Income tax strategies separate Caffrey, Mazzochi in 47th House District

Incumbent House District 47 Republican Deanne Mazzochi and her Democratic challenger, Jim Caffrey, differ on several issues affecting the state, but perhaps none greater than the role income taxes play in Illinois finances and how they should be collected.

Caffrey, 53, of Elmhurst, fully supports moving toward a graduated income tax model, also called a progressive tax. Mazzochi, 46, also of Elmhurst, said she believes such a system would ultimately hurt the very people Caffrey insists it would help.

Such a model assesses wealthier individuals at a higher rate. Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker is among those advocating for the change.

The brackets and rates for a graduated system would need to be set by lawmakers. The move also would require voters to approve amending the Illinois Constitution.

"You can go to a graduated income tax that would save money for the vast majority of residents of this community and this district but will also be able to help balance what's going on with property taxes," Caffrey said.

He proposed that those earning up to $100,000 would pay a rate slightly less than the current one while those earning between $100,000 and $300,000 would pay the current rate.

"Beyond that, you can have other rates that would be there. Most people who are making $325,000 a year are actually going to pay less in income taxes," he said.

According to Caffrey, the bottom 20 percent of the state's earners pay 13 percent of their income in Illinois while the top 1 percent pay 4 percent of their income in state taxes.

Mazzochi, however, called the flat rate system "one of the few tax advantages Illinois has over our neighboring states," which she says are trying to get back to a flat-rate system.

"They understand that when you follow the approach that Mr. Caffrey has and you keep trying to tax the people who are making $300,000 or more, those are the people who have the jobs that are most portable and can be taken out of state," Mazzochi said. "When you start going with a graduated income tax, all you're basically doing is removing revenue from the system because people on the higher end of the scale are just going to flee. And that is particularly true in the district where Mr. Caffrey and I live."

Mazzochi argued that a graduated rate also does not capture the income of the wealthy who have put their money into tax-free municipal bonds.

"The people who ultimately get hurt the most by this kind of tax are the ones who you most want to keep because it's their tax dollars that are ultimately funding your social services and everything else that we really want to have state government accomplish," she said.

Caffery called the progressive income tax model a "basic issue of fairness."

"People are most concerned about whether Illinois is fiscally responsible and solvent," he said. "We are a great state. People want to live here."

The 47th District includes all or parts of Elmhurst, Oak Brook, Oakbrook Terrace, Hinsdale and Westmont.