This week in Springfield, lawmakers discussed property taxes during a Committee of the Whole meeting. State Representative Steve Reick (R-Woodstock) spoke about how property tax bills are calculated in Chicago as compared to how they are calculated in all other parts of the state. As an example of the inequity that exists in taxation, Reick pointed House Speaker Mike Madigan’s home in Chicago, with a fair market value of $294,000, and a recent property tax bill of $4,600. He then ran his exact tax information through the formula used for the rest of the state, and determined that the Speaker’s house, if it was located in Woodstock, Illinois, would have a property tax bill of over $11,000, which is more than 2 1/2 times what he paid in property taxes for his $294,000 home in Chicago.
“It’s time for the City of Chicago to be taxed the same way the rest of us are,” said Reick. “It’s time for Chicago to ante up.” Click here to watch Reick’s floor comments during the property tax discussion.