Springfield, IL-(ENEWSPF)- A bill introduced by state Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights (HB0158) which would increase the amount of tax dollars that municipalities receive from the state passed out of the House Cities and Villages Committee with unanimous bipartisan support on Wednesday, February 13.
“Often I hear stories about how high property taxes are forcing people out of their homes,” DeLuca said. “This bill gives local governments greater ability to meet the needs of their residents without passing along an increase in property taxes year-after-year.”
DeLuca’s House Bill 158 would bring the level of funding to municipalities back to 10 percent. In 2011, the amount that municipalities received from the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) was reduced from 10 to 6 percent. This bill simply seeks to restore the previous rate of funding, making it easier for communities to fund the necessary services and amenities for residents.
“The result of this legislation will be that local governments will be less reliant on homeowners to fund important services, like police and fire protection, street repairs and snow removal,” DeLuca said. “My hope is that this
Rep. DeLuca pre-filed the bill with the clerk of the Illinois House on December 11, 2018. It had First Reading on January 9, 2019, and was assigned to the Cities & Villages Committee on February 5.
If it passes and Governor Pritzker signs the bill, it would go into effect “immediately,” according to the bill’s synopsis on ILGA.GOV. The funds to municipalities were slashed under former Governor Bruce Rauner.
