Dems create group, GOP proposes bills to address IL’s high property
taxes
[March 14, 2025]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Some at the Illinois statehouse say the state is
on fire with burdensome property taxes and the firehouse is locked by
majority Democrats.
By several metrics, Illinoisans pay the second-highest property taxes in
the country. Most recently, WalletHub pegged the Land of Lincoln just
behind New Jersey.
State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Ugaste, said one commercial property owner in
his district is about to give up, as his $300,000 property has a $60,000
annual property tax bill.
“No one wants to pay for the building a second time to the government
over a five-year period of time,” Ugaste said during a news conference
in Springfield Thursday.
One measure Ugaste pitched is to take a quarter of the state budget, use
most of that to pay needed pension obligations and use the rest to send
to school districts with the mandate they reduce property taxes.
“This could provide property tax relief over the next 21 years of up to
$82.4 billion here in Illinois and would allow for further growth,” he
said.
The state is on fire, Ugaste said, and legislators from both sides are
firefighters. Minority Republicans have tools he said they’re ready to
deploy.
“However, the Democrats are the ones with keys to the firehouse and they
won’t let us in so that we can use the equipment that we have inside to
put out the fire,” he said.
Ugaste said with Democrats in control of what legislation advances,
Republican ideas are kept from making it across the finish line.
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Statehouse Democrats have announced membership of a partisan working
group to discuss the issue of property taxes. Such working groups
typically conduct business behind closed doors.
“I’m eager to join this working group and to hear from a wide range
of stakeholders and policy experts so we can craft smart new
approaches to cutting property taxes,” said state Rep. Nabeela Syed,
D-Palatine, in a separate news release. “I’m confident that my
colleagues are as committed as I am to relieving that strain and
allowing people to put their money towards creating better lives and
helping their communities flourish.”
Republicans aren’t included in the working group. Standing with
Ugaste Thursday, state Rep. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, said without
real relief this year, the state will continue losing people.
“It is a five-alarm fire right now, because look at other states
growing,” he said. “We lose congressional seats, other states are
growing dramatically. States around us, same weather, grow 1% a
year, so it’s a huge problem right now and we’re chasing more and
more people out of Illinois if we don’t address it immediately.”
Legislators return Tuesday with a deadline to advance bills out of
committee set for next Friday.
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