Last night was a series of mixed blessings for taxpayers.
Yesterday taxpayers resoundingly turned down home rule from entering their communities. Beach Park, Lemont, Winthrop Harbor, Prospect Heights, and Zion all voted “No” on adopting Home Rule. By rejecting Home Rule, taxpayers have refused to give local politicians unlimited taxing power.
“I am happy for all of our local advocates,” said Taxpayers United of America (TUA) President, Jim Tobin, upon hearing of the victories. “TUA has warned for years that Home Rule means home ruin. This shows we are being heard loud and clear. I am hopeful this overwhelming victory discourages other power hungry local politicians, but governmental greed knows no limit. We have defeated 431 local tax increase referenda since 1977.”
However, the battle for the Illinois statewide government ended on a less rosy tone.
J. B. Pritzker ran over incumbent Bruce Rauner for Illinois Governor in an unsurprising victory. Rauner, who refused to sign a Tax Accountability taxpayer protection pledge, ran an ugly Republican primary campaign against Jeanne Ives. Representative Ives had scored a perfect 100% while Rauner only scored a 92% in our TUA Tax Survey of the 99th Illinois General Assembly. Representative Ives had also signed a taxpayer protection pledge.
Rauner’s attack on a committed taxpayer advocate combined with the tens of millions in funds for the Pritzker propaganda machine sealed the fate of the Republican governor.
Now with a committed tax raiser back in the governor’s seat and a Democrat majority, it falls to taxpayers to resist the Income Tax Increase Amendment, a graduated income tax increase for middle class taxpayers.
