Chicago City Wire

Ammie Kessem, a first-time candidate for Illinois’ 19th House District, is frustrated by recent discussions of property and sales tax increases.

Economists for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago recently proposed a nearly 50-percent property tax increase over a 30-year period as a means of paying off the state's pension debt, the DuPage Policy Journal recently reported.

"The comments from the Federal Reserve were not recommendations; they were merely examples they used … to describe or explain exactly how bad things really were with regard to the pension crisis," Kessem told Chicago City Wire.

Rep. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago)

Added revenue gained from increasing taxes would be offset by a decrease in the tax base resulting from the state’s increasing outmigration of residents to states with a lower tax burden, Kessem said.

"People are leaving,” she said. “At some point, people will not be able to sell their homes. Just ask Brian Urlacher who bought a house 20 years ago near Lake Forest for $1.2 million. He ended up having to sell it for $800,000 because the taxes were so high. Why would anyone purchase property in Illinois? Based on what we are seeing, it will not be worth the investment."

Meanwhile, several counties across the state, including Ford, Lake, Kane, Will and Frankfort counties, have placed a 1-percent sales tax referendum on the November ballot. Raising sales taxes is not ideal, but the people in those counties should decide for themselves, Kessem said.

Kessem is running against Rep. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago).

The 19th District covers portions of Chicago, Elmwood Park, Harwood Heights, Porridge and River Grove.