86 Comments - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:01 pm: Yep. 100%. Yes. Pain. We all are going to feel pain. I think there are farmers in the 51st state area. They should definitely feel the pain. “Pritzker $&@#” signs, amirite? This is a no brainer. - Donnie Elgin - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:02 pm: The farmland tax breaks make sense - undeveloped Farmland has virtually zero impact on schools, city/village public works, fire depts, park districts, and libraries. So why should they pay the rates that industrial, commercial, and residential properties that do have impacts? - Chicagonk - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:07 pm: The sales tax exemptions are probably what should be looked at if anything. I wouldn’t touch the property taxes with a ten-foot pole. - Gravy Bond - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:07 pm: The people express themselves at the ballot box and instead of any introspection, the State contemplates lashing out at Farmers? How is this a question? The inability of the ruling majority to understand that the most Illinoisans don’t trust them is stunning. Voters won’t trust Illinois elected officials until they take steps to rebuild trust via fair maps, term limits on leadership, ousting Madigan, and meaningful ethics reform. It’s gross how some think it’s “ok” that Illinois Government operates with an organized crime mentality. We openly talk about how Illinois politics is a “protection racket.” How sad that the Farmer Bureau expressing themselves publicly on an issue could bring a question like this. The question out to be, “after the failure of the fair tax to pass, what can Illinois politicians do to regain the trust of Illinois voters?” - Benjamin - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:09 pm: Yes, at least as far as the sales tax exemptions–Illinois exempts some strange things from sales tax. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:12 pm: - Gravy Bond - The farmers have had it way too easy with breaks. They didn’t want the Fair Tax? Ok. How many downstate Dem legislators are around to stop it? Elections have consequences. Downstate is gonna feel pain, the farmers chose a side. - Sayitaintso - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:13 pm: I don’t know, but a colleague who was fairly critical of the big farm subsidies asked me, “do you know why the bills on baseball caps are curved?” It’s so farmers can look deeper into their mailbox for their government check”. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:15 pm: Let’s visit the “Wayback Machine”… === Mark Maxwell, WCIA : Right now, Governor Pritzker and the House and Senate Democratic plan would start out by raising taxes only on the top 3 percent of income earners in Illinois. Those are people who earn more than $250,000 a year. It just so happens that some of the people speaking at these press conferences today fall into that category. Richard Guebert, Illinois Farm Bureau: Those in that 3 percent tax bracket are gonna figure out a way not to pay the taxes and they have the resources to do that. And probably they may even leave the state. Maxwell: Wouldn’t it raise your taxes? Guebert: No. Not this, not under this proposal, it would not. But… Maxwell: The 2018 990s for the Farm Bureau show that you make north of $300,000. [Image of the IFB’s 990 disclosure flashes on screen.] Guebert: Um. Yes. Maxwell: So wouldn’t this raise your taxes? Guebert: Yes, it would.=== Let’s not pretend the farmers were Babes in the Woods. - Middle Ground - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:16 pm: Voted No. End a couple but not all. Still need to support AG in this State but majority party needs to send them a message. - PraireState Sense - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:19 pm: I voted ‘yes’ simply because America has too many farms. I think tax breaks are incentives and I don’t know what we need the incentive for? I hear of farmers throwing our milk and eggs and we pay for it - Jocko - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:19 pm: ==It’s hard enough to keep the bills paid and to be as profitable as possible.== Hearing Richard cry poor reminds me of an old joke. Q:”How can a farmer double his income?” A:”Buy a second mailbox.” - Cheryl44 - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:19 pm: Yes. The money has to come from somewhere. - Donnie Elgin - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:19 pm: =Downstate is gonna feel pain, the farmers chose a side= I’ve seen the power of the Illinois Farm Burea lobby. I would put them in the top 5 most influential. They are up there with ABATE and IEA. So good luck with changing the tax break on farmland. - Grandson of Man - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:19 pm: How many farmers in Illinois and elsewhere who despise “handouts” for poor people have taken Trump’s bailout money? How many gobble up tax breaks and subsidies but despise “socialism?” Voted yes but not thrilled about ending tax breaks. But the people who vote against taxing the rich more and for massive budget cuts need to help out. We really need the revenue. - Been There - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:21 pm: LOL at the three people with suburban nicknames pretending to believe that if we begin implementing sales tax on farmers it’ll help IL’s revenue shortfalls. Farming is IMMENSELY expensive and difficult for most small farms to keep up with as expenses add up while crop prices continuously fluctuate. But sure, tax em! Kill the small farmer…kill the family farms…get them with taxes! They’re the leading food production industry in the world, so why not tax them. In all seriousness - try to understand agriculture outside of our comfortable, out of touch suburban lifestyle. - Nagidam - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:23 pm: Anyone one that wants to take away the preferential treatment of farmland assessments must want farmland to be sold for development. Maybe not so much in real rural areas but any farmland that is close to a population center increases in value. As the value increases so do the property taxes. The farmer can afford to keep the land as the property taxes are treated at a preferential level. This preferential treatment is probably the biggest property tax break on the books. If you take that tax break away they will be forced to sell. No developer is going to keep the property on the books and pay that tax either. They will develop it and sell before they get hit with the tax bill. Bottom line if you want to stop producing food in IL then tax away the property tax break on farmers. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:24 pm: Yes. Lots of tax breaks (as well as service cuts) will need to go to balance the budget. (sales tax on biodiesel and some ethanol blends should lose their sales tax exemptions) ==our state’s exorbitantly high pension costs and debt obligations. The government created these two problems, not us taxpayers. We, taxpayers, have done our jobs; we are law-abiding, taxpaying citizens. We should not have to pay to fix the politicians’ mess.== Those debts were incurred providing services. Taxpayers received those services without paying the full cost. The bill is now due and we all need to pay; since a graduated income tax is off the table, the money will need to come from somewhere. A few cuts: County fair subsidies (I’m sure the Farm Bureau will step up to cover those costs). Rural highways are expensive and only serve a few people; that’s not a very efficient use of funds. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:24 pm: === So good luck with changing the tax break on farmland.=== But I thought we all need to feel pain. But I thought, well, I know, governors own, and the 51st state folks already have their super-minority legislators. Why *not* make farmers and downstate, takers by miles and miles, of state monies… they should pay… dollar for dollar… what they take. I thought there were no sacred cows? Isn’t that what the super-minority complains the “Democrat Party” protects? … Or… We can have this discussion where the minority party… sorry, super-minority folks look at voting to raise taxes and cut places they won’t like too. - Another One - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:24 pm: ==Let’s not pretend the farmers were Babes in the Woods.== Let’s not pretend farmers were the only folks to vote against the fair tax. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:27 pm: === Let’s not pretend farmers were the only folks to vote against the fair tax.=== Farmers should feel pain. Real pain. Like, hurting pain. Or… we all can discuss cuts, and raising taxes. Why should farmers be exempt. “Pritzker $&@#%” signs… amirite? Exactly right. - Rich Miller - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:28 pm: ===Let’s not pretend farmers were the only folks=== Correct, but we’re talking about them today. So, answer the question. - Thomas Paine - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:28 pm: We should sunset all corporate tax expenditures effective July 1, 2021 and create a task force to do a complete cost benefit analysis of them all. The task force that recommends to the governor and General Assembly which, if any, should be revived should be co-chaired by Tim Drea and Ken Griffin. - DuPage Saint - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:29 pm: I voted yes. I think everyone and that includes urban TIF districts and tax subsidies should be on an even playing field. Maybe phase in over a decade but immediately implement for large corporate or out of state owners. Especially property tax reform they are cheating own schools. - northside reformer - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:29 pm: Hey all! Check out farmers only.com to learn more about how Farmer’s can protect tax breaks and thwart tax increases. A site for us and only us. 😁 - Not a Billionaire - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:34 pm: Yes . I don’t have much to add to the other yes comments except well said. - Dance Band on the Titanic - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:35 pm: Perfect time for this old saying. Mess with the bull, get the horns. - DoinStuff - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:36 pm: Be careful to paint this as a regional dust-up between downstate rural and northeastern urban interests - lots of farmland/farmers in the collars of Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage, Will, etc. - former southerner - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:37 pm: Between fracking and the unstoppable movement towards electric vehicles, the ethanol gravy train is about to run out of steam. Once that market perversion is gone, the IL farm lobby is going to be looking for friends with short memories after their opposition of the fair tax bill. Good luck with that quest. - Joe Bidenopolous - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:37 pm: Of course. What are they gonna do, move their farms out of state? Seriously though, these folks go on and on about the free market - let’s see if they can survive in one without government handouts - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:38 pm: Downstate… “Who is bailing out who?” Let’s talk… dollar for dollar. Farm areas are tax eaters, isn’t that how IPI says it, I wanna get it right. https://capitolfax.com/2017/08/14/whos-bailing-out-whom-these-county-numbers-might-surprise-you/ - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:40 pm: - DoinStuff - Land doesn’t vote, people vote. Lots of protection too…. 72 and 41… so many saying “the Democrat Party can go it alone” Ok… now it’s the farmers. - Perrid - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:42 pm: I voted no, but I don’t feel very strongly about it. As much as I would enjoy it, taxing people as some form of punishment is a bridge too far for me to go along with. Maybe we could roll back some of the tax breaks, the state needs revenue, but I honestly would rather we start with retirement income (I know, I know, third rail, yadda yadda) or broadening the sales tax. I don’t know how we get away from a general tax hike either. - Henry - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:43 pm: No. I think this will have the unintended consequence of pushing more small family farms to sell out to huge farm conglomerations. That would not be the answer to revenue shortfalls and would probably be devastating to the environment. - Cool Papa Bell - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:43 pm: Yes. The Farmland Assessment process in Illinois was altered a bit a few years back. It raised the rate on farms (generally more) in southern Illinois. That was sticky issue at times inside of ILFB. But more should be done via property tax. Look its the one thing you can’t move. If you change the Ag Sales Tax exemption many farmers will make those purchase in another state. Farmers have semi’s and trailers and are pretty good at hauling things. So don’t mess around with that tax - it would hurt Illinois businesses. Farmers are pretty sharp when it comes to avoiding taxes in general. So if you want to get them you need to be equally adept at finding taxes that you can’t avoid. - jmj - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:43 pm: Hey the stopped the fair tax, so the money has to come from somewhere - Candy Dogood - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:44 pm: The Comptroller’s Tax Expenditure report for FY 2018 reported the total cost of the agricultural tax expenditures at: $470 million. It’s a pretty big first step towards fixing our budget, and that’s without getting to the property taxes. - cermak_rd - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:45 pm: I like to eat so I voted no. I am appalled at his idea that government created the pension problem and that this has nothing to do with people though. Has he benefited from any government employee? Got his license renewed? Got some assistance from the university farm bureaus? Everyone in IL has benefited from the lower incomes to state workers and the longevity of those state workers that those pensions have purchased. Our state’s leaders made the offer of those pensions in our name. We are both morally and legally obligated to pay them. - Candy Dogood - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:48 pm: ===If you change the Ag Sales Tax exemption many farmers will make those purchase in another state. Farmers have semi’s and trailers and are pretty good at hauling things.=== Legally the farmer would be required to report the items they purchased out of state for intended use in the State of Illinois and pay the required taxes. Failing to do so would be illegal. Transporting hazardous chemicals across state lines to avoid paying taxes on them also sounds like it might be violating a handful of other regulations. - 618er - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:48 pm: I voted yes.. but here’s a wrinkle.. Do the farmers pay sales tax on what they buy only or do they also collect on what they sell? Do the elevators pay for what they buy then collect on what they sell, and so on up to the end user. You can bet that cargill and ADM, for example could pass that cost through to their consumers. Property taxes on farm ground is kind of comical. It’s based on productivity. Farmers push up productivity with technology, nutrients, biotics, etc.. then belly ache that their property taxes are going up with it. - Jibba - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:50 pm: The Farm Bureau is as partisan as the Chamber of Commerce. Reforming the property tax will help poor rural school districts tremendously. - DuPage Guy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:52 pm: I voted yes as I think we should both broaden the sales tax base and get rid of the agricultural exemptions. If that increases development along the edge of towns, so be it. Maybe more development will lead to more people moving to/staying in Illinois, a lower cost of living, or rising property values. - Cool Papa Bell - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:53 pm: = PraireState Sense I voted ‘yes’ simply because America has too many farms. I think tax breaks are incentives and I don’t know what we need the incentive for? I hear of farmers throwing our milk and eggs and we pay for it = We don’t have too many farms. We need more. Farmers dumping milk this spring was due to the pandemic shutting down supply chains into food service establishments. - Nagidam - : Anyone one that wants to take away the preferential treatment of farmland assessments must want farmland to be sold for development. Maybe not so much in real rural areas but any farmland that is close to a population center increases in value. Bottom line if you want to stop producing food in IL then tax away the property tax break on farmers. = I don’t agree. A very limited amount of farm land is ready for development at any one time in the state. For the past few years farmers have been buying land back from developers because that over inflated market burst. Farm fields are little factories producing corn, soybeans, silage, ect. Farmers aren’t going to walk from those fields easily because they are scaled to farm those acres. @ Henry - Aren’t many “small” family farms left. Lots of big family farms now. They took over from the small ones who quit. And the price for soybeans is the highest its been in years. Farm income is going to be quite high this year. Don’t listen to the poor old farmer act. Between MFP and CFAP money going out and better markets - they are doing very well this year. - notsosure - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:55 pm: Manufacturers don’t pay sales tax on their raw materials, or retailers on their wholesale purchases, so why should farmers pay sales tax on their inputs. Blago tried a gross receipts tax. The property tax breaks are another story; can’t justify them other than as a crutch for the industry. - Don't Bloc Me In - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:57 pm: Voted yes, even though this would affect me. We all must share in digging out of this hole. Let’s look at eliminating sales tax breaks first. ==because America has too many farms.== @PrairieState Sense, please explain this comment. - Cool Papa Bell - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 2:59 pm: @ Candy - How do those farm chemicals get to Illinois? They are transported here from outside of the state and around the county. Farm chem is already coming in to the state on a daily basis. There would just be a lot more of it. - Nagidam - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:00 pm: ===If that increases development along the edge of towns, so be it. Maybe more development will lead to more people moving to/staying in Illinois, a lower cost of living, or rising property values.=== Or another potential unintended consequence is over development and a depreciation of all home values. - 618er - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:00 pm: One other thing to think about is, at least in incorporated areas. And granted this could have changed in 15 years, but any parcel with crops on it is assessed as farm ground, not what it is zoned as, at least was my previous to experience in county government. So all those little corn fields you drive by in towns, has little to no tax revenue coming off them… - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:03 pm: Maybe those two super-minority caucuses should *want* to be involved in solving the “budgety-stuff”… Never know who might need saving. - BCOSEC - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:05 pm: OW seems a little too giddy about certain segments feeling “pain.” It’s not easy being a moderate living downstate. The r.e. taxes on an unimproved 80 acres of Class A farmland are as high as $5,000. But, a commercial building of the same value would be taxed as high as $25,000. However, that 80 would likely not generate $25,000 of cash rent. There is a lot of nuance that both the loud far right and loud far left choose to ignore. - Cool Papa Bell - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:06 pm: =Maybe those two super-minority caucuses should *want* to be involved in solving the “budgety-stuff”= Also a super minority - Farmers. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:07 pm: ===…seems a little too giddy about certain segments feeling “pain.”=== I don’t think you’re catching my drift. It’s ok. - Cool Papa Bell - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:09 pm: =The r.e. taxes on an unimproved 80 acres of Class A farmland are as high as $5,000. But, a commercial building of the same value would be taxed as high as $25,000. However, that 80 would likely not generate $25,000 of cash rent.= Average cash rent is $305 an acre for land that you describe. $305 x 80 = $24,400 - Stickman - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:12 pm: Farmers are exempt from paying sales tax on items purchased for the production of their end product. No different from any other business. - Earnest - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:13 pm: Yes. There’s no one way to fill the budget gap, so it will take a broad base of revenue increases along with the spending cuts. - Candy Dogood - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:15 pm: ===How do those farm chemicals get to Illinois? They are transported here from outside of the state and around the county.=== There are different rules for distributors than there are for end users and who purchases large amounts of farm chemicals, where they intend to put those chemicals, and how they intend to get those chemicals there is something that all of us are very interested in and as such the government is very interested in since 168 people were murdered on April 19th, 1995 by a terrorist using farm chemicals as bomb materials. I’m not suggesting that some farmers won’t try to illegally transport farm chemicals into the state for the purposes of avoiding taxes, but I am suggesting that they’d be exposing themselves to a pretty severe can of worms. Just in general saying “lets not end this tax exemption because the people it benefits will break the law” doesn’t really cast farmers in a good light. Why should we reward these scofflaws with tax benefits that most of us don’t receive? - Candy Dogood - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:18 pm: ===Average cash rent is $305 an acre for land that you describe. $305 x 80 = $24,400 === I guess if taxes on farm land go up the market is just going to have to respond by letting rents go up, but it does seem like there’s still quite a bit of room between rent seeking land owners and the property taxes. - pawn - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:21 pm: I voted yes. They chose self interest, and so I am applying that principle to them. It is not in my self-interest to allow them to continue to have these tax breaks. - Southern IL Bob too - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:23 pm: I voted yes because most of the “farmers” that I know don’t farm anything. They inherited land as part of a family land trust and lease their land to friends or neighbors. I also realize that farming has good years and lean years. I hear about how things are bad for farmers, but I’ve seen a lot of new (large) homes built in rural S. Illinois in the past 10 years. - Hoss - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:27 pm: Yes. There are too many carve outs in the property tax system. I apologize if this has already been asked and answered… Can the GA and governor raise the flat tax and exempt the first $40,000 or $50,000 of income to achieve roughly the same effect as the fair tax? Or is this scheme barred by law? - PrairieStateSense - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:28 pm: Cool Papa Bell - Et all We produce more food than we consume. And yes, dumping milk and eggs because of the COVID pandemic (there are other pandemics, let’s be clear). This one has no vaccine or cure. I suspect this will continue to be a trend. - Southern Illinois - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:33 pm: If the farmers lose agricultural tax breaks, it will surely bankrupt a large percentage of our farmers. They will not survive - Merica - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:41 pm: 80% of Illinois is covered in tillable land, yet farmers pay the lowest real estate taxes of anyone. While a homeowner in sangamon county or Lake County, may pay upwards of 2-2.3% of their homes value annually, farmers pay less than 0.50% of their farmland value. The real kicker is that residential owners don’t generate income while farmers do, increasing the rational that their land should be taxed. - Anonymous - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:43 pm: Inputs that farmers have to buy cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Take buying fertilizer and seed. If a farmer spends 100,000 on seed they currently don’t have to pay the 6,250 tax. That doesn’t take into account costs for herbicides and pesticides, and a whole range of other inputs. For a group of people who often make about 60,000 once they settle up, that can be devastating. - Rural Survivor - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:48 pm: Being successful at raising public awareness that the progressive tax was more about giving the state more power to tax and spend has its downside. I voted no. Farm Bureau did the taxpayers of this state a favor. This state has been in an alternate reality with our money for a long time. Why do we keep electing government officials that can’t add and subtract. - Last Bull Moose - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:50 pm: Voted no. Voted yes for the fair tax. I have a small dog in this fight as I (and the bank) own a quarter section of farmland. The state does not charge other producers sales taxes on inputs. Treat farmers the same. As farms have become more mechanized, the number of school children per thousand acres has really dropped. Rural school consolidation reflects that fact. Paxton High School became PBL; Paxton, Buckley, Loda and still is shrinking. I don’t mind paying properly taxes, but don’t see why you want to shift taxes from commercial to farms. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 3:51 pm: === Farm Bureau did the taxpayers of this state a favor.=== Maybe not a favor for farmers going forward… Farmers should get hammered. ===This state has been in an alternate reality with our money for a long time.=== Downstate and rural areas are tax eaters. I’m sure you agree… hammer the tax eaters, the state need to get to “dollar for dollar” tax eating. - RW - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:06 pm: Generally farmers net income is 3 to 6% of their gross income, in other words they may sell their crop and make $800 per acre, but seed, fertilizer, land rent, machinery, fuel, property taxes, insurance can in many cases add up to $750 per acre. None of this includes family living expenses. So if inputs are taxed at say 4.9% (750 * 4.95% = $37.13) this is an effective income tax rate of 74% on their net income ($50 / $37.13 = .74.26%). So if we want to do this fairly we would tax every business on their gross income not their net income. I’m not sure that helps us keep any businesses in IL. - Don't Bloc Me In - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:07 pm: Something to consider by those who want to raise property taxes on farmland…cropland, forested land, pastures do not use as much tax revenue as land devoted to homes, commercial buildings, and other uses. The need for police, fire, schools, is greatly impacted by homes and commercial areas. Not so with farmland. - SIUEalum - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:08 pm: Voted no but wish there was a middle option. We’re all going to have to sacrifice, farmers included, but maybe not every break should go away. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:08 pm: === So if we want to do this fairly=== That’s what the Fair Tax was about, but I digress. Farmers and downstate have been for a long time heavy tax eaters. Before looking at anything, let’s get rural Illinois to a “dollar for dollar” - Southern Dem - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:10 pm: OW - We get it. You want ‘minorities’ and ’super minorities’ to feel pain. You’ve answered 10 times now. Maybe take a breath and go to the closest McDonald’s playland, the adults are trying to talk here. To the post, voted yes. There has to be some reform. Too many landowners not involved in production. Sales tax on inputs should be taxed just as any other industry. Unfortunately, most of the ‘breaks’ come from the federal level. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:16 pm: === the adults are trying to talk here=== Let’s hope they talk when it matters. - Amalia - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:20 pm: sales tax, pay it. but there should be more discussion of farming and the issues should be discussed upstate. and not just because you want pumpkin everything. it’s a key part of our economy but more people need to be in the dialogue, including urban farming. - Down on The Farm - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:21 pm: So if the current tax policy is driving businesses out of state, we should drive the remaining biggest one into the ground. Good idea—NOT - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:22 pm: For me, this isn’t about farmers vs others. The state’s budget is out of balance. To balance the budget and pay for the services we already received, everybody needs to bear the service cuts and tax increases. No exemptions. We can no longer afford the numerous exemptions in the tax code. Voting “No” on the graduated income tax was also voting “Yes” on cuts to services and an increase in other taxes. ==We should not have to pay to fix the politicians’ mess.== Think about that. The Farm Bureau has lobbied for lower taxes and more spending on the stuff they value. Whose mess is it really? Unless you advocate for taxes that match the spending you want, and encourage your people to vote that way, you helped create the current mess. Stop blaming “the politicians” for creating a mess you supported. - PraireState Sense - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:25 pm: Pot- -Think about that. The Farm Bureau has lobbied for lower taxes and more spending on the stuff they value- What stuff? Please be specific. - Rich Miller - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:30 pm: ===What stuff?=== Rural broadband, for one. Not cheap. - Stormsw7706 - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:34 pm: I used to be a strong farm bureau supporter but they seem to have evolved into a right wing front group. Interestingly their opposition to taxes doesn’t extend to their massive subsidies. As a former country mutual insurance customer it gave me a degree of satisfaction to not have to join the fam bureau. I am also in process of moving my annuity from them. The fair tax was good legislation on the taxation front and it had a lot of potential to address a lot of long term spending issues that the state has pushed aside for decades. So disappointing it didn’t pass. - Cornstalk - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:35 pm: Between real estate taxes, federal taxes, and state taxes, I’m already at 35% of my income. Just how much do want me to bleed. If the state is hurting financially, then cut back. I’d love to be running a 500k combine, but I can only afford to run a 25k combine. We all have to make sacrifices. Taxing the crab out of me isn’t the answer. - FarmBoy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:37 pm: The sales tax on farm inputs is just like the exemptions for other manufacturers - you don’t pay sales tax on the items used to make your final product. - Anonymous tax payer - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:38 pm: In most rural counties, farmers pay a majority of property taxes. Sales tax breaks are for crop production and livestock inputs. - Fed up resident - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:39 pm: The budget problem in illinois is caused by out of control spending. I am opposed to any means of increasing revenue to a government that has proven to be beholden to special interests.At the same time it has failed to uphold the constitution (balanced budget) and derelict in it’s duty to act in the taxpayer’s interest. - RW - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:41 pm: Do any people commenting realize wholesalers do not pay sales tax? When you go to a restaurant for supper you are charged sales tax. When the restaurant bought the raw ingredients for that meal they did not pay sales tax. It is charged on the finished product. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:41 pm: === Maybe take a breath and go to the closest McDonald’s playland=== === [Poll has been removed because it’s obviously being manipulated.]=== - Southern Dem -, maybe there’s a reason I’m pushing back? Be well, stay safe. - Anyone Remember - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 4:43 pm: Yes. In addition to the State tax breaks, what sort of tax breaks / subsidies do they get from the Feds? When people still got paper checks from the Feds … had a neighbor who’d been a small farming town pastor. Claimed the reason farmers ballcaps bill look like an upside down “U” was from sticking their heads in the mailbox looking for the USDA subsidy check. - Rich Miller - Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 5:02 pm: For the late whiners, the results flipped overwhelmingly in a few minutes. That’s how I know it was being manipulated. 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