DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin ilooks forward to seeing how voters answer an advisory question that seeks to raise property taxes by almost 50 percent every year for 30 years.
"I know it will be instructive for me to hear directly from the voters on these important issues," Cronin told the DuPage Policy Journal.
Cronin, an Elmhurst resident and Republican, has been DuPage County Board Chairman since 2010. Cronin is up for re-election in November and faces off against musician, community organizer and Democrat Lynn LaPlante.
DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin
The question on the ballot in DuPage County is one of three tax-related referendum questions that the DuPage County Board voted unanimously in August to place on the November’s general election ballot.
The question asks:
"Shall DuPage County oppose the General Assembly instituting a property tax increase equivalent to 1 percent of your home's value to help retire state debt?"
The non-binding question follows a proposal by the Chicago Civic Federation and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in April, when a Chicago Federation speaker proposed an across-the-state tax levy. The levy would be a special property assessment estimated at about 1 percent of actual property value each year for the next three decades. That special property assessment would be in addition to current property taxes Illinois.
"These questions, I believe, provide important feedback for us as we plan our policy initiatives and the corresponding funding for our work as we move forward," Cronin said. "All of these subjects are related to taxes, an issue of primary concern for our residents."
Property taxes impact residents’ ability to live and thrive in the county, Cronin said.
"From our perspective, property taxes provide a significant portion of our budget," Cronin said. "All of us know our voters are very interested in and sensitive to the idea of changes in tax rates. I believe it is essential to gather information and direction on the actions our Board should take, related to property tax rates. Together, we have reduced county spending and pursued efficiency as a path toward preserving service levels without raising taxes.”
Cronin is a partner in the law firm Power & Cronin and a nearly 20-year veteran of the Illinois General Assembly.
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