With Chicago Bears ownership’s demand for what could be $2 billion in property tax breaks for a new stadium development in Arlington Heights stalling because Illinois legislators don’t really see how it benefits them or their constituents to give $2 billion to Bears ownership, State Rep. Kam Buckner of Chicago has a new idea to get the bill unstuck: What if Illinois still gave the Bears their property tax break, but gave everyone else one too?
“It’ll do something that the state has not done, that other states have not done in megaprojects legislation. It’ll actually consider how these things should be able to help regular taxpayers as well,” Buckner said. “I’m finding a way to bake [in] some property tax relief for homeowners across the state.”
Buckner said the measure will look at what a special incentive payment looks like for communities, and how a portion of that must go to property tax relief efforts, “both for folks affected in the immediate area, and for folks around the state.”
“To me, it has to be more than a token,” Buckner said.
That’s clear as mud, and while it may change the optics of the stadium subsidy bill — something for everyone! — it doesn’t really change the economics of it: Bears owner George McCaskey would still get to negotiate a lower property tax rate for his stadium project, while other property owners in the state would get some unspecified cuts in tax rates. Adding property tax “relief,” though, would just blow an equal sized hole in local budgets, so Illinois governments would either have to raise other taxes to compensate or cut spending on other services, meaning taxpayers would effectively be taking money from one pocket to put it in another.
And speaking of blowing holes in budgets, the Illinois Federation of Teachers has noticed that property taxes currently go to fund schools, and taking untold billions out of that funding stream could be, you know, bad for schools and other taxpayers alike.
The Illinois Federation of Teachers, led by [Chicago Teachers Union] president Stacy Davis Gates, sent a memo to Illinois legislative leaders on April 15 asking them to support a millionaires’ tax, but pouring cold water on Bears megaprojects legislation.
“Our union has serious concerns about the impact of the bill,” the letter reads. “The legislation risks shifting additional property tax burden onto residents in and around megaprojects.”
The Illinois House is back in session today through Thursday, then off until May 5 — and the NFL and Bears execs are threatening that if a tax subsidy bill (and possibly state infrastructure spending as well) doesn’t get done by then, they’ll pull the trigger on accepting Indiana’s maybe $4 billion offer for a stadium in Hammond. Whether this is true or just an idle threat to squeeze more money out of Illinois remains unknown, but it’s certainly getting Illinois officials to scramble, even if a majority aren’t necessarily on board yet. A House vote on the megaprojects bill could come tomorrow, but almost certainly won’t unless it has a shot at passage; watch the legislative calendar closely for tea leaves.
Yeah, this one smacks of the standard “we’ll cut your taxes by 15%” (and also include a special levy of 20% but we’ll hide that in something that you can’t easily see and sounds wonderful anyway so even if you do notice it you’ll think it’s still something for “you” rather than your local billionaire sports franchise owner).
Come on, Illinois, say no. It’s easy. And it will make you feel good.
I do not believe the Bears are moving to Indiana. But even if they do, their fans can still see them in person while letting those dumbass politicians next door force THEIR voters to pay for it.
Illinois taxpayers literally can’t lose if their government just says no.
No way says every Bears fan! “If you let them go to Hammond Illinois gets no tax dollars and I also won’t be a Bears fan I swear!”
Do people really not understand how states and municipalities are funded?
Apparently not.
The very fact that proponents/boosters describe these types of deals as including “property tax relief” implies that property taxes are just an unfair burden imposed upon poor, downtrodden billionaire team owners.
That said, if the day comes where ordinary schmucks can successfully apply for “relief from the (unfair) burden of property taxes” I intend to be as close to the front of the line as I can get…
The Illinois House also just passed a bill that would require every website in existence to demand users’ “age bracket” before use, so you can put “how taxes work” on the very large pile of things they do not understand.