Taxes Big Issue in Race for 49th District Seat in General Assembly
Tonia Jane Khouri
The topic of property taxes will come up in every conversation when Tonia Khouri meets with voters.
“People are overtaxed,” she said during an appearance on WIND AM 560 radio. “Everybody is saying high property taxes are a concern. It doesn’t matter what demographic they are.”
- Tonia Khouri never voted for a tax increase while a member of the DuPage County Board.
- She joined other lawmakers in signing a pledge opposing the progressive income tax increase.
- Tonia has opposed the proposed statewide property tax increase.
- She signed a pledge to not accept a legislative pension.
This is the biggest difference between Tonia Khouri and her opponent. Tonia has never voted for a tax increase and will fight to lower our property taxes.
Her opponent has raised taxes TWICE and will do it again if elected.
The Chicago Tribune covered this topic in a story about the candidates for State Representative of the 49th district. The following article originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune:
Taxes big issue in race for 49th District seat in General Assembly
The race in the 49th District for a seat in the General Assembly has Tonia Khouri, a Republican from Aurora, facing Karina Villa, a Democrat from West Chicago.
Election day is Nov. 6.
Khouri, 49, who currently serves on the DuPage County Board, said the “mass exodus of people leaving Illinois” is the biggest issue the state is facing. She said factors contributing to the loss of population include the cost of living, lack of good jobs and corruption.
“Families are being torn apart, needed tax dollars are leaving the state and people are losing hope,” Khouri said. “It’s too expensive to live here, there are not enough good-paying jobs, and corruption, cronyism and political insider deals are bankrupting our state and hurting families.”
Khouri said she wants to use her skills as a DuPage County Board member and a business owner “who has created hundreds of local jobs” to address local issues in the 49th District “including tax relief, governmental reform and changing the culture in Springfield.”
“People are taxed out, and my main focus as a state representative will be to lower our property taxes,” she said. “We can accomplish this with pension reform, fair and equitable property assessments and consolidation.”
Regarding governmental reforms, Khouri said as a DuPage County Board member, she voted “to dissolve seven units of local government, consolidate duplicative services and create shared services with townships.”
“These governmental reforms allowed us to cut our budget by $36.5 million saving taxpayers an estimated $110 million, and I will fight for these same types of reforms in our state government where they are desperately needed,” Khouri said.
Khouri calls the current culture in Springfield “one of harassment, corruption and abuse of power” and believes the only way to change things in Springfield is to change the people there.
Villa, 40, believes the three most important issues in Illinois are heath care, property taxes and education.
“As I’ve gone door-to-door over the past two years, the feedback has been the same,” Villa said. “With heath care, we need to make sure rates don’t continue to rise and we also need to guarantee coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, and make care accessible for those with mental illness.”
As a school board member in West Chicago District 33, Villa said she is concerned about property taxes and says poorer districts likes hers put too much of a burden “on the middle class.”
“People with these small houses still have these huge tax bills,” she said.
Villa said schools still need to be adequately funded and also feels a priority is to establish “comfortable and safe” communities where kids can go to school safely.
She said she wants to have “the top 1 percent pay their fair share of taxes” and would look at alternative sources of revenue “to protect the middle class” if she is elected.
As a social worker, Villa said she is concerned about the issues of mental health and depression and wants to work with parents to provide more services dealing with depression and other issues involving students.
Finally, the state needs to remain solvent, she said.
“The morale of people here is low and they see corruption,” Villa said. “People are also leaving because they can’t afford to stay. We have many issues. A college education needs to be reasonable. And we can’t add one more dollar to property taxes.”
This story originally appeared in Chicago Tribune and was written by David Sharos.
Tonia Khouri has been endorsed by the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Herald and Chicago Sun-Times.
“I’M GOING TO SPRINGFIELD TO DEFEND OUR HOMES, REPRESENT THE PEOPLE’S INTERESTS AND STOP THE RAISING OF PROPERTY TAXES.”
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For more information: Read about Tonia Khouri, her experience, leadership, stand on the issues and her endorsements.
