The grass-roots tax activist group that prompted the creation of a legislative task force on overlapping taxing districts may be disbanding.
John Cashman, chairman of the Steger Wilco Action Tax Force, or SWAT, said the group, which failed to meet in June, will hold its final meeting in July “until interest picks up.”
Cashman and Lawrence “Buster” Kreider formed the group 18 months ago to focus attention on the higher property taxes that Steger’s Will County residents pay, compared with their Cook County counterparts. Participation in the group’s monthly meetings has declined to a handful of supporters, from more than 100 in the group’s beginning.
SWAT benefited from taxpayer outrage in 1997 immediately after the circulation of property tax bills. But that outrage failed to materialize again in 1998. Only the core activists continued to attend the monthly meetings at Steger’s Village Hall.
SWAT’s decline coincides with the Illinois House’s refusal in May to continue the year-old bipartisan task force investigating the 22 taxing districts that span Cook and surrounding collar counties. The 25-member panel was formed by state Rep. George Scully (D-Flossmoor) in response to SWAT concerns.
Scully said all movements have their ups and downs.
“Like so many problems, people get frustrated. But it’s like education: It didn’t stop being the most important problem just because we didn’t find a solution. I hope that if people see me continuing to fight, they’ll jump on the bandwagon.”
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