Illinois State Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) says he thinks property taxes should freeze all across Illinois in an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune. The state has the second-highest property taxes in the country, after New Jersey, and they might get higher for residents of the state's biggest city following passage of the Chicago Public Schools 2015 budget.
McSweeney writes:
"Enough is enough.
We need an immediate, across-the-board property tax freeze. A freeze is not a comprehensive solution to Illinois' property tax problem, but it is a good start.
One reason I have been pushing a property tax freeze is to buy us some time to work on consolidating some of the more than 7,000 units of local government in Illinois. That would help to reduce the cost of government and ultimately lower residential property taxes. We cannot keep throwing money at all of these units of government and ignoring the outcome -- higher property taxes."
For homeowners who are already struggling to pay high property taxes, news of high foreclosure rates in the state isn't good either. Illinois had the third-highest number of home foreclosures in the country in June 2014, double the national average for the same month, according to RealtyTrac.
McSweeney writes:
Enough is enough.
We need an immediate, across-the-board property tax freeze. A freeze is not a comprehensive solution to Illinois' property tax problem, but it is a good start.
One reason I have been pushing a property tax freeze is to buy us some time to work on consolidating some of the more than 7,000 units of local government in Illinois. That would help to reduce the cost of government and ultimately lower residential property taxes. We cannot keep throwing money at all of these units of government and ignoring the outcome -- higher property taxes.
For homeowners who are already struggling to pay high property taxes, news of high foreclosure rates in the state isn't good either. Illinois had the third-highest number of home foreclosures in the country in June 2014, double the national average for the same month, according to RealtyTrac.