
According to the Illinois Department of Revenue the progressive tax would've cost Illinois 20,000 private-sector jobs, 43,000 residents to other states on net, and $1.9 billion in GDP over the first four years.
The Illinois Department of Revenue has projected losses of 20,000 private-sector jobs, 43,000 residents to other states on net, and $1.9 billion in GDP in the first four years of a progressive tax.
Lang’s progressive-tax proposal would hit successful small businesses, which account for 72 percent of all small-business income in Illinois.
State Rep. Lou Lang’s progressive tax would hurt the middle class by making Illinois home to the second-highest small-business tax rate in the U.S.
Flawed property valuations and the process required to fix them are a cash cow for law firms, including those of House Speaker Mike Madigan, Chicago Alderman Ed Burke and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton.
Illinois has 859 local school districts – the fifth-most in the nation.
Illinois homeowners are struggling under the weight of the nation’s highest property-tax bills, according to a new analysis.
Replacing Illinois’ fair, flat income tax with a progressive tax would mean that some married couples with both spouses working would pay more in state income taxes than if they remained single.
In 2015 alone, Illinois state government redistributed more than $12 billion in income and other taxes to local governments. These financial shell games have created a needlessly complex system and make it difficult for local taxpayers to hold their governments accountable.
House Bill 696 would freeze property taxes across the state. Under the plan, local governments could still increase rates, but only with approval from voters. The bill doesn’t apply to home-rule governments, however. That’s no small exemption: 7.8 million Illinoisans live in a home-rule municipality such Chicago, Naperville or Peoria. This number also doesn’t account for Cook County, which is also home-rule, and would be exempted from this property-tax freeze.
Nearly 25 percent of Illinois school districts serve just one school, and over one-third of all school districts have fewer than 600 students.
Under Lang’s plan, Illinois’ top tax rate for noncorporate businesses would become 11.25 percent — the second-highest rate in the U.S.