SPRINGFIELD – Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) was part of a House Republican press conference recently concerning the governor’s recent comments on property taxes.
McCombie pointed out while Illinois residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation, Governor Pritzker continues to pass the buck on one of the biggest challenges Illinois families face year after year.
In his latest remarks, the governor blamed past lawmakers for underfunding schools, and now he’s pointing fingers at local school boards saying they should be doing more to reduce costs.
McCombie said that the governor is ignoring reality.
The Republican leader said just in this current General Assembly, there have been at least 75 tax increase proposals by House Democrats. And in the Governor’s own budget, it relies on $728 million in new and increased taxes all resulting in raising property taxes. And this comes on top of chronic underfunding and unfunded mandates across the board.
And, McCombie said, what gets missed is the fact this very same governor eliminated the property tax relief grant last year, a program specifically designed to help schools reduce property tax levies. In theory, it amounted to a $43 million property tax hike on Illinois families, and it’s in his proposed budget again this year.