Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn discusses property taxes during a news conference in the Loop in 2022. Illinois voters will consider a nonbinding referendum Nov. 5 suggesting that millionaires get taxed more to fund property tax relief. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
By Dave McKinney | WBEZ
Helping homeowners: A 3% tax on individual income over $1 million would flood Illinois’ coffers with at least $4.5 billion in new revenues annually, a new state estimate shows, weeks ahead of an advisory referendum on earmarking that money for property tax relief.
Key context: The estimate, obtained by WBEZ through a state open-records request, marks the first time Gov. JB Pritzker’s Revenue Department has weighed in on the proposal’s effects on the state’s wealthiest citizens. Its goal is to ease what is a daunting financial issue for the middle class.
On your ballot: The exact wording of the ballot question reads, “Should the Illinois Constitution be amended to create an additional 3% tax on income greater than $1,000,000 for the purpose of dedicating funds raised to property tax relief?”
Bottom line: The results of the referendum won’t be binding, but the outcome could arm policymakers in the General Assembly seeking a constitutional amendment in 2026 — the year Pritzker himself may be on the ballot — to impose the millionaire tax for property tax relief.
Read on here.
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