Legislature chips away at tax cap
By Eric Krol Daily Herald Political Writer
Posted May 30, 2003

SPRINGFIELD - Lawmakers seeking to help out cash-strapped park and school districts are trying to poke several loopholes in the state's tax cap law, the tool that's helped keep suburban property tax bills in check for more than a decade.

One measure sent to the governor exempts from tax cap limits the taxes park districts collect for special education programs. Two others awaiting final votes would allow 16 suburban park districts to borrow money without asking for voter approval and give school districts more power to raise taxes for pension payments.

Opponents estimate that the three measures, plus two others that passed the Senate but have since been shelved, would cost homeowners $1 billion if they all won approval. They also would set a dangerous precedent, giving momentum to further attempts at gutting tax cap protection, opponents argue.

"The cap is going to become a sieve. It's piecemeal repeal of the tax cap, which I oppose," said state Rep. Paul Froehlich, a Schaumburg Republican.

Proponents defend the legislation, saying each measure would help provide relief for special circumstances the tax caps' authors didn't envision when they first approved them in 1991 for DuPage, Lake, Kane and McHenry and Will counties and in 1995 for Cook County.

The cap limits local government to asking for voters' approval if they want to raise taxes by more than the rate of inflation. A recent study by two Illinois professors estimated tax caps have saved taxpayers more than $2.3 billion in property taxes.

State Sen. Terry Link, a Vernon Hills Democrat, said two of his proposals illustrate special circumstances. Link's measure would allow 16 suburban park districts that didn't rush to borrow money to make repairs before the tax cap went into effect to now go ahead and do so.

Critics say it would create a revolving line of credit for park districts in Lombard, Bloomingdale, Grayslake and Gurnee. Link said it simply would allow those park programs to reap the same advantages enjoyed by other park districts that did borrow money.

"It's only fair that someone who was fiscally prudent should not be penalized," Link said.

The measure has passed the Senate and likely will come up for a House vote Friday or Saturday, said sponsor Rep. Skip Saviano, an Elmwood Park Republican. It also would allow the Cook County Forest Preserve to borrow $100 million without voter approval.

In Lombard, the new money would let the park district repair parking lots and tennis and basketball courts, among other needs. Mike Fugiel, the park district's executive director, said Lombard's current five-year repair plan will take 16 years without the would-be law's power to borrow. Lombard could borrow up to $748,000 a year, which Fugiel said would cost a typical homeowner $30 to $40 a year.

Link's other legislation, which was approved by the House Wednesday and is awaiting Gov. Rod Blagojevich's signature, would exempt park district taxes levied for special education programs from the tax cap. State Sen. Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat whose district includes Bensenville and Rosemont, was the measure's lead sponsor.

House Democrats in more vulnerable districts, like Reps. Jack Franks of Woodstock, Elaine Nekritz of Northbrook and Kathy Ryg of Vernon Hills, voted against the tax cap loophole. Several suburban Republicans, like Reps. Rosemary Mulligan of Des Plaines and Randall Hultgren of Wheaton, voted in favor it.

Another tax cap loophole awaiting a final House vote would exempt school district taxes levied to pay for pension and health-care costs for secretaries, janitors and bus drivers from tax cap restrictions. But sponsor Mark Beaubien Jr., a Barrington Hills Republican, said the measure is dead this year.