McHenry Times

Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) says the recent amendment he introduced to Senate Bill 2670 will allow voters to use the ballot box as a tool to lower their property taxes.

McConchie recently filed the amendment which if passed, would give Illinois taxpayers in counties who are subject to the Property Tax Extension Law (PTELL) the ability to control property taxes through a referendum. According to McConchie, nearly 40 percent of the state's counties are under PTELL which only allows yearly tax revenues of no more than 5 percent or at the inflation rate, whichever is lower. 

"Illinois has the second highest property tax rate in the nation, and suburban counties see some of the highest property taxes across the country," McConchie recently told the McHenry Times. "This legislation gives voters back a tool they used to have – the ability to lower their property taxes via referendum."

"Currently, the ability to reduce property taxes via referendum is only allowed in counties that are not subject to PTELL," McConchie said. "Nearly 40 percent of all Illinois counties are under PTELL and 10 counties in Illinois voted but failed to adopt PTELL."

McConchie said his proposed amendment will help those residents in PTELL counties by having a referendum to raise and lower property taxes. 

"In non-PTELL counties, voters have both the ability to raise and lower their own property taxes via referendum," he said. "This legislation puts PTELL counties more in line with what voters in non-PTELL counties are currently allowed to do."

McConchie said according to data, since 1990, property taxes have increased faster in counties with tax caps versus counties without the caps. 

"It seems voters giving up the ability to go to referendum to lower property taxes in exchange for property tax caps has actually resulted in higher property taxes – not lower," McConchie said.  

"My legislation would make it easier for voters and taxpayers in PTELL to regain control over the nearly 7,000 units of local government by giving them a tool to reduce their own property taxes," he said. 

McConchie said the benefit of the legislation will be for voters wanting to lower their property taxes to petition to reduce a certain taxing district's aggregate extension base by any amount they see fit, although there are petition and voting requirements in order to get the question on the ballot. 

"A petitioner must obtain signatures of at least 10 percent of the votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election within that taxing district, and the proposition would need a simple majority to pass," he said. "These requirements mirror current law for non-PTELL counties."

"It seems from looking at what takes place in non-PTELL counties, that having the ability to lower property taxes doesn’t necessarily mean that voters are just carelessly lowering their property taxes left and right," McConchie said. "Rather, it is a way for non-PTELL county voters to keep their units of local government in check. In return, those local governments are not increasing their rates all that drastically knowing that their voters can come back and reduce them," he said.