Taxpayers Fight Back on Local Property Tax Increases

By on February 18, 2014   /   Items of Interest, Latest, News Advisory, News Releases, Referenda, Taxpayer Alert  

View Release as PDF
Chicago – Illinois taxpayers are fighting local tax expansion and increase referenda with the help of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). TUA is helping activists in Johnsburg SD 12 and Huntley Park District to defeat property tax increase referenda that would prevent taxpayers from finally getting a property tax cut when current bonds are paid off.
“Government bureaucrats in Huntley Park District and Johnsburg SD 12 are working hard to prove that no tax increase is temporary and no bond debt is ever paid off,” stated Jim Tobin, president of TUA.
“Property taxes in Illinois are second highest in the country while unemployment is nearly the highest and state income taxes were just increased 67%. Taxpayers have the opportunity to get a little relief by when current bonds are paid off, but government bureaucrats can’t have that.”
“Huntley Park District bureaucrats want $19 million and Johnsburg SD 12 wants $41 million. Those are huge property tax increases at a time when we should be cutting property taxes. We are still in a foreclosure crisis and some of the worst economic times of our lives. But that doesn’t stop the government bureaucrats from raising your property taxes for their own benefit.”
“Moody’s has downgraded Johnsburg SD 12 credit rating as recently as January, 2014, citing:

  • Depreciating tax base valuations
  • Declining enrollment trends
  • Growing General Fund deficit balances with reliance on cash-flow borrowing to provide operational liquidity

Which means that the interest rate on these new bonds will be higher. It also means that it’s not a good time to borrow money. SD12 bureaucrats need to cut spending, not increase spending and property taxes.”
“Huntley Park District bureaucrats think it’s a good idea to increase property taxes to pay for new facilities that will be used by a very small percentage of the district’s population.”
“Taxpayers have had enough of the irresponsible spending by government bureaucrats and the willingness to force people out of their homes, if necessary to prop up their own huge salaries and lavish pensions.”
“We expect taxpayers to defeat both of these money grabs by greedy, self-serving government bureaucrats at the March 18 primary election.”
View the Johnsburg ‘Vote No’ Flyer HERE.
View the Huntley Park District ‘Vote No’ Flyer HERE.

Back to Top

Kane County Taxpayers Fight Back

By on February 11, 2014   /   Items of Interest, Kane County, Latest, News Releases, Referenda  

View Release as PDF
North Aurora – Kane County taxpayers are fighting local tax expansion and property tax increase referenda with the help of Taxpayers United of America (TUA) and Kane Cares About Taxpayers.
“The $13 million Kane County property tax increase referendum on the March 18 ballot is the most egregious grab for taxpayer money and expansion of government that I have seen to date,” stated Rae Ann McNeilly, executive director of TUA and Kane County resident.
“This referendum was not only put on the ballot by the private, not for profit company, Association for Individual Development (AID), who will receive most of the money taken from taxpayers under this measure, but it also creates a new taxing authority with paid board members whose only job is to funnel the money from the taxpayers to AID”.
“These new government board salaries will inevitably grow in number and size, most likely creating even more lavish, taxpayer funded pensions. The last thing we want to do is to add to the government pension problem, especially when they are funded by property tax dollars.”
“Residents of Kane County are already being taxed for these very services. The State of Illinois, the primary source of funding for AID, paid AID $16.4 million in 2013. We are already paying for these services and if this referendum passes, they can and will raise our property taxes again and again.”
“AID is plagued with legal troubles. They have been heavily fined by the State Board of Elections for not following the rules and it has been alleged that they illegally used taxpayer money to fund their initiative to get this referendum on the ballot. The last thing we need is to not only expand government in Illinois, but to also expand corruption.”
“AID has thinly veiled their grab for property taxes with a campaign name intended to tug at the heartstrings of every voter. ‘Show You Care Kane for the Developmentally Disabled’ is nothing more than a siphon of taxpayer wealth to the pockets of the overpaid administrators of AID.”
140122_kanecountyflyerweb-1“The developmentally disabled residents of Kane County need financial support, but it should not be forced through property taxes; it should come from private, voluntary donations. There are so many property owners with their own special needs or financial constraints who will be forced out of their homes if they can’t pay their property taxes. It is immoral to prioritize the needs of one group over all of the others.”
“As a resident of Kane County, I am offended that the developmentally disabled are being exploited and used as a means to fatten the coffers of a private organization and to expand the government, creating yet another taxing body in Illinois where there are already over 6,994 local taxing bodies, the most in the country, and 2,100 more than second place Pennsylvania.”
A copy of our “Vote No” flyer can be downloaded from our website HERE.

Back to Top

S. Berwyn SD 100 – Biggest Property Tax Increase in Illinois!

By on January 30, 2014   /   Commentary, Latest, News Advisory, Referenda  

View as PDF
It is unbelievable that the government bureaucrats in South Berwyn’s SD 100 are expecting taxpayers to take another huge pay cut so the government bureaucrats can prop up their bloated salaries and benefits without anything to show for it.
Just one of these two referenda would increase property taxes about $850 a year for an average home valued at $216,200. The second referendum is asking for another $51 million in bond principal only – not including interest.
According to the Cato Institute, government schools outspend private schools by 93%, and yet the outcomes for government school students are abysmal. SD 100 already spends $16,631 per student, higher than the national average of $15,171, which is more than any other country! Throwing more money at the government schools is not the solution. Study after study shows that more is not better when it comes to school spending.
How is it that the people who are educating our kids can’t comprehend that more spending isn’t going to help ‘the children’; it only helps the bloated bureaucracy of government educators and administrators? Either these ‘educators’ are not smart enough or they are deceiving us on what it takes to educate kids.
With Illinois’ property taxes the second highest in the nation, it is unconscionable that we are being asked to pony up more than $1,000 dollars a year in additional property taxes and accept the sub-standard outcomes delivered by this education cabal.
I urge everyone to flood the polls on March 18 between 6 am and 7 pm and vote no for these two property tax increase referenda. You can bet that all of the government employees will be there to vote for your $1,000+ pay cut.
This huge property tax increase will force people out of their homes, and, for what? How about this time around we ask the, ‘oh so caring for the children’ government employees to take the pay cut and really give to our community the way we taxpayers have done for so long?
Jim Tobin
Founder and President of Taxpayers United of America, www.taxpayersunited.org and 30-year resident of Berwyn

Back to Top