Lake County passes resolution against portion of Senate Bill 1
On Monday, Senate Bill 1, which aims to provide property tax relief, was amended to include elements of three bills: the Senate amended Senate Bill 1, Senate Bill 518, which requires school corporations to share referendum funds with charter schools, and House Bill 1402, proposed by House Ways and Means committee chairman Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton, which includes a 5-year phase-in of exemptions and deductions so that every parcel in the state hits the property tax cap.
The Lake County Council resolution states that Senate Bill 1 'would have an impact on municipal taxing units exceeding $2 billion.' In Lake County, the proposed property and business personal tax cuts would result in an estimated tens of millions of dollars, according to the resolution.
While the local income tax adoption, which was offered as a solution for property tax cuts in the House Ways and Means committee, that option isn't 'adequate to replace the magnitude of what is being eliminated, making it a necessity rather than an option.'
'With an essentially mandated income tax increase being the only alternative proposed by lawmakers, the homeowners who these tax measures endeavor to assist will be among the same individuals paying the income tax, making businesses the only recipient of the tax cuts,' according to the resolution.
If Senate Bill 1 were passed as proposed, Lake County 'will be forced to make significant cuts to services' and result in stress on the county's budget, which will negatively impact the county's ability to enter into bonds or to save money for new development, according to the resolution.
'The statewide local impact of the primary tax-related bills is estimated to be a staggering figure, that would cause widespread negative effects, increase tax burdens on individuals, while offering even more to businesses in an already business tax-friendly state,' according to the resolution.
The resolution passed with all five Democratic members voting in favor while Councilman Randy Niemeyer, R-7th, voting against the resolution and Councilman Pete Lindemulder, R-4th, abstaining.
As a small business owner, Niemeyer said he's in favor of eliminating the business personal property tax as long as a replacement for the tax is proposed. Niemeyer said he's served in local government for 17 years and understands that the essential services local government provides are not 'duplicated at any other level.'
Niemeyer said he met with Gov. Mike Braun, at the governor's residence, last week, and told him to review the report Finance Director Scott Schmal put together, which shows the root cause of increased property taxes for homeowners has been the discrepancy in assessed value calculations of homes versus businesses.
'The mathematical equations are broken,' Niemeyer said. 'I'm not opposed to the reform. I think reform is a healthy thing, that we should do probably once every 10 years anyways, is take a look at all of our systems and make sure it matches the current environment and the needs of services to the people.'
Lindemulder said he talked with a legislator who told him that the legislature is 'just scatter-shooting this whole thing.' Lindemulder said his concern is that if the proposed property tax reform is approved, it will force municipalities to pass innkeepers taxes or food and beverage taxes to fill their budgets.
'Those taxes are never going away,' Lindemulder said. 'We're just increasing taxes long-term by trying to show a win in the short term.'
Councilman Ted Bilski, D-6th, said the resolution shows the legislature 'needs to be addressed.'
'They need to stop messing with this. We need to put as much pressure on them and say, 'You know what? Quit trying to destroy everything for all 92 counties,'' Bilski said. 'I'm disgusted with what's going on down there. They're completely wrong.'
Braun said last week that the legislature and his administration will work on the property tax bill and 'land it in a spot' where local governments and schools 'are healthy.'
'But there's got to be real relief for the taxpayer. If everybody is pissed off, we've probably done it right. We'll see. There's been a big overreaction, I think, among local governments and school districts,' Braun said.
akukulka@chicagotribune.com
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