(The Center Square) – Illinois voters will get a chance to decide whether millionaires in the state should pay an additional tax to address the high property taxes in the Land of Lincoln.
The question asks: “Should the Illinois Constitution be amended to create an additional 3% tax on income greater than $1 million for the purpose of dedicating funds raised for property tax relief?”
Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is supporting the amendment that he said would raise over $4 billion to put in a property tax relief fund.
“The Illinois Property Tax Relief Amendment Referendum offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Illinois voters to reform an unfair upside-down tax code and give significant annual property tax relief to millions of Illinoisans who urgently need help,” said Quinn.
Quinn said there are over 77,000 millionaires living in Illinois.
Dylan Sharkey with the Illinois Policy Institute said a tax increase on a state’s wealthiest residents would ultimately raise the tax burden on people who earn far less than $1 million annually.
“There was a similar measure in 2020 which asked if Illinois should adopt a progressive income tax structure,” said Sharkey. “The issue with that is it incentivizes wealthy residents to flee to other states with lower taxes and Illinois gets less tax revenue than they originally had.”
The 2020 advisory referendum was soundly defeated by Illinois voters.
Sharkey said if you want to address high property taxes, then go to the source … unfunded pension liabilities.
Other critics of the plan say the policy will deter capital and entrepreneurs from coming to the state.
Illinois pays the second highest property taxes in the country behind only New Jersey.