White County Treasurer Mike Baxley is calling for reforms to Illinois’ property tax code to ensure constitutional compliance while protecting taxpayers and maintaining essential local government services.
Baxley says White County, like all other counties across Illinois, remains out of compliance with constitutional protections when properties are taken for unpaid taxes without preserving a homeowner’s equity. The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that owing property taxes does not erase property rights, and any excess equity belongs to the taxpayer—not the government or a tax buyer.
“Counties must be able to enforce tax collections so government can function,” Baxley said. “But enforcement cannot come at the expense of constitutional rights. Illinois needs to reform its tax sale system to protect equity while still allowing counties to operate.”
In the most recent White County tax sale, Treasurer Baxley required tax buyers to sign an agreement holding the county harmless and placing responsibility for distributing equity with the tax buyer, since buyers receive properties free and clear. As a result, participation dropped from 70 registered buyers to 44 once the new requirements were fully disclosed. No other metrics in the sale were significantly changed. Baxley says this potentially signals that the tax buyers are still willing to buy knowing there could be equity owed to taxpayers down the road.
The pressure on property owners has been intensified by state policy decisions, according to the treasurer. “Illinois has reduced the share of income tax and replacement tax revenue sent to counties and municipalities from the original 10 percent to less than 7 percent through the Local Government Distributive Fund. Since 2012, this reduction has cost local governments billions, forcing many counties to cut services or rely more heavily on property taxes.”
“These combined failures are contributing to a system that is increasingly taxing people out of their homes,” Baxley said. “Restoring constitutional protections and fair revenue sharing is essential to long-term stability for taxpayers and local governments alike.”