Ammie Kessem, a Chicago police officer and Republican candidate seeking the 19th House District seat held by Rep. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago), is weighing in on some of the unfortunate realities that have many residents shaking their heads over high taxes.
Kessem responded Jan. 23 to an Illinois Policy report that showed property taxes growing six times faster than household incomes from 2008 to 2015.
When asked, Kessem named "the continuation of 'kicking the can down the road' and 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' thought processes of these bureaucrats" as adding to the problem.
"The families of this state have to balance their checkbooks at the end of the day," Kessem said. "It's time our politicians are held accountable for doing the same."
Kessem said she will work for a 1 percent cap on property taxes.
"Too many Illinoisans are essentially renting their properties from the government with the amount of taxes they are paying," Kessem said. "If local governments determine they need to raise this amount for specific things such as public safety or education, they must do so through a referendum. What that does is it puts the decision-making process back into the hands of the people rather than the politically elite bureaucrats."
By contrast, she said, Martwick has voted for higher tax burdens for families.
"It is my opinion that he is unfit to hold the office of state representative," Kessem said, noting that as a property tax attorney, Martwick stands to benefit from certain outcomes in property tax appeals. Kessem mentioned conflicts of interest that she said show Martwick's inability to be responsible to constituents.
"Seems to me that he's more concerned about his law firm's ability to make thousands off the backs of the taxpayer's appeals," Kessem said. "I'm not the only one who sees this giant conflict of interest. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about banning elected officials from also serving as property tax appeals attorneys. I would definitely support this ban and have been calling out my opponent on this issue since the very beginning of my campaign. It is a huge conflict of interest."
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