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* AP on a property tax freeze vote today in the House…
The measure doesn’t apply to home-rule governments like Chicago and prohibits school districts from getting any more in property tax revenue than they did in 2015 unless voters approve an increase in a referendum.
The House voted 71-31 Thursday on the proposal by Democratic Rep. Jack Franks of Marengo.
Rauner’s call for a tax freeze includes letting local governments control costs by restricting labor-union power and limiting wages on public construction jobs.
But Republicans in favor of Franks’ proposal took the freeze even though it doesn’t include the governor’s reforms.
…Adding… Noting that the bill applies to nobody in Cook and the collars and most others, a Rauner admin official said “The real one failed by 14 votes yesterday.”
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:01 pm
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Does it allow for rate of inflation increases? Or just flat out the revenue collected can’t be more?
Comment by ArchPundit Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:03 pm
Declare victory, move on!
The Union-Busting aspects won’t wash.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:05 pm
this wrks on 2 lvs. 1 it lets the gov save face and claim victory on an agenda item. ie he didnt cabe he got what he wanted.
2 if the gov refuses to take the olive branch and insist on the antiunion proposals it creates fodder for the election…. a see we compromised it wasnt ise being un reasonable message.
Comment by Ghost Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:06 pm
Was this expected?
Comment by Saluki Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:07 pm
“Republicans in favor of Franks’ proposal took the freeze even though it doesn’t include the governor’s reforms.”
Drip…
– MrJM
Comment by @MisterJayEm Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:07 pm
This is a killer for schools. Passed based on 2015 revenue. We do not have a chance to address staffing for 2016 now if we were basing our numbers on our anticipated 2015 levy (revenue received in FY17).
Terrible legislation.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:10 pm
Wait but doesn’t a property tax freeze hurt school systems? Sorry I’m not keeping up but I’m struggling to understand all the things in play today. I am glad the anti labor stuff was scrubbed.
Comment by Honeybear Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:10 pm
During the same legislative session, a constitional amendment is being proposed to guarantee school funding. I guess when your state’s finances are so out of whack, math really doesn’t matter anymore.
Comment by Almost the Weekend Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:11 pm
how long is the freeze? And how much different is this than the one they voted on months ago? (didn’t a property tax freeze already get vetoed?)
Comment by Johnny Pyle Driver Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:12 pm
Magical 71 reached. Very good. Keep moving forward.
Comment by Taxman Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:12 pm
I hope this is something that finally gets us moving toward a budget deal. They can also look at workers comp reform. The anti-union stuff has to be dropped, and the interests who are fixated on those proposals will have to accept that they won’t be enacted.
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:14 pm
I realize that property tax freezes or shifts will eventually come to school districts. The rub is that given the red tape, time constraints, etc. this is nuts to have this take place right now. Perhaps with the next levy cycle at least.
Comment by East Central Illinois Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:17 pm
Senate President Cullerton proposed a two-year freeze last year that was tied to school funding reform. It will be interesting to see whether he chooses to hold up or amend Representative Franks’ bill in the Senate pending discussions/negotiations on SB 231.
Comment by GA Watcher Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:23 pm
Interesting that OW’s friend, Sandack, signed on as a co-sponsor and voted yes.
I can’t tell how many Dem/Rep on the 71 because the rep’s party isn’t listed. Anybody know?
click where it says “voting record”
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory.asp?GA=99&DocNum=696&DocTypeID=HB&GAId=13&LegID=85170&SessionID=88
Comment by cdog Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:26 pm
As a member of our local school board, I can tell you this just stupid. Those of us in PTELL districts are already effected by 2015’s levee with the ridiculous CPI. If you are going to restrict our revenue sources you have to free up the ability to better control costs.
Comment by A Watcher Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:28 pm
I think it is GOOD that the property tax collections for school districts might be frozen if this clears the muster.
Find Another Way To Fund Schools!
Sales tax, fair tax, etc….. find another way.
Comment by cdog Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:31 pm
@cdog- Shouldn’t the funding come before the freeze? Or not in your world? You may not think it is so GOOD when your school district has more layoffs because the one source of dependable revenue just got hammered.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:34 pm
A freeze doesn’t mean squat - they can vote to unfreeze whenever they want. How about a constitutional amendment freezing property taxes? It worked for the pensions.
Comment by Anony Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:36 pm
JSM, I understand your point about the order of events for school funding.
I would say that Patience is needed. I have a feeling that by the time all this action settles down, schools will be fine.
Comment by cdog Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:40 pm
The bill doesn’t apply to home rule units, but there are no home rule school districts and school districts make up about 60% of your property tax bill. Municipalities are 16% and counties are about 7% of the tax bill (and Cook is the only home rule county). So the majority of taxing districts that make up the property tax bill by dollar amount are covered by this bill. Seems substantial to me.
Comment by My button is broke... Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:41 pm
===It worked for the pensions.===
What worked?
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:42 pm
cdog — Fair enough, if there is comprehensive tax reform that is analyzed and structured in its entirety. I’m sorry, at this point all these bills and amendments look like they are thrown against the wall. The graduated tax bill doesn’t generate enough revenue to pay the current bills let alone fund more schools. The millionaire surcharge amendment is a joke. My feelings on Rauner are turning much more negative, but to call this series of proposals leadership from the Democrats is stretch. Its a good thing we aren’t paying the legislators salaries anymore.
Comment by A Watcher Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:45 pm
===Its a good thing we aren’t paying the legislators salaries anymore.===
Seriously?
The legislators’ pay is being placed later in the Que, but will be paid.
Keep. Up.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:46 pm
A constitutional amendment amendment worked to guarantee pensions wouldn’t be changed after the fact. Do the same with property taxes. Or pass an amendment requiring 70% to raise them in the future. A freeze passed by the legislature is merely show.
Comment by Anony Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:50 pm
=I would say that Patience is needed. I have a feeling that by the time all this action settles down, schools will be fine.=
Yeah? If you pull my other leg it plays jingle bells.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:53 pm
===A constitutional amendment amendment worked to guarantee pensions wouldn’t be changed after the fact. Do the same with property taxes. Or pass an amendment requiring 70% to raise them in the future. A freeze passed by the legislature is merely show.===
Whaaa?
And as a second part… how quick do you see this happening?
Ugh…
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:53 pm
Watcher - The proposed graduated income tax bill is designed to generate big cash. It is offered with a tax cut to enable it’s passage; the rate for all of us will be raised back up in a year or so due to another “crisis”. We’ve seen this kind of story many times…..
Comment by Anony Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:57 pm
So schools get their ability to collect revenue capped. And those districts “owe” the state overpaid PPRT. And there’s only a vague promise of increased funding by ending proration. An maybe, in a few sessions, it might come to pass that the GSA formula gets an overhaul.
Seems like the cuts and caps are guaranteed, but increases are a hope at this point. Not a good position to put schools in.
Comment by illini97 Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 4:02 pm
The bill does NOT apply in Cook and the Collars?
Comment by anon. Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 4:06 pm
Think the Gov office forgets that this freeze applies to all school districts, no matter where they’re located. That’s 2/3- 3/4 of prop tax bill. Pretty real for everyone.
Comment by Others Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 4:06 pm
The other side of this is that under the current General State Aid (GSA) formula, property tax revenue that a school district receives is a major variable in the school formula. If property tax revenue is capped . . . in theory, at least, the GSA amount that a school district should receive should rise, perhaps not to the extent that it offsets the “frozen” property tax revenue, but it will/should increase the GSA amounts to the school district.
Comment by East Central Illinois Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 4:08 pm
Anony where have we seen a graduated tax plan with a tax cut cause an increase right after? not sure where we have seen this many times.
Comment by Ghost Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 4:35 pm
Where I live, the assessments on houses keep going up every year - even in 2007-2010.
So even if there is a freeze, I’ll still pay more tax than the previous year.
Comment by Dr X Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 4:42 pm
“Where I live, the assessments on houses keep going up every year - even in 2007-2010.
So even if there is a freeze, I’ll still pay more tax than the previous year.”
Nope. The cap applies to total revenue above 2015 levels–your assessment doesn’t matter.
There is a possibility that others in your jurisdiction go down and then there would be room for your taxes go up, but that’s not that likely.
In fact, new construction is included in the cap so if there is new construction they will have to lower your rates to fit the new construction under the cap.
Comment by ArchPundit Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 4:58 pm
Thanks for the info.
Comment by Dr X Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 5:05 pm
Cook County has had its own freeze on the county property tax for more than two decades. So not being covered by this bill doesn’t matter.
The NO and P voters are an interesting group. They include several lame ducks who can vote their consciences without worrying about November. It also includes one of the few profiles in courage — Rep. Nekritz.
Comment by nona Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 5:17 pm
=The other side of this is that under the current General State Aid (GSA) formula, property tax revenue that a school district receives is a major variable in the school formula. If property tax revenue is capped . . . in theory, at least, the GSA amount that a school district should receive should rise, perhaps not to the extent that it offsets the “frozen” property tax revenue, but it will/should increase the GSA amounts to the school district.=
Actually, they use the EAV for your district and not the tax Levy. As available local resources go up your GSA goes down. That number is NOt based on actual levy though. It might be in PTELL districts which everyone would now be under, but if you are not that is not how it works. If ALR goes up due to increasing EAV, we will lose local dollars and GSA. They will have to explain how it all works. I doubt they thought that through.
The good news is this is likely to die in the Senate.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 5:56 pm
How does this bill not apply to Cook and the collars? The only difference I noticed between the two bills was whether it includes home rule units or not?
It would be a lot easier to take Governor Pouty McPoutface’s desire to freeze property taxes more seriously if he gave any sort of indication he knew what he was talking about.
Comment by Juice Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 6:13 pm
PTELL districts will get hammered in bond ratings if this comes to pass, since their ability to raise revenue just got severely clipped. That means more interest cost for you and me. This has already played out with the Governor’s attempt to force CPS into bankruptcy and their ensuing 8% bond issue.
Comment by Anon Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 6:23 pm
And my Rep. voted no.
One more reason I plan on voting against her this November.
Comment by btowntruth Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 8:18 pm
==Honeybear - Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 3:10 pm:
“Wait but doesn’t a property tax freeze hurt school systems?”
Honeybear, a property tax freeze would hurt the public school districts a lot.
Comment by Mama Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 8:35 pm
Very interesting combination of pro voters. Not over yet.
Comment by walker Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 9:44 pm
So, not content to run the state into the ground, our esteemed representatives in Springfield have decided to take local governments down with them? Unless the state is going to step up with school funding reform, increase state shared revenue and start rolling back unfunded mandates, this is a death sentence for a lot of non-home-rule units. Memo to House members: stop sabotaging local officials’ ability to do our jobs just because you aren’t willing to do yours.
Comment by CEA Friday, Apr 22, 16 @ 12:21 am
This is still not enough for Rauner, who still wants his collective bargaining/prevailing wage poison pills, I read this morning.
Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Apr 22, 16 @ 8:09 am