* I’d been wondering whether this $325 property tax rebate check funded by the proposed state income tax hike was a sham. For those with high property tax bills, it could very well be because the idea on the table would also eliminate the state’s current property tax exemption on the personal income tax…

“Anybody with property tax bills over $6,500 loses completely because they would have had a bigger exemption on their income taxes then what they are going to get back from the state,” said [Rep. Ed Sullivan], who also is the assessor in Fremont Township.

Rep. Fred Crespo, a Hoffman Estates Democrat who has said he would not approve an income tax increase without property tax relief, said Friday the idea of a $325 check is a “big, big joke.”

“That doesn’t even amount to anything,” Crespo said. “It’s almost an insult.”

$6,500 is probably on the high side for middle class Cook County residents, but it ain’t everywhere else. My annual property taxes are almost twice that much (and despite what people think, I’m nowhere near wealthy). If Eddie’s right, this is indeed a crock. It’s actually a property tax increase for some, along with a brand new income tax hike. Nicely done, fellas.

Plus, this idea of permanently raising income taxes by a quarter point to fund a $325 check to property taxpayers is, in part, a direct wealth transfer from renters’ income taxes to property owners’ pockets. Where’s the decency in that?

You really gotta question whether the leaders (or Speaker Madigan, at least) just put this gigantic tax hike mess out there to let the media and angry constituents kill it before members come back to town. Subscribers already know several other reasons to be suspicious of this thing. We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but this proposal looks worse every time a new rock is kicked over.

…Adding… Sun-Times editorial…

Give us real property tax reform. We aren’t convinced that the “property tax reform” embedded in this package is worth much. One quarter of one percent of the 2.25 percent income tax increase, or about $775 million annually, would be used to give most Illinois homeowners a permanent rebate of about $325 on their property taxes. A tax increase to give homeowners a small rebate? Doesn’t sound worth the effort.