BARRINGTON HILLS… State Representative Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) released the following statement after finding that numerous local taxing bodies in communities across the 52nd House District are requesting 4.90% increased tax levies.
“Bah 4.90%; Humbug! Taxpayers should prepare for a big lump of coal in our stockings this year courtesy of our local elected and appointed officials… 4.90% tax increase. What is the magic behind this number?
“Why are so many elected bodies across my district asking for a 4.90% increase in their tax levies? School districts, fire districts, villages, libraries, community colleges, townships, and many other taxing bodies all together make up our property tax bills and each one is asking for the exact same increase.
“Just an unlucky coincidence?
“Nope! If they ask for 1/10 of a percent more – or 5.00% – they have to officially announce it to the public and ask the public for a referendum regarding what they plan on doing with their money. Asking for more than 4.90% would put the spending increases on the front page of every newspaper and the taxpayers might actually know what’s going on.
“Some of these taxing bodies already carry 24 months of cash reserves and many of our local bodies just issued referendums asking our taxpayers to shoulder hundreds of millions of dollars for construction projects.
“This situation is more laughable when many of these elected and appointed officials run on fiscal responsibility, transparency, and controlled spending. As an elected official myself who actually reduced my village’s levy seven times in a row by over 25%, I know how difficult it is to restrict spending and control budgets. It can be done, but only when you decide to run bloated governments like a business accountable to the owners … the taxpayers.
“The annual desire of so many of our taxing bodies continually increasing our property taxes makes me want to send each of them a small piece of coal for their stockings this year, or maybe a carbon tax debit instead? If we keep taxing residents out of their homes and our state, the Cratchett family and Tiny Tim will soon be renting a U-Haul and heading out of the State of Illinois.”