Will County Gazette

Although Illinois residents already pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation, three economists at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago recently recommended an additional 1 percent tax on a home's value to remedy the state's climbing pension debt.

State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-97th) is very much opposed to this proposal and says it will do more harm than good if enacted. 

"It's an insane proposal," Batinick told the Will County Gazette. "They (the economists) have no idea what they're talking about. We're already driving manufacturers and businesses out of this state, and this will just accelerate our demise."

State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-97th)

Batinick explained that property taxes are a regressive tax, applied unevenly throughout the state, and that increasing the taxes is a horrifying idea that would lead to further complications in the housing market as well.

"To put it in perspective, a 1 percent property tax raise will decrease the value of the property in the state by about 10 percent; If you have a 1 percent property tax added to a $200,000 house, that's an extra $2,000 a year in property taxes," Batinick said. "It's an absolutely insane idea."

Batinick believes that the over-reliance on property taxes stems from the inability of the state government to bring in money any other way. 

"They're unable to increase revenue through economic growth," Batinick said. "I'm a cheerleader of the optional buyout — buying people out of the pension system —which saves the state billions of dollars."

Batinick explained that the buyout gives retiring individuals the chance to earn some of their retirement at a discount to the state.