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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Naperville’s Pulse in Springfield – The ‘extreme right wing’ property tax agenda

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Update, July 20, 2017 / The income tax hike passed by Madigan, helped by tax-and-spend Republicans, does nothing to fix the structural financial problems of our state. It does take more of your money out of your pocket. How much? Those who voted for it (not me, I was a NO.) will tell you, “It’s just an increase of 1.2%.”

Governments don’t spend %, they spend $. Here is a breakdown of the zip codes that cover Naperville and Warrenville and how much MORE we will be paying. An additional $109,249,318 per year!

Rep. Wehrli: ‘Junk Status’ could devastate Illinois for decades

UPDATE, July 1, 2017 / Statement of State Rep. Grant Wehrli on the Speaker’s announcement today that there will be no state budget vote this weekend:

The Illinois House is inactive as State Rep. Wehrli issues a statement regarding no budget vote…

Speaker Madigan has had the past six months to work with us to negotiate a balanced budget to fix this mess, and throughout the spring it has been the Speaker who has refused to budge.

We have had been warned repeatedly that failure to pass a responsible budget by the start of the new fiscal year will result in our state’s bond rating being downgraded to ‘junk status’. Such a devastating financial blow may take us decades to repair. Yet, after ten days of continuous special session called by the Governor, we started the new fiscal year today with the Speaker telling us that the House would not be voting on a budget today or tomorrow. A credit downgrade to ‘junk status’ would be the direct result of Speaker Madigan’s inaction and delay in passing a balanced budget.

The message Speaker Madigan sent today to our families, our schools, our service providers, and to the bond houses and the ratings agencies is that there is no sense of urgency to get this done. That’s completely unacceptable. 

—State Representative Grant Wehrli, 41st District 


Original Post / Here in the collar counties we pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation. That’s a well-known fact. But in our recent Special Session of the General Assembly, I learned that wanting to avoid being taxed out of your home is now considered “extreme” in Illinois. At least that’s what House Speaker Michael Madigan calls Republicans’ call for property tax reform to help struggling families and seniors stay in their homes. Consider this exchange from June 25:

Reporter’s question to Speaker Madigan: “What do you make of the governor tying his support for an income tax hike to a property tax freeze?”

Speaker Madigan’s answer: “I think it’s reflective of how the governor has conducted himself since he assumed office. He’s attempting to enact an extreme right wing agenda on the people of the state of Illinois…”

When you think about it, the Speaker’s answer isn’t really that surprising. The speaker himself along with his Chicago friends and colleagues have for years benefited from a system that keeps residential property taxes in Chicago artificially low, while allowing taxes in our community and others across the state to skyrocket. A public records check of the Speaker’s Chicago home shows its 2015 estimated value at $295,000, and the Speaker’s property tax bill for that home at $4,599. Compare that to your own property tax bill.

House Republicans have called for four-year property tax reform as part of a balanced budget. Our proposal will help limit runaway increases. It also allows voters, by referendum, to lower or raise levies, or to renew reforms in increments of up to four years if they choose. Does that sound “extreme” to you?

After years of admonishing Governor Rauner for tying the larger budget discussion to workers compensation and other issues the Speaker called “non-budgetary” items, the Speaker has now said he will not negotiate on budgetary property tax relief until he gets what he wants on workers compensation, school funding reform (Chicago public schools bailout), and other issues.

I hope to have been proven wrong by the time you read this, but today it looks like we may be in for a very long summer.

On that final note, I want to stress that when the hours away from home are long and the frustration level is high, it’s crucial that we have a supportive and understanding family backing us up. I want to wish a very happy 25th Wedding Anniversary to my wonderful wife, Sharon. I love you and our boys, and I couldn’t do this job without all of you!

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Grant Wehrli
Grant Wehrli
Grant Wehrli is a lifelong Naperville Resident and former Representative in the Illinois House of Representatives and Naperville City Councilman.

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