To the Editor:
On Saturday, I spoke with Ted Dabrowski, president of Wirepoints, an organization that does public policy research in Illinois, with the goal of making Illinois a destination state again.
"PTELL could be better," Dabrowski said. “But county taxpayers are certainly better off under PTELL limitations. Anything that limits taxing districts is a good thing. Illinoisans already pay the highest property taxes in the nation.”
Earlier this year Dabrowski and his colleagues authored a study: Illinoisans feel the pain of stagnant incomes and skyrocketing property tax bills.
He said, "Go to Appendix A, which ranks counties in Illinois. From 2000 to 2018 Madison County has gone from 29th to 21st worst. You're going in the wrong direction."
During the same period Madison County property taxes per household doubled from $1,344 to $2,657.
Also, the effective tax rate in the county (tax per household divided by median household income) increased from 3.3 to 4.6 percent.
In June of 2018 I put PTELL before the county board, requesting that PTELL be put on the ballot.
It was a close vote (14 to 10), but the county board "tabled it."
This Monday I have called a special meeting to give the county board the opportunity to put PTELL on the November ballot.
The pros and cons of PTELL can be debated, but it's the taxpayers who are paying the taxes, . . . and they are the ones who deserve to vote on it.
Kurt Prenzler, Madison County Board Chairman