advertisement

It's time for voters to step up against taxes

Lake County property tax bills were delivered recently. Property owners remain in shock.

Illinois has risen to the first among our 50 states in its reliance on property taxes to fund its schools, townships, libraries and fire protection districts; and, its major reliance on property taxes to fund park districts, community colleges, counties and other local governments.

Lake County has the distinctive rank of highest in the amount of property tax collected among the 102 Illinois counties and 15th highest among the 3,143 U.S. counties.

We owe our costly property tax situation to past and present elected General Assembly members, who for the last three decades have failed to adhere to sound fiscal policy practices in their attempts to legitimately balance each year's state budget, and, to address and change the state's antiquated property tax laws.

The economically stressed areas have been hit the hardest, as land and property values have plummeted, tax rates have risen disproportionately in order to maintain mandated services.

As the cost of living has increased, the more affluent areas have felt the pain of significantly increased property tax demands to support "expected" levels of service.

Illinois holds over 2,000 more government units than any other state in the union. Many of these units provide services that are duplicated by other government agencies. There has been reluctance on the part of county and state politicians to initiate and support legislation to eliminate the duplicity.

The voters must bear some of the responsibility for their economically painful property tax situation. In the past, many have voted their hearts, not their heads. Some have not voted at all, and some have studied the issues and voted based on that knowledge.

The time has come for all to become knowledgeable.

Janice Schnobrich

Lake Bluff

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.