Today’s number: $1.29
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told subscribers about this yesterday. Sun-Times…
A residential property tax relief provision helped the Chicago Bears’ stadium bill pass the Illinois House last month, but Gov. JB Pritzker’s office says any help for homeowners under the proposal would be “negligible.”
That sends lawmakers back to the drawing board to hammer out so-called megaproject legislation that can keep together a diverse Democratic caucus, and keep the Bears in Illinois.
“We agree in the Senate with the House’s effort to embed property tax relief in the bill, and we are endeavoring to find the best way to do that,” state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, said Monday en route to Springfield, where lawmakers have until May 31 to reach a consensus. “We want to see if there is a way to make it more significant.” […]
An analysis conducted by Pritzker’s office and shared with legislators found that from a hypothetical $20 million PILOT payment made for a large industrial development, a typical Illinois homeowner would see only $1.29 in relief.
Returns would shrink correspondingly for smaller developments, “resulting in negligible property tax relief for Illinoisans,” the governor’s office concluded.
- Homebody - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 9:13 am:
Just think of all the time and effort being spent on negotiating this one relatively tiny thing to appease a single multi-billion dollar entertainment company, compared to spending that effort on basically any other issue that has broader impact on the majority of state residents.
- Jocko - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 9:26 am:
==And that kind of success can create a steady stream of new revenue==
What new revenue? The Bears will end up having contributed $200 million for the $632 million Soldier Field renovation. They will own the AH location outright.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the McCaskeys start a GoFundMe to help them move to Indiana.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 9:26 am:
=We agree in the Senate with the House’s effort to embed property tax relief in the bill, and we are endeavoring to find the best way to do that,”=
Translated- schools prepare yourselves to be scapegoated. Blank on it.
- Red Ranger - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 9:33 am:
In fairness “tax relief for groceries” is part of JBs POTUS pitch, this would be in about the same category of relief.
- Demoralized - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 9:37 am:
@JS Mill
Property owners do not have an endless supply of money to pay on property taxes. People are saying enough is enough.
- H-W - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 9:55 am:
I am starting to agree with Homebody. Enough is enough.
Buy land, pay taxes. Develop land, pay taxes. Do not want to pay taxes to support local communities, go somewhere else.
There are just a few states that do not have a professional football team. They seem to be surviving without.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 10:02 am:
@Demoralized- I am very aware of the thoughts of taxpayers. I am highly accessible to our community. I also pay property taxes myself.
The state has mandated many things and pushed many programs and they do not pay for them. We now receive 17% of our revenue from the state and fed combined. That puts a big burden on our community and I have been accountable for that locally. Our community is frustrated because we are not Winnetka or Hi scale by any wild stretch of the imagination. Our kids deserve all the same things that CPS kids deserve but we get none of the state support. We are lucky for the support our community gives us but they should not have to bear such a huge burden. FYI - our poverty rate is right at 50% now.
If our kids are to have any chance at a decent education the politicians either need to pony up and support our rural kids too, or leave us alone. SNAP reductions will further reduce our federal funds so we are getting it from both ends.
Enough is absolutely enough. Rural kids count too.
- Dragnet - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 10:06 am:
The $1,29 number is laughable if it weren’t insulting. To think that anyone would buy this as “relief”- and the House sponsors think this is a valid attempt at providing some type of attraction. Good grief.
- Annon'in - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 10:11 am:
The lack of real relief makes us wonder why the advocates wanted to tie this stuff together to begin with. Seems like the giveaway for the McCaskey’s is an up or down issue on its own.
- Bigtwich - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 10:15 am:
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the McCaskeys start a GoFundMe to help them move to Indiana.”
I would donate $1.29 to that.
- Who else - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 10:51 am:
==Just think of all the time and effort being spent on negotiating this one relatively tiny thing to appease a single multi-billion dollar entertainment company==
More egregious is the fact that the house knows full well that it’s a poison pill that will benefit no constituents. Why waste all this time just to put on a show? Was it worth it for the mail piece?
If you want to keep the bears in Illinois, do the work to make that happen. Remember, winners do the work. But I guess there’s no need to do the work when everyone knows they’ll just fix it in the Senate.
- It's always Sunny in Illinois - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 10:58 am:
Would have been a good year to get a referendum on the November ballot addressing the Illinois Constitutional Language on Pensions. The single component driving Property, and incremental State Taxes and Fees. Homeowners would have welcomed the opportunity given a chance to weigh in on Pensions .
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 11:20 am:
That $1.29 isn’t enough for gas for my lawnmower
However I can see the ads for reelection now. I promised you propert tax reduction and I delivered
- Jerry - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 11:36 am:
Sick of the Bears and their pathetic mooching for more government handouts.
- Overbay - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 11:50 am:
This is the best example of DRITH we have seen to date.
- P. - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 12:08 pm:
This actually turned my stomach. Even more than an epic fail because it was wrapped up in this concept of helping people.
- It's always Sunny in Illinois - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 12:34 pm:
This actually turned my stomach. Even more than an epic fail because it was wrapped up in this concept of helping people.
Just visualize the “almost giddy” Speaker Welch with Rep Buckner at the press conference and your stomach issues should pass….
- Perhaps - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 12:45 pm:
Not sure John Q. Public feels any urgency at all on the Bears front.
They are tired of being fleeced and simply do not care if the billionaires who own the Bears leave IL. Many would help them pack.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 12:45 pm:
=. The single component driving Property, and incremental State Taxes and Fees.=
Simply false.
2005 called and wants its issue back.
The legacy debt, created by shorting pensions but paying for all kinds of other things is a larger cost than the annual cost of pensions. Go look at your property tax bill. It lists the amount that goes towards pensions.
- 40,000 ft - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 1:30 pm:
Pritzker needs to figure out how to break the chain on him from the evermore infamous Illinois property tax problem.
$1.29 was not going to do it.
I’m mildly hopeful something can get done.
We built our house and have a lot of sweat equity. We never even considered there would be a day that our government could run us out of our home. We are trying to hang on for different reasons but we make a lot of sacrifices to stay in this state.
- Louis G Atsaves - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 1:33 pm:
So in order for the Bears to stay in Illinois, they have to be included in a bill that will include substantial property tax breaks for them and corresponding substantial property tax breaks for ordinary homeowners?
From a group that hasn’t had the willpower to reform or put a strong permanent leash or reductions on Property Taxes in decades?
Good luck trying to put that one together.
Sounds to me like Wolf Lake will shortly be renamed Bears Lake.
Sheesh!
- It's always Sunny in Illinois - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 1:51 pm:
The legacy debt, created by shorting pensions but paying for all kinds of other things is a larger cost than the annual cost of pensions. Go look at your property tax bill. It lists the amount that goes towards pensions.
Slow down speed racer……doesn’t matter to most everyone how we got here/in this spiral……and there are exponentially more Non Pensioners who would like some alternatives besides paying more
- Huh? - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 1:56 pm:
Nuts, I was going to use that $1.29 to subsidize my lottery ticket.