House Republicans dismiss Property Tax Relief Task Force

The House Republicans of the General Assembly have dismissed the task force formed by Governor JB Pritzker. They said in a news conference that the Property Tax Relief Task Force was a woeful failure. Ji, Durkin of Western Springs, the House Minority Leader, said, “26 Republican proposals for property-tax reforms have been rejected by the task force.”

Durkin added that there was nothing offered by the task force that could move them towards the support of the fair tax. The fair tax is backed by Gov. Pritzker. It will go before the voters in a referendum this fall. The property-tax relief is a major part of the proposed graduated income tax. According to the proposal, the graduated income tax will generate a revenue of $3 billion. A supermajority of 60% is required for the passage of this bill into law.

Gov. Pritzker gave the responsibility of finding ways to lower property taxes to the task force. Rep. Sam Yingling of Palatine is the chairman of the task force. He said, “We want and need input from Republicans.” Rep. Deanne Mazzochi of Elmhurst said, “Are these Democrats serious about property-tax reform?”

Durkin added that there was no procedure at all. Pritzker’s Office released a statement saying, “The governor appreciates the work of property-tax relief task force.” The statement added that Pritzker looked forward to the final recommendations that would be submitted by the task force. Rep. Grant Wehrli of Naperville said that the governments created commissions nine times between 1975 and 2018 to examine property taxes. Wehrli added that no action was taken even on a single occasion.

Wehrli said, “This is a standard playbook of the Democratic Party, a task force that accomplishes absolutely nothing.” Mazzochi blamed that the task force rejected proposals submitted by the Republicans. She added that those proposals included additional pension reforms, relief for seniors, and transparency of property-tax bills.