Dupage Policy Journal

Former State Representative and U.S. Army veteran Jeanne Ives said a state law exempting some veterans from property taxes was intended to help the "severely disabled," not "marathoners" and "partners in law firms" with "$1 million homes."

Ives made the comments in a Facebook Live, calling for changes to a state law that allowed Naperville Mayoral Candidate Benny White-- who lives in a $1 million home-- and City Council member Ian Holzhauer -- a marathoner and law firm partner-- to avoid paying hundreds of thousands in property taxes since 2015.

"They’re taking advantage of a law that was not intended for them," said Ives, who was in the Illinois legislature at the time the bill was passed and voted against it. "This original bill was designed for veterans who have lost a limb or lost their sight. I can see having a property tax break of significance for them. But not for these people."

Ives said the law was created for veterans like U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who lost her limbs in a combat zone, or Sgt. Joel Gomez, the Wheaton native and former Wheaton-Warrenville South football player who became a quadriplegic after his Bradley Fighting Vehicle fell off a bridge in Iraq. 

But, she said, as is evidenced by the cases of White and Holzhauer, one's military "disability rating" isn't always what it seems.

"We all think--- if you have a 70 percent disability rating, you’re severely disabled. You probably cannot work. You probably have real issues that need to be handled, that we should support you," Ives said. "There’s a whole industry behind upping veterans disability ratings."

"When people find out about this, they’re disgusted. They lose a little bit of respect for military veterans," Ives said.

In fact, Illinois is the only state that gives full property tax exemptions to veterans with 70 percent disabled ratings.

California, for example, gives partial exemptions to 100 percent disabled and "unemployable" veterans who are "blind in both eyes" or have "lost the use of two or more limbs," with income limits.

In a statement issued Friday, White said his work in the military was "a very physically demanding period" and that he doesn't "feel the need to show the receipts" for what justifed his disability rating.

Holzhauer, who worked as an Air Force JAG lawyer for seven years, told the Chicago Tribune that he felt the property tax exemption was justified because he "could easily have gone into private practice and earned three times as much." He also said he "missed the birth of his first son" while away for his Air Force work.

White served as an Army officer until 2008, and has since taught ROTC at Joliet Township H.S. He also teaches at Benedictine Unviersity and served on the Indian Prairie School District 204 Board of Education (2012-17) before joining the Naperville City Council four years ago.

Holzhauer posts frequently on social media of his physical exercise exploits, including running the Chicago Marathon and completing "high-intensity" Orange Theory classes. He works as an estate lawyer for his own firm-- Nagle, Obarski & Holzhauer P.C-- in Naperville.

Over eight years, White has shifted an estimated $175,000 in property taxes to his neighbors' bills. Holzhauer has shifted $76,000.

"Who is left behind? The average working class citizen. They’re the ones who have to pay, who are being scammed by all of this," she said. "I oppose giving this tax break to people who live active lifestyles and live in very expensive homes."

White, an native of Kansas City, and the South Dakota native Ives were classmates at West Point, graduating together in 1987.

$250,000 in assessed valuation, not market value

Ives said the law was poorly conceived "pandering" that she thought was sure to have unintended consequences.

"That law was passed with a major flaw, and that flaw has never been corrected," she said.

That flaw: Ives said State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock), who authored the original disabled veteran property tax expansion bill in 2015, admits now he made a mistake in drafting the bill, including a $250,000 "assessed valuation" cap, rather than a $250,000 market value cap.

The error exempts veterans with homes of $750,000 in collar counties, where assesed valuation is supposed to be one-third of a home's market value, and a whopping $2.5 million in Cook County, where assessed valuation is supposed to be 10 percent of a home's value.

"If you can afford a $750,000 home, you can afford to pay something towards your property tax bill," Ives said.

Property assessments are an inexact science. White purchased his home for $806,111 in 2014, and Zillow says it is now worth $950,400. Though Will County has never assessed it at more than $250,000, allowing him to take the exemption every year.

White, 59, is running in the April 4 election for mayor against Scott Wehrli and Tiffany Stephens.

Holzhauer, 40, is up for re-election to the Naperville City Council in 2025.