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With Illinois now the only state in the country where residents
face such consequences, Curran argues there’s little surprise
recent data points to rising property taxes as the top reason
for the state’s ongoing outmigration struggles.
“We have a court decision saying that people should not be
losing the equity in their homes in a tax sale, yet this is
still going on in the state of Illinois,” Curran told The Center
Square. “It's people's life savings. It is most likely the
biggest part of their savings portfolio, and so I think we want
to make sure we find the other way to protect residents and
protect homeowners that have fallen behind and make sure that
they keep the equity that they have built in their home.”
Formally filed by Republican Sen. Erica Harriss, Senate Bill
3782 seeks to reform the system by creating a task force to
analyze property tax foreclosures, ultimately shielding
homeowners from losing the wealth they’ve worked to build in
their properties in accordance with a 2023 Supreme Court
decision rendering such practices unconstitutional when the debt
owed on the home is lower than the equity in it.
Curran also recently introduced SB 3848 to create an income tax
deduction on the year-over-year increase in a taxpayer’s home
insurance and SB 3849, which would add annual consumer price
index costs to Illinois’ General Homestead Exemption by tying it
to inflation.
The veteran lawmaker adds he’s at a loss as to why it’s been
such a slow grind for the state to work toward coming in
compliance with federal law.
“The only thing that I’ve have heard is that there's a lack of a
plan to change the system,” he said. “We're trying to take that
excuse away by having this task force put together a plan how we
transition away from this practice. I think we’ve got quite a
few other states we can model ourselves after.”
Recent Census Bureau migration estimates show nearly 7,500
Illinoisans have recently moved to Missouri, where average
property tax bill is less than half that in Illinois.
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