Illinois voters are considering an advisory referendum calling for higher taxes on income above $1 million

Voters will consider three statewide advisory referendums on the ballot Tuesday, including whether state lawmakers should push for higher taxes on the wealthiest class of Illinoisans to pay for a statewide property tax cut.

The measure calls for imposing a 3% tax on individual income above $1 million. According to state revenue officials, this could pump at least $4.5 billion more into state coffers each year, which could then be used to reduce property taxes.

Although it is only a non-binding opinion, if the referendum passes it could fuel efforts in Springfield in 2026, the year of the next gubernatorial election, to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to pass the new tax on millionaires from Illinois to approve.

This is at least the third time in the past decade that voter sentiment in Illinois has been measured on a tax-the-rich change to the state’s tax code, with the previous two efforts showing broad support.

The latest question was asked of voters after lawmakers advanced it in May as part of a broader election package that Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed.

The exact wording of the ballot question reads: “Should the Illinois Constitution be amended to impose an additional 3% tax on income greater than $1,000,000, for the purpose of dedicating the money raised to property tax abatement ?”

Supporters of the plan, including state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, called the vote the first step toward addressing public calls for property tax cuts across the state.

An analysis by the office of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas found that homeowners in Chicago’s south and southwest suburbs were hit by a record 19.9% ​​increase in property taxes, while some in the south suburbs saw an increase of more than 30 percent knew.

State Revenue Department estimates show that 77,323 Illinois residents reported adjusting gross income of more than $1 million per year during the 2021 tax year, the most recent year available.

In 2020, voters rejected a similar plan to hit Illinois’ wealthiest people with higher taxes. That’s when Pritzker’s plan to amend the state constitution to replace the state’s flat 4.95% individual income tax rate with a sliding rate scale that would make wealthy people pay higher rates.

That gradual income tax proposal received less than 47% support, marking a defeat for Pritzker, who was running against another billionaire, Kenneth Griffin, who poured $54 million of his own money into defeating the ballot initiative.

In 2014, lawmakers placed a similar advisory referendum on the ballot calling for state millionaires to pay 3% on revenues above $1 million, with the proceeds earmarked specifically for schools. Nearly two-thirds of voters on this question – 64% – supported the idea.

Former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn was a vocal proponent of a yes vote on Tuesday’s ballot question.

“For too long, millionaires have received tax breaks and Illinois homeowners have been hit with ever-increasing property tax bills,” Quinn said ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

He said the referendum would give voters “an opportunity to reform an unfair upside-down tax law and provide long-overdue property tax relief to ordinary homeowners across the state.”

But Republicans objected to the ballot question, saying higher taxes on wealthy Illinoisans would not lead to greater economic growth. Pritzker remained silent on the referendum, although he did sign the legislative package that made the vote possible.

If there had been a 3% tax on income over $1 million for the 2022 tax year — the most recent year for which Illinois’ billionaire governor and his wife have made their taxes public — he and Assemblyman Pritzker would still once paid $67,485. according to a WBEZ analysis.

Voters across the state will also be asked two other questions, one on whether state officials should be advised to impose civil penalties if a candidate interferes with election workers, and whether medically assisted reproductive treatments should be covered by health insurance in Illinois, also in the United States. vitro fertilization.

Dave McKinney covers Illinois government and politics for WBEZ and is the former Springfield bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times.