Dupage Policy Journal

Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) asked the House on Thursday why her proposal to examine property taxes has yet to see a vote.

“We’ve just run through probably 15 resolutions," she said. "I’d like to know why my resolution, HR139, is still bottled up in the Rules Committee. HR139 is a very reasonable bipartisan resolution that asks that we actually do a task force related to property taxes. I filed this resolution back in February, but I have been working on this resolution for over two years. I’ve spoken about elements of how unfair property taxes are and the assessment of those properties are for three years.”

HR139 creates the Fair and Equitable Assessment of Property Task Force. The resolution actually sits in the Property Tax Subcommittee, which Ives later acknowledged. She informed the chamber that she requested a hearing but has yet to receive a response.

Illinois has the second-highest property taxes in the nation, reportedly driving families and businesses from the state. Ives found it ironic that Democrats are now suddenly concerned about property taxes after the Chicago Tribune released an unvarnished review of the property tax system in Chicago.

“The headlines are devastating, and it now seems that every Democrat gubernatorial candidate is concerned about property taxes, and yet my resolution -- a very reasonable ask to look at our assessment system, understand that it needs to be modernized and brought into the electronic era, where we are not doing things on slips of paper shoved into a back drawer that can’t be found or verified or vetted – [has not been discussed].”

Rep. Patricia Bellock (R-Hinsdale) rose to support Ives.

“It strictly isn’t a partisan issue,” Bellock said. “I think people on both sides of the aisle would like to have the property tax issues addressed by a task force that can spend some time looking into it, especially since we’ve talked about it in the 'Grand Bargain' and the 'Compromise Bargain' that we have the second-highest property taxes of any state in the United States. It is certainly worthwhile to have a task force to look into this issue, and I thoroughly agree with Rep. Ives on trying to get that resolution out of Rules and onto the floor.”

Ives again urged members from both sides of the aisle to get her resolution out of the subcommittee and into the chambers for voting.

“As a matter of fundamental fairness, we need a task force to look across the state at our property tax system, and I would appreciate your support from your side of the aisle on getting my resolution and getting it out of the Rules Committee so that we can vote on it today,” Ives said. “We’ve done a number of other resolutions today that are quite frankly not as impactful for the citizens of Illinois as my resolution would be.”