Kane County Reporter

Illinois state Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) is pushing for more time for property owners set to be hit with tax levies over the next several weeks.

While state law already allows counties to delay payment in special circumstances, Skillicorn is fighting to make those guidelines more clearly defined as part of a bill that would push scheduled payments back for at least three months in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

“One month of Illinois businesses being shut down has blown a huge hole in the state budget,” Skillicorn told the Kane County Reporter. “The governor’s response is to double down on raising taxes. This is the wrong approach. What this crisis is clearly showing is the need for real reform.”

Skillicorn argues that the crisis has further exposed the state’s shaky financial standing.

“Illinois has been able to mask the state’s weak financial position as a result of pre-COVID-19 gains in the stock market and low unemployment nationally," he said. "With a free-falling market and rising unemployment, the state can no longer hide its weak financial position.”

Property taxes are slated to become due in June, but the bill now being proposed would push the due date back at least three months.  

"Instead of raising taxes, we need to find ways to reduce taxes, particularly property taxes,” Skillicorn said. “Raising taxes is only going to drive more people out of Illinois and keep us on the path to financial ruin. The current policies failed big-time and our state is in dire straits because the governor and his allies refuse to implement the reforms we need to put Illinois on solid ground financially.”