Governor's Office Hits Property Tax Savings in House Bears Bill
Arlington Heights, Illinois, the potential…maybe…possibly future home of the Chicago Bears?
As House Democrats passed a Chicago Bears “megaprojects” bill on the House floor last month, many bragged about a provision to devote some of the property tax payments to be paid by the Bears to property tax relief around the state.
“It is a direct property tax cut for every single homeowner in the state of Illinois,” said Rep. Daniel Didech (D-Buffalo Grove).
The Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) bill would divert some of the negotiated payments from the Bears to local school districts and municipalities to a special state fund aimed at providing property tax relief statewide. 60% of the bill would go to local taxing bodies and the other 40% would go to statewide savings.
But a new report from the Governor’s office shows the savings would be minimal, if at all.
“Only homeowners who live in their primary residence qualify for this property tax relief. Illinois currently has 3.1 million homestead owners,” the report, provided to The Illinoize by the Governor’s office, reads. “Renters, small businesses, and commercial properties do NOT qualify for this benefit, so they are not included in the calculations.”
The Governor’s office hypothetical laid out a $20 million PILOT payment from the Bears to local taxing bodies. In that hypothetical, about $4 million would be deposited into the statewide relief fund.
They estimate the property tax relief for homeowners would total $1.29 per homeowner per year.
“At least they’re figuring out what a joke this thing is,” one Republican lawmaker told The Illinoize Tuesday.
But House Democrats are not swayed by the report.
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago), who sponsored the bill in the House, didn’t take the report as specific criticism of his bill.
“The Governor’s office is doing exactly what they are supposed to do, take a hard look at legislation and analyze its impact,” he said. “That’s not a slight to this bill, that’s part of the process. We welcome that scrutiny, because this was built to stand up to it.”
Buckner said this legislation would be the first time lawmakers are beginning to fund the Property Tax Relief Fund back in 2019.
“This is about keeping that promise and doing it in a way that also allows us to keep growing, building, and competing,” Buckner said. “No mega project legislation in this country has been designed to give something back directly to people and that’s unfortunate, but we are focused on changing that here in Illinois.”
Senate leaders are holding their cards close to the vest on potential changes to the bill, but Senate President Don Harmon said last month said property tax relief is a difficult challenge.
“I understand why someone wanting to invest billions of dollars in Illinois would like property tax certainty,” Harmon said. “At the same time, we all represent a lot of folks who live in bungalows who have no property tax certainty. I don’t know how we reconcile those two right at the moment.”
Harmon was asked if property tax relief for homeowners should be tied to a Bears stadium deal.
“Those are two enormous issues and I’m not sure how you tie them together,” he said.
