‘Overly generous’ tax break needs to be reexamined
Upon reading the front page article by reporter Suzanne Baker in the March 24 edition of the Naperville Sun, I learned that for the past eight years disabled military veterans in have been paying greatly reduced or no property taxes on their Illinois homes.
A law passed by the Illinois Legislature in 2017 (and backdated to 2015), granted a residential property tax exemption ranging from $2,500 a year for a 30% disability to $5,000 per year for a 50% disability to a complete exemption for a disability of 70% or higher.
As a result of this exemption, Naperville City Councilman Benjamin “Benny” White, a West Point graduate and a 22 year Army veteran, qualified for a total property tax exemption on his five-bedroom Naperville home, which currently has an estimated market value $900,000. This has saved him approximately $17,000 per year, or $136,000 over the past eight years.
His fellow councilman, Ian Holzhauer, an Air Force veteran who also qualified for a 70% disability exemption, has paid zero property taxes on his $400,000 home since purchasing it in 2015.
There are two aspects of this overly generous tax break that bother me. First, I believe anyone in a position to decide how to spend Naperville property tax dollars ought to be paying at least some property tax dollars themselves. And second, I don’t understand how our legislature has the legal authority to require that local municipalities offer property tax exemptions without doing anything to mitigate the financial consequences of such a law. That is an “unfunded mandate.”
Therefore, when our legislature convenes again, I hope they will give serious consideration to subsidizing or eliminating this overly generous mandate.
Deirdre D. O’Neal, Naperville
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