Property Tax Reliance Down, but New Demands for State Funds Loom
by Mike Klemens, Presented by Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois
Local property tax contributions to public school funding are 50 percent of the total, according to an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) report. The same report puts state funding at 40 percent, the highest level in 18 years. A separate – and more widely cited – ISBE report says that property taxes account for 61 percent of school funding while the state’s contribution is at 27 percent.
Neither report is wrong, as we’ll get to later. However, the different pictures the two reports paint illuminate the complexity and confusion surrounding the historic question on Illinois school funding: What share should be covered by local property taxes and what share should the state cover? In this article, we will try to unravel Illinois school funding, compare Illinois with other states, and take a peek at where school funding is headed in Illinois.
