Jeff Keicher Jr., who is running for state Representative in the 70th House District, believes that a proposed property tax hike to fund the massive pension debt will take Illinois farther in the wrong direction.
"Illinois property taxes are among the highest in the nation," Keicher told the DeKalb Times. "I’m strongly opposed to adding a new property tax that will harm our families, senior citizens, farmers and businesses."
As Illinois faces some of the worst debt in the country, three economists from the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago recently recommended hiking property taxes.
Jeff Keicher Jr.
"In our view, Illinois’s best option is to impose a statewide residential property tax that expires when its unfunded pension liability is paid off," the economists said in a May 7 policy statement. "In our baseline scenario, we estimate that the tax rate required to pay off the pension debt over 30 years would be about 1%."
Keicher and other critics have been steaming over the suggestion that taxpayers pay even more to cover the state's unfunded pension liability, which officials estimate at more than $129 billion.
"Government needs to live within its means," Keicher said.
Alerts Sign-up