I’m a “No” on the Fair Tax referendum, and here’s why: Just paid our First Installment property tax bill for Evanston in the amount of $5,852. The 2nd Installment bill will come in July, and I’m guessing it will be anywhere between $4,000 and $6,000; maybe more. Our total tax bill last year was $10,640. This year will be more no doubt.
School taxes are 70% of our property tax bill, and the “Fair Tax” won’t do enough to change that. The $100M it adds to public school funding is a drop in the bucket. Other states fund public schools better. We will continue to be crushed with these stunningly high property tax bills. I hope enough of us vote “No” in order to help force the real structural changes that Illinois needs across the board.
In most of the country, the MEDIAN annual property tax bill is 1% of less of market value. So, for our house which Zillow says is worth $460,598, our total annual tax bill would be $4,606 or less.
I’m actually not opposed to a progressive income tax; I just won’t vote for this one. The “Fair Tax” is “sloppy”. It’s just our existing flat tax with an additional category thrown on top of it for higher income. Because no real structural changes accompany it, I’m not willing to vote in favor of it.
Craig McClure