Dupage Policy Journal

Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) doesn’t mince words in voicing opposition to a proposed statewide property tax.

“A statewide property tax would be thievery,” Ives told the DuPage Policy Journal. “It would destroy home values and wreak havoc on our economic system. It is literally the most outrageous thing I have ever heard proposed.”

Some lawmakers have advanced the idea of a statewide property tax as a way of funding growing pension liability, and Wirepoints reports others in the financial sector have proposed the idea of levying a special state property assessment estimated to be around 1 percent of actual property value each year for 30 years.

“I oppose a statewide property tax in its entirety for any purpose,” Ives said. “Illinoisans already have the highest state and local tax burden and highest out-migration of any state. We need to lower property taxes.”

Without such action, Ives predicts there can be but one dire and dreaded outcome for the state.  

“The Illinois housing market, still suffering from the 2008 crash, would collapse,” she said.

Currently, property taxes across Illinois stand at an average of 2.67 percent, the highest levels in the nation. In a working class community in south Cook County, the average is nearly double that at over 5 percent.

As for the growing pension crisis, Ives said the starting point for the state finding a way to dig its way out from under also seems clear.

“The only solution is a constitutional change, move new hires to 401(k)s, modify pensions over 50K ($50,000), and bankruptcy at the local level if all else fails,” she said.

Ives made the case for greater fiscal responsibility and government accountability a staple of her campaign run against Gov. Bruce Rauner, where she came up just three points short in the GOP primary.