Mike Madigan and his friends will have to drive to Springfield or find private planes if they don’t play Let’s Make a Deal with Bruce Rauner.
Bruce Rauner
I’ve been thinking back to the days in the early 1990’s when newly-elected Governor Jim Edgar faced down House Speaker Mike Madigan.
There was nothing bombastic about Edgar.
But he made it know that he would get a real estate tax cap before legislators went home.
I can’t remember if it was the 21st or 22nd of July when the Illinois General Assembly finally adjourned.
The compromise allowed the collar counties would get the Property Tax Cap the next year.
The bill said that governments couldn’t borrow money with referendum approval, so some local governments sold bonds before the law took effect.
There was still a year for local tax districts to play games.
Cook County would not be subject to the tax cap until another year passed.
Then, it did not apply to Chicago or Cook County, because both were Home Rule units.
It did get the school districts though.
The final part of the compromise was to allow Downstate counties to avoid the Tax Cap altogether unless a countywide referendum passed.
So, why do I think Madigan will allow tax freeze legislation to pass?
Because such a freeze won’t mean much.
Next year local non-Home Rule units (all local tax districts but Algonquin, Barrington Hills, Crystal Lake and Lake in the Hills, plus Woodstock, if it gets over 25,000 in its special census) are only allowed to raise 7/10 of 1% more than they are getting this year.
The difference between a zero increase and a 7/10 of 1% increase isn’t much.
Any government that couldn’t cut that much from a budget is just incompetent.
So, Madigan will huff and puff, maybe even agree to include Home Rule units in the tax freeze, but I think he’ll figure out what I’ve figured out.
It’s not a big deal.
If it’s not a big deal then why is Rauner pushing for it instead of solving pensions, Chicago schools, etc?
==If it’s not a big deal then why is Rauner pushing for it instead of solving pensions, Chicago schools, etc?==
Because Rauner’s showing us he can walk and chew gum at the same time.
This whole Rauner/Madigan fight is over the Turnaround Agenda, and Rauner’s willing to hold the budget hostage to get it enacted.
Without it, we’re just kicking the can down the road.
Mike Madigan, best make his decision. The people are tired of kicking that can down the road.
property tax frozen at 4.6% of total home value won’t help Woodstock residents.
Stay tuned, for the newest edition of “Let’s Make a Deal” in the State of Illinois.
Please, no cheats, no scandals or corruption allowed! Controversy, an acceptable part of the game.
Roll the dice, Brucey!
More to be seen at a Rauner theatre near you!
Dems in Chicago did say they want to lower property taxes but 61% of them go for school funding because the state is not paying its fair share that was promised.
also Rauner can’t walk and chew gum without his money.
The ultra rich are not smarter or harder workers or more of anything but they use their big money to push their agendas and Rauner’s agenda is to get citizens money for charter schools of which he will probably be a major shareholder and become richer.
The ultra rich don’t care about you or me or anyone else but their greedy pockets.
they want to pass everything onto their heirs but try to push old people into reverse mortgages where if they live too long the government will take their houses away.
so much for public service.
The ultra rich are not smarter or harder working?
Yes there are yacht loads of rich lazy dummies.
Ya boy Madigan is a millionaire too. Another ridiculous generalization Karma
The status quo in IL is not working, hasn’t worked for years.
It’s time for radical change in IL.
Union wages just went up this month, same month the municipalities are forced to approve prevailing wage ordinances.
A flagger now makes $39.20 plus $24.40 in fringe benefits per hour.
That’s why public projects cost so much.
Karma truly is a…
[go ahead, you can finish it, you know you can]
You may think its not much but it continues to be done with these home rule towns enuff is enuff I hope he does include home rule towns as well for freezing… time to stop it and if we can’t count on our own to stop it then someone else has to Slap them from it.
Go Bruce!
7 tenths of a percent doesn’t sound quite right.
Aren’t they all allowed to go up by whatever the rate of inflation is at the end of the year?
Yes, Go Bruce!
Bah. Guess were going to find out just how incompetent they all are!
7/10 of 1 % was the increase in the Consumer Price Index last year.
As I look at my source (see below), the 7/10 has been changed to 8/10.
http://www.revenue.state.il.us/LocalGovernment/PropertyTax/CPIhistory.pdf