In “Property tax relief is needed now (Commentary, Jan. 4), Cook County assessor James Houlihan talks about the need for property-tax relief for the residents of Cook County.
He is right–taxes are too high in Cook County. His solution, however, is to cap homeowners’ assessment increases so the burden of the tax goes to business. This may sound good to homeowners until they see even more erosion of the county’s business base and more jobs leaving along with it.
What Houlihan and others in his party, the Democrats, won’t address is the cause of higher taxes: excessive spending. Years and years of payroll padding, crony contracts and excessive spending have resulted in the higher taxes Houlihan complains of.
What we ought to do is put a limit on what government can spend and reduce taxes for both homeowners and business. At the Cook County Republican Party, we are addressing this with a Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, which will seek to introduce a novel idea to the politicians of Cook County: fiscal discipline. Let’s see if Houlihan and his party can address the cause of the problem instead of shifting the problem to others.
