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Chicago City Wire

Friday, March 29, 2024

Mayoral surrogates warn state against property tax freeze

Money 05

A consortium of Illinois mayors has gone public – to a degree – with its fight against a possible statewide property tax freeze, telling residents that as great as a freeze might sound, it could destroy their communities.

The Chicago City Wire and its affiliate publications reached out to six regional councils of government that apparently represent the interests of 150 mayors in the state: the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, the South Suburban Mayors & Managers Association, the Northwest Municipal Conference, the Will County Governmental League, Metro West Council of Government and the Southwest Conference of Mayors.

None of them had returned calls for comment by press time.

Instead, the executive directors that represent the organizations penned an opinion piece for Crain’s Chicago Business to argue against a property tax freeze.

“In fact, such a measure could actually cost Illinois taxpayers more, not less, and could reduce services available to residents,” they wrote. “For example, municipal construction projects are very often paid for with a bond, which serves the same purpose that a mortgage serves for homeowners. However, issuing a bond becomes more costly as reliable revenue sources for repayment, such as property taxes, are restricted, increasing interest rates and making public projects more expensive for taxpayers.”

The article was written by Mark Baloga of DuPage Mayors, Kristi DeLaurentiis of South Suburban Mayors, Mark Fowler of the Northwest Municipal Conference, Hugh O’Hara of the Will County Government League, Mary Randle of the Metro West Council, and Vicky Smith of the Southwest Conference of Mayors.

“… many municipalities have been challenged to meet expenses since the 2008 recession, and adding a property tax freeze would reduce a municipality's revenue even further,” they argued. “In essence, it would hamper its ability to access needed funds and jeopardize vital public services such as police and fire protection, garbage pickup, road maintenance and snow removal.”

Since this legislative session began, Gov. Bruce Rauner has been pushing for a property tax freeze to help beleaguered homeowners.

Illinois taxpayers are saddled with some of the highest tax bills in the United States, the Illinois Policy Institute has reported. In fact, residents of some of the communities represented by the councils are paying some of the highest property tax rates in the state.

Municipalities belonging to regional councils that authored editorial

South Suburban Mayors & Managers AssociationAlsip

Beecher

Blue Island 

Burnham

Calumet City

Calumet Park

Chicago Heights

Country Club Hills

Crestwood

Crete 

Dixmoor

Dolton

East Hazel Crest

Flossmoor

Ford Heights

Glenwood

Harvey

Hazel

Homewood 

Lansing

Lynwood

Markham

Matteson 

Midlothian

Mokena

Monee

Oak Forest

Olympia Fields 

Orland Hills

Orland Park

Park Forest

Peotone

Phoenix

Posen

Richton Park 

Riverdale

Robbins

South Chicago Heights

South Holland Address

Steger

Thornton

Tinley Park

University Park

Worth
DuPage Mayor and Managers Conference Addison

Aurora

Bartlett

Bensenvile

Bloomingdale

Bollingbrook

Burr Ridge

Carol Stream

Clarendon Hills

Downders Grove

Elmhurst

Glen Ellyn

Glendale Heights

Hanover Park

Hinsdale

Itasca

Lemont

Lisle 

Lombard

Naperville

Oak Brook

Roselle

Schaumburg

Villa Park

Warrenville

Wayne

West Chicago 

Westmont

Wheaton 

Willowbrook

Winfield

Wood Dale

Woodridge
Northwest Municipal ConferenceAntoch

Arlington Heights

Bannockburn

Barrington

Bartlett

Buffalo Grove

Carpentersville

Cary

Crystal Lake

Deer Park

Deerfield

Des Plaines

Elk Grove Village

Evanston

Fox Lake

Glencoe

Glenview

Grayslake 

Hanover Park 

Highland Park

Hoffman Estates

Kenilworth 

Lake Bluff

Lake Forest

Lake Zurich

Libertyville

Lincolnshire

Lincolnwood

Morton Grove 

Mount Prospect

Niles

Northbrook

Northfield 

Northfield Township

Palatine

Park Ridge

Prospect Heights

Rolling Meadows

Schaumburg

Skokie

Streamwood

Vernon Hills

Wheeling

Wilmette

Winnekta 
 Will County Governmental LeagueBeecher

Braidwood

Coal City

Crete 

Elwood 

Godley

Joliet

Lockport

Minooka

Monee

New Lenox

Oswego

Plainfield

Romeoville

University Park

Woodridge

Government of Will County

Bolingbrook

Channahon 

Crest Hill

Diamond

Frankfort

Homer Glen

Lemont

Manhattan

Mokena

Naperville

Orland Park

Peotone

Shorewood

Tinley Park

Wilmington

Government of Grundy County
Metro West Council of GovernmentAlgonquin

Aurora

Batavia

Big Rock 

Burlington

Campton Hills

Cortland 

DeKalb

East Dundee

Elburn

Elgin

Geneva

Gilberts

Hampshire

Kaneville

Lily Lake

Maple Park 

Millbrook

Minoola

Montgomery

Newark

North Aurora

Oswego

Pingree Grove
Southwest Conference of Mayors Alsip

Bedford Park

Blue Island 

Bridgeview

Burbank

Chicago Ridge

Crestwood

Evergreen Park

Hickory Hills

Hometown

Justice

Lemont

Merrionette Park

Oak Lawn

Orland Hills

Orland Park

Palos Heights

Palos Hills

Palos Park

Willow Springs

Worth

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