QUINN DISCUSSES AMENDMENT TO PROVIDE PROPERTY TAX RELIEF AND SOLVE PROBLEM OF INADEQUATE SCHOOL FUNDING

BLOOMINGTON—Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn spoke with more than 150 school principals and administrators at the 72^nd Annual Administrators Round-up to discuss the Taxpayer Action Amendment, which would guarantee property tax relief to homeowners and increase school funding for every student in the state.

           

            "In this world there are movers and shakers, and then there are those who are moved and shaken, and the difference is education," Quinn said.  "Jobs follow brain power and Illinois must invest in top quality education to keep quality jobs in the 21^st Century."

 

            Quinn was joined by representatives from the Illinois Association of School Administrators, Illinois Principals Association, DeWitt-Livingston-McLean Regional Office of Education, Illinois Association of School Business Officials, Illinois State University Department of Educational Administration and Foundations, the Illinois State University Center for the Study of Education Policy and other school principals and administrators.

 

            Under Quinn's "Taxpayer Action Amendment", each of 2.7 million Illinois homeowners will receive an

annual rebate check of at least $208 on July 1 of every year, with a similar amount issued every July 1 thereafter. Altogether, more than $575 million in new property tax relief will be delivered annually to hard-pressed homeowners. 

 

Also on July 1 of every year, Illinois' 888 elementary and secondary public school districts will receive

$575 million in supplementary aid that amounts to about $277 for each of the state's two million students.

 

To fund the new education funding and property tax relief, the Taxpayer Action Amendment would raise the state income tax only on those individuals who make more than a quarter-million dollars a year (less than 2 percent of all taxpayers).

 

"The Taxpayer Action Amendment follows a principle as old as the Bible - taxes should be based on ability to pay," Quinn said. "We need to restore fundamental fairness to Illinois' tax code, give property tax relief to the people who need it most, and jumpstart the economy by putting money in the pockets of consumers."