(The Center Square) – An Illinois lawmaker calls his bill a “Band-Aid,” and urges Democrats to look at the “bigger problem” when it comes to property tax relief.
Senate Bill 2086 seeks to raise the income limit for the Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption to $75,000 for taxable year 2025. State Sen. Chris Balkema, R-Champaign, is the sponsor.
“The seniors, those on fixed incomes, the high property taxes hurt the worst. So this is an attempt to provide them a little bit of relief,” said Balkema.
Under current law, seniors can apply for their assessed value to be frozen, but the income parameters are “low,” according to Balkema.
“It’s a Band-Aid approach, and it picks at the areas of the population that are vulnerable. On the other hand, if we keep picking at that, then we’re left with everybody else to pay the bigger share, which isn’t fair either,” said Balkema. “We’ve got to fix the problem.”
The Senate Revenue Committee has to address the bill by April 11.
Balkema’s bill mirrors Senate Bill 1862 from state Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Andalusia. Anderson’s bill aims to eliminate property taxes for Illinois homeowners after 30 years.
“Me being in my first term down here, I’m much more hoping that we can build the relationships across the aisle to work on the overall issue, which is school funding … and the other big elephants in the room that are needed in order to get property taxes under control,” said Balkema.
Local governments and school districts are the primary beneficiaries of property tax revenue in Illinois. Over 60% of property tax revenue goes to fund K-12 public education.
Balkema touted lowering property taxes four years in a row while serving as the Grundy County Board chair.
“We lowered the actual request [property tax levy] because we just tightened the budgets. While I’m going to push that at the state level, I’m also pushing revenue increases in terms of new growth, new business,” said Balkema.
The Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL), like the Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption, aims to reduce the tax burden by limiting how much local governments can increase property tax levies in certain areas.
