Madison County voters may get to weigh in on limiting property taxes. Here’s how.
Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler wants voters in November to get a chance to limit the growth of property taxes.
Prezler scheduled a special meeting of the board next week in hopes of adding a referendum to the November ballot that would limit property tax growth in the county through a state law.
Prenzler said, if passed, the new law wouldn’t be a quick solution to property taxes that he says are “out of control,” but it would give voters an opportunity to have a say on tax rate growth.
“It’s not a panacea, but this is the only way that voters will be able to vote on this, ” Prenzler said.
The board will meet at 5 p.m. Wednesday to vote on adding a Property Tax Extension Limitation Law referendum on the ballot. The law is designed to limit increases in property taxes for non-home rule taxing districts, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
The legislation would put a cap on how much property taxes may increase year to year. It would mean any proposed property tax increase past a certain point would first need to be approved by voters.
Cities in Madison County with home rule, like Edwardsville, Collinsville, Granite City and Alton, wouldn’t be affected by the vote. Prenzler noted that if non-home rule cities wanted to change their tax rate, they could ask voters to raise or lower it.
Prenzler said he expects some county lawmakers to push back on Wednesday’s board vote, but he said the proposed referendum isn’t “extreme” and is not a cap on property taxes. He said it’s a way to slow the growth of tax rates.
“I would like to see the voters have the opportunity to vote on this,” Prenzler said, noting a similar referendum on the law narrowly failed in 1991. “The voters deserved to be able to vote on this and I think its time that they had another opportunity.”
Madison County Democrat Party Chairman Randy Harris called the proposed referendum a political stunt by Prezler. He said it is a move from a “tired playbook.”
“The metro-east is mired in the worst pandemic in a century, our county’s positive test rate creeps higher and higher, but rather than lead and try to create some positive change in the county, he comes up with another purely political ploy to try to draw attention away from his failures and the corruption rampant within his administration,” Harris said. “When is the Republican majority going to stand up and actually demand this administration protect the public and stop wasting the taxpayer’s time and money on political stunts?”
If approved by the county board, the referendum would join two non-binding advisory referendums and a third that would lower the county’s maximum tax rate on the November ballot.