A taxpayer advocacy group is celebrating recent victories in local referendums at the same time it has to lick its wounds from a few defeats.
On its website, Taxpayers Untied of America (TUA) thanked supporters who helped reject home rule referendums in two communities and a property tax increase in another on April 4.
“The voters of both Coal City and Lynwood were wise to resoundingly defeat these home rule referenda,” Jim Tobin, president of the group, said. “Home rule means granting unlimited taxing authority to local bureaucrats. Why would voters want to cut themselves out of voting on tax increases? Why grant more authority over your hard-earned money?”
Coal City’s referendum was shot down by a vote of 747 to 175, while Lynwood’s lost 683 to 221.
In Hinsdale Township High School District 86, a tax increase that would have raised property taxes by an average of more than $450 annually was defeated 9,102 to 3,169.
"Unfortunately, eighty percent of voters approved Evanston/Skokie CCSD 65’s $450 annual property tax hike," the TUA posted. "Berwyn South SD 100’s property tax increase barely passed by less than two hundred votes. And Oak Park SD 97 voters passed referenda to raise their property taxes by $13.3 million and issue new bonds totaling $57.5 million. The average Oak Park homeowner will see a spike in their annual property tax bill by more than $700 annually."
TUA was founded in 1976 as an Illinois organization before completing its transition to a nationwide entity in 2011.
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