Shall Illinois adopt the Millionaire Amendment for Property Tax Relief and Education, which would enact a 3% income tax surcharge only on millionaires and use 50% of this new revenue to provide property tax relief for residential and commercial taxpayers and 50% to improve state funding for public education?
This question will appear in various forms on different ballots, but this is the wording approved by the Cook County Board of Commissioners and what will appear on ballots throughout the county.
It will come as no surprise, since we’ve opined against this proposal on several occasions, that we urge a no vote. The primary reasoning is the same as before. Illinois already has a problem with affluent residents moving out of state as the tax burden has grown. Adding another 3 percentage points to income above $1 million is the equivalent of posting a flashing “exit this way” sign for those who remain despite their unhappiness with the state’s direction and economic climate.
But there are other, less obvious considerations as well. Many small businesses operate as S-corporations, meaning they aren’t taxed as corporations and instead pass income through to their owners, who then pay taxes on what essentially is business income. Slapping a substantial tax increase on these companies and partnerships would worsen Illinois’ struggle to attract and retain these important jobs generators.
So what voters are led to believe would be strictly a tax hike on fat cats also would be a tax on employers in a state already lagging many rival states in job growth.
Second, there’s little reason to believe this state would limit the revenue from such a tax to schools and property-tax relief. Property taxes aren’t controlled by the state, so any such relief would be up to thousands of local taxing bodies, including the very school districts getting half the cash. Who is confident the bloated Chicago Public Schools system would provide substantial property-tax relief to Chicagoans under such a scenario?
We endorse voting no on the millionaires tax referendum.
Read all of the Tribune Editorial Board’s endorsements for the 2026 Illinois general election here.
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