Illinois voters consider an advisory referendum calling for higher taxes on income over $1 million

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

The measure calls for imposition of a 3% tax on individual income over $1 million, which state revenue officials say could pump at least $4.5 billion more each year into the state’s treasury to then divert to property tax reduction.

While only a non-binding advisory, if the referendum passed, it could fuel efforts in Springfield in 2026, the year of the state’s next gubernatorial election, to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to authorize the new tax on Illinois millionaires.

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

The latest question was posed to voters after lawmakers in May brought it forward 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 create an additional 3% tax on income greater than $1,000,000 for the purpose of dedicating funds raised to property tax relief?”

Supporters of the plan, including state Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, touted the vote as the first step toward addressing the public’s “hue and cry” toward reducing property taxes across the state.

An analysis by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office found homeowners in the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago being hit with a record 19.9% median increase in property tax bills, with some in the south suburbs experiencing 30-plus percent increases this year.

State Revenue Department estimates showed 77,323 Illinoisans reported having adjusted gross income exceeding $1 million annually during the 2021 tax year, the most recent year available.

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

That graduated income tax proposal drew less than 47% support, representing a defeat for Pritzker, who went toe-to-toe with another billionaire, Kenneth Griffin, who poured $54 million of his own money into defeating the ballot initiative.

In 2014, lawmakers put a similar advisory referendum on the ballot calling for state millionaires to pay 3% on income exceeding $1 million, with proceeds specifically earmarked for schools. Nearly two-thirds of voters on that question — 64% — backed the idea.

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

“For too long, millionaires have been getting tax breaks, and Illinois homeowners have been getting higher and higher property tax bills,” Quinn said ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

He said the referendum would give voters “a chance to reform an unfair upside-down tax code and give long-overdue property tax relief to everyday 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 stayed silent on the referendum, though he did sign the legislative package authorizing the vote.

If a 3% tax on earnings beyond $1 million had been in effect for the 2022 tax year — the most recent year for which Illinois’ billionaire governor and his wife have made their taxes public — he and MK Pritzker would have paid an additional $67,485, a WBEZ analysis shows.

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

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