I am 100% opposed to the gross receipts tax and other recent income tax increase proposals that have sometimes been marketed as "property tax relief." I support increasing, not decreasing, local control of funding for our schools; the proposals I have reviewed would take away our local control.
The main virtues of property tax funding for schools are local control and certainty of funding.
First, 100% of property tax money raised in District 200 is spent here in District 200. Money does not have to be funneled through a state bureaucracy that extracts overhead costs and diverts portions of the money elsewhere. Decisions are made by our District 200 Board members who are directly accountable to us - not by the General Assembly in Springfield, where there are 177 members, almost all of whom represent districts far away that have no connection whatsoever to District 200. Also, our property taxes must be spent for schools. There is no such requirement that money from higher income taxes and sales taxes would continue to be spent for schools - the General Assembly and the Governor could "borrow" funds as we have seen done to the State road fund and even pension funds!
Second, property taxes provide funding certainty. We do not have to scramble every year at the statewide trough for state aid; our taxes are paid and received locally each year and our Board knows what its funding will be. With state (and federal) aid, there is no requirement that any particular amount (IF ANY) be given, and no certainty from one year to the next what will be in the budget. Remember how the Illinois Lottery was supposed to provide "funding for education"? It does - but that money just replaces money from general revenues that used to be spent on schools. Any so-called "tax swap" might provide temporary property tax reduction, but at the cost of surrendering our locally generated school funds to the control of a capricious state bureaucracy that is not accountable to us. Also, District 200 has a stable tax base; valuation has increased 36.5% since 1998 and further growth is expected. This ensures an annual growth in District revenue, as we have seen every year. In contrast, sales and income taxes can fluctuate dramatically due to economic conditions, which means that the District could see a real revenue cut under the new plans.
Finally and most obvious, promises of "property tax relief" are illusory. All that is guaranteed is an immediate across the board income tax hike - some current proposals would increase the state personal income tax over 66% plus subjected seniors to new taxes on retirement income, as well as add sales taxes on services not now taxed such. BUT, each year the General Assembly still gets to decide the level of state funding that would be provided to schools. District 200 already spends far more per student than the state "base" level of funding, so it is unlikely we would see much more state aid. Recent media articles have indicated that DuPage County, as a whole, would see less funding from the state under new proposals.
