Rauner keeps up property tax pressure
Republican governor hopeful Bruce Rauner has launched a website and enlisted a suburban homeowner for a robocall supporting his effort to freeze suburban property taxes.
A recorded call from Joan Zaleski of St. Charles urges people to sign a petition at FreezeMyTaxes.com to back a plan that would keep local government from asking for more tax money unless voters approve.
"Let's put an end to these career politicians raising our property taxes without our approval," she says.
Zaleski's husband, Robert, gave at least $100 to Rauner's campaign earlier this year, records show.
It's a plan some suburban officials call unrealistic as their costs continue to rise and one that would likely have little chance for approval from state lawmakers.
"That would never get done," Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said when Rauner first proposed the property tax freeze plan at news conference in his town last month.
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has called Rauner's plan "a dumb idea," arguing freezing property taxes would be devastating to the budgets of schools, which rely on local money to operate, especially in the suburbs.
This year Quinn tried to give most homeowners an addition property tax credit on their income tax returns, but lawmakers never seriously considered it, leaving both candidates with big promises made on an issue that many suburban voters consider critically important.
Quinn on Tuesday launched his own attack, trying to highlight some of the troubles in Rauner's past.
Rauner, a Winnetka businessman, has taken heat for accusations of wrongdoing at some companies once owned by his investment firm.