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LaSalle County board members discuss property-tax options, consider small ad hoc group
Summary
Board members discussed constituent concerns about property taxes and possible next steps including informal fact-finding, working with the Illinois Association of County Board Members, and forming an ad hoc group or using existing committee channels to explore legislative or administrative options.
During the Jan. 6 meeting of the LaSalle County Committee on Employment and Legislation and Rules, County board member Gadsden raised repeated constituent concerns about property taxes and asked how the county could assemble a small group to explore potential actions.
"When I talked to Stephanie one time, and I don't wanna be the dead horse here, but about property taxes, which I keep getting spoken to from everybody I know about. She had given me some ideas that we need to go after," Gadsden said, urging a small group to examine possible avenues, including meetings with state legislators and drafting resolutions.
County board member Mr. Walsh advised that the county's membership organizations can help with legislative proposals and pointed to the Illinois Association of County Board Members as a path to submit legislative proposals: "Basically our associations we belong to will accept that we have the Illinois Association of County Board Members which has a legislative proposal form..." He cautioned that many bills never advance but suggested the association and contacting local senators and representatives as practical first steps.
The committee discussed options for proceeding. Suggestions included:
- Informal fact-finding among a small number of board members or private conversations with the assessor and other staff to gather ideas before forming any formal committee. - Using the Illinois Association of County Board Memberslegislative-proposal process or asking legislators to sponsor draft language. - Forming an ad hoc committee if the group decided a formal, open process was needed; members noted the Open Meetings Act and the need to avoid creating an inadvertent quorum in private discussions.
County staff and board members also noted structural limitations: county government receives a relatively small portion of total property-tax levies, and changes often require state legislative action. One member summarized: "When you take a look at the property taxes, you know, the county is roughly 10 to 11% of that. Between 60 70% is from the schools." The committee suggested beginning with small, informal steps: contacting the assessor (Stephanie), seeking guidance from the association, and possibly assembling a short list of priorities for the full board to consider.
No formal motion or committee was created at the Jan. 6 meeting; members agreed to pursue initial outreach and research and to consider inviting the assessor or using the Finance committee's annual meeting with the assessor as an initial venue for questions.
