McHenry Times

Illinois state Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) fails to see the logic behind a pair of bills that he claims will raise property taxes to fund affordable housing.

“This would be a massive property tax for existing homeowners and businesses that are already overtaxed,” Skillicorn told the McHenry Times. “What do existing homeowners get for these higher property taxes? Do they get better roads? Does this help pay down the pensions? Do they get additional new services and amenities? No, they just get stuck with the bill for social engineering.”

According to Wirepoints, Senate Bill 2259 and House Bill 1168 are now both pending in the General Assembly, with both designed to limit increases in assessments of new or rehabilitated apartment complexes provided that the owner commits a certain amount of units to a rent cap for lower-income families. The problem, as Skillicorn and other critics see it, is that the levy on the property would remain the same, leaving all other property owners to make up the difference out of their own pockets.  

“Taxpayers are already leaving Illinois, this would just make it worse,” Skillicorn said.

Still others contend that the proposed legislation would create an unnecessary problem.

“The simplest and most efficient way to provide housing assistance is vouchers, not convoluted incentives like Springfield is moving towards,” Wirepoints wrote on its government watchdog website. “The pending bills would require a whole new level of bureaucracy for assessors and administrators to enforce.”