.jpg)
If voters approve two Oak Park School District 97 referendums on April 4, they'd better be ready to pay an additional $700 a year in property taxes on average, a taxpayer advocacy group warned recently.
“Illinois has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country," Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America, said. "You have to wonder how many people could have stayed in their homes if the property taxes weren’t so high – the highest property taxes in the country."
The two referendums are "asking voters to raise their property taxes by $13.3 million and issue new bonds totaling $57.5 million," Tobin said.
The advocacy group issued a statement warning voters against passing similar referendums in Lynwood, Berwyn School District 100, Evanston/Skokie Consolidated School District 65, Coal City and Hinsdale Township High School District 86, as well as Oak Park.
The group contends that 80 percent of local taxes go to paying salaries and benefits of government employees.
Alerts Sign-up