East Dundee Trustee: 'Taxes are just too dang high'

East Dundee Trustee Allen Skillicorn believes the state of Illinois is in need of a turnaround, starting with property taxes, he told attendees of a political forum Tuesday.

"My property taxes are just too dang high," he said. "We must hold our local elected officials responsible for property taxes, but we must also change the way we do business in Springfield."

At the forum hosted by the Illinois Opportunity Project, Skillicorn, executive vice-chair of the Kane County Republican Party, sat on a panel that outlined many of Gov. Bruce Rauner's turnaround agenda policies.

Also on the panel were Dan Proft, senior fellow at the Illinois Policy Institute and radio host, and Pat Hughes, a speaker for the Illinois Opportunity Project and president of the Liberty Justice Center.

Last month, Skillicorn announced that he is exploring a run against State Rep. Mike Tryon for the 66th House seat, citing high property taxes as a reason to take action in Springfield.

Skillicorn echoed those concerns during the panel discussion. Though he was successful in leading a campaign to freeze the tax levy in East Dundee, the problem extends to other local municipalities, he said.

"People are frustrated with their property taxes," he said. "It's as simple as that."

The issues come from the state's history of overspending, Skillicorn said. Continuing with unfunded mandates, such as prevailing wage, would cause even more of a local property tax increase, he said. Illinois has the second highest property taxes in the nation.

Rauner's turnaround agenda, which has received mixed feedback from suburban municipalities, proposes budget cuts and ways to improve the state's government and finances. These measures include reducing unfunded mandates, reforming pensions, adopting term limits and giving more power to voters regarding unions and property taxes.

These are the policies that could begin to repair Illinois' economic crisis, Hughes said, such as $214 billion of debt and the fact that more people are leaving the state than ever before.

Skillicorn said he will continue to work to find ways to reduce taxes on a local level, but the issues stem deeper than that.

"As a local trustee who's actually fighting for his village, I see the problems that we have are not homegrown," he said. "The problems that East Dundee has come from Springfield."