The recent editorial “Data centers should lower homeowners’ property taxes, not raise them” (Aug. 26) paints a misleading picture, ignoring the tremendous economic benefits data centers bring to our communities while shifting blame away from Cook County’s flawed property tax assessment system.
Regardless of their incentive status, data centers pay a significant amount of taxes. In Elk Grove Village, they pay four to six times more in property taxes than typical industrial users, money that goes to local schools, libraries and parks without adding demand for those services. In DeKalb, data center revenue has allowed the city to substantially reduce its effective property tax rate. One of the only ways Cook County can relieve residential property taxes is to grow its tax base by attracting new commercial and industrial taxpayers.
Incentives such as Class 6b — which are available not only to data centers but also to manufacturers, warehousing and other industries — and the state’s Data Center Investment Program are not traditional tax credits. Rather, they are economic development tools that attract multibillion-dollar investments without reducing state or local revenues. Without them, that investment, and the new revenue that follows it, may not come to these communities at all.
The real issue driving the tax debate is not data centers — it’s Cook County’s burdensome and often unpredictable tax environment. Illinois is now tied with New Jersey for the highest property taxes in the nation, and raising commercial fair market values by hundreds of millions of dollars in a single year has told companies this is not a stable place to do business. The property tax burden is one major reason why there are few cranes in the sky in Cook County these days. A 2026 Illinois Department of Revenue study warned that the county’s higher assessment rate will discourage commercial and industrial investment because such property becomes more expensive to own, while pushing those taxes up “by as much as 47%.”
Data centers represent significant economic opportunities for Illinois’ communities. Punishing an industry that pumps nearly $2.6 billion every year into state and local government coffers is a losing strategy for our state — and losses in Illinois are increasingly becoming other state’s gains.
As the General Assembly considers a statewide regulatory framework for responsible data center development, we cannot lose sight of the significant opportunity to spur sorely needed property tax revenues, particularly in the south suburbs and other Illinois communities that need it most.
— Brad Tietz, Midwest director of government affairs, Data Center Coalition, Chicago
Editorial board missed plot
In the editorial “In Lindsay Clancy story, don’t forget the children who are longer here” (Sept. 3), the Tribune Editorial Board admonishes readers not to “lose sight of three dead children.” I would suggest the editorial board not lose sight of what psychosis entails.
Every time I think of Lindsay Clancy, I think of those three beautiful children and that every day, for the rest of her life, she’ll think of her babies and how they died.
The editorial board criticizes women who are defending Clancy, as they describe their own struggles with pregnancy. Yet, the board is doing the same thing it is accusing many of these women of doing. Postpartum mental health challenges are complex, but there is a huge difference between depression and psychosis. The editorial includes the word “psychosis” only once: “Her attorneys argue that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.”
Depression can be mild to severe and debilitating, but to put psychosis in the same realm is beyond what I would expect from the Tribune Editorial Board. Probably the easiest description of psychosis is the obsolete term of insanity. Psychosis is a complete break from reality and involves hallucinations and delusions. The person hears voices telling them bizarre things. Maybe the editorial should have addressed the failure of the medical community to provide the proper support for Clancy.
If Clancy supporters “have lost the plot,” I would suggest the editorial board never found the plot.
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— Patti Marino, River Forest
Create a village for moms
The editorial about Lindsay Clancy’s three children was deeply moving and well stated. But sadly, it needed to be said that no doubt their mother was in a horrific state of mind.
I do not diminish her pain. However, gathering in sympathetic support outside a courthouse will not fix anything.
Mothers of young children everywhere should put their supportive efforts into reaching out to their families, friends and communities, creating cooperative groups that can offer help to struggling parents. It really does take a village. No mother should ever have to feel so alone and so helpless. The pressures today are immense. They are beyond what they were in my days of caring for my babies.
Find out if hospitals, OB-GYN offices and pediatricians are making it clear that help is available. Park districts are open to new ideas such as Mommies and Tots programs. Say hello to a parent walking a stroller on your block. A conversation might begin. Check in with family and friends with young children. A good word is a start.
Little things mean a lot. Especially when they are innocent little children. Find positive, proactive ways that can prevent these kinds of tragedies from ever happening again.
— Cynthia Marks, Palos Park
Vallas’ AI sales pitch
Another day, another lengthy Paul Vallas piece (“Chicago and CPS cannot afford to bench themselves in the AI revolution,” Sept. 3). Really? This one reads like a sales pitch from a data center builder or artificial intelligence company. Great things are promised if we all get on board, and bad things will happen if we miss this wonderful opportunity. How many times have we heard this before?
It’s too early to tell if AI will live up to the hype. But we’ve been down this road before and have seen how things can go wrong. Looking before you leap isn’t such a bad thing; that’s how most of us live our lives.
— John Krause, Glenview
Writer’s anti-Israel position
Regrettably, what Adam Patric Miller is not allowed to say in his classroom, the Tribune opinion section allowed him to include in his Sept. 1 commentary on “How do I have the ‘the AI talk’ in my classroom?” A well-informed critique of artificial intelligence in the classroom abruptly pivots to accusing Israel of using AI to indiscriminately kill people in Palestine. He gives no background or circumstances for his position.
The opinion team should have recognized that his biased anti-Israel position was not relevant to the subject of his commentary. Although he is not allowed to express his sentiments in class, he says he hopes his students will “feel it” via great teaching. How he triggers this feeling is not stated.
— Harold Zarkowsky, Chicago
What we owe Gloria Steinem
I do not believe there is a young girl or woman, regardless of political affiliation, who has not benefited from the work of Gloria Steinem.
My first paid magazine subscription was “Ms.” back in 1973. To read articles that addressed my concerns as a 20-something young woman was exciting and empowering.
In the 1970s, girls high school sports were little more than accelerated physical education. Women could not apply for credit cards in their own names. Many pregnant women could not continue in their jobs after giving birth. Few women were elected to public office. Abortions were performed in back alleys with catastrophic results. Unwanted sexual advances were tolerated as part of the male-dominated culture. The list could go on.
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As a journalist and activist, Steinem used her skills to question the status quo and give women a voice. Her bandwidth was vast — she engaged with people from all walks of life and challenged the political powers. She made important contributions to Roe v. Wade; the success in the political arena for women such as Shirley Chisholm and Nancy Pelosi; the end of the Vietnam War; the birth of the MeToo movement; and career opportunities for women based on merit, not gender.
Most importantly, Steinem provided women the power and confidence to know their own worth, regardless of what others thought or said.
A life well lived. Thank you to Steinem from all of us, especially from this mother of four daughters who are successful, strong and confident.
— Joanne Ropiak Leahy, Naperville
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