Rep. McSweeney introduces bill seeking to reduce tax levies by 10 percent over 2 years

Legislation filed last month by
Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, is seeking to ease the property tax burden on Illinois residents by making significant tax levy reductions.

“We have to do more than just stop property taxes from increasing – we must find ways to lower the property tax burden in Illinois,” McSweeney said in a statement. “To that end, I have filed a measure to reduce all property tax levies by 10 percent.”

House Bill 320 states that for the 2019 levy year, the property tax extension limitation law would be calculated by reducing a taxing district’s aggregate extension by 5 percent. For the 2020 levy year, PTELL would be calculated by reducing a district’s 2018 aggregate extension by 10 percent.

Starting in the 2021 levy year, property taxes would be permanently frozen unless local voters approved a tax increase by referendum.

“We know property taxes in Illinois are too high,” McSweeney said. “We know that people are leaving Illinois in droves in large part because the taxes are too high. Illinois lost nearly 45,000 people last year alone. The longer we delay action on solving the property tax issue in Illinois, the more people are going to leave. We need to reverse this outmigration. It is time to lower property taxes permanently in Illinois.”

On Tuesday, the legislation was assigned to the Revenue and Finance Committee.

McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks said he welcomes McSweeney’s proposal, and he thinks it is doable. Similar reductions have been approved at the county level, and the board has been trying to get other counties to follow suit, Franks said.

“We abated and cut taxes well in excess of 10 percent over the last two years,” Franks said. “I think we’re the model to the state.”

In 2017, the County Board approved an 11.2 percent property tax levy reduction, which ended up closer to
9.5 percent.

In November, the County Board approved a spending plan with
$9.8 million in tax cuts and a $69.8 million levy.

With local property taxes making up the bulk of public school funding, Franks said the state needs to make a better commitment to funding schools, and he believes Gov. J.B. Pritzker is up to that challenge.