Village Voices - We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks

No one likes paying taxes. And in Illinois, we pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation. The headlines proclaiming Illinois has one of the worst overall tax burdens in the United States have become so prevalent, that people have become desensitized to it. Rather than accepting it as “normal for Illinois” we should be asking “Why is this normal in Illinois?”

Tax bills are arriving, and in Northwest Illinois families everywhere are scratching their heads, wondering why it costs so much to live here. I would suggest Illinoisans point to Springfield, where costly pol...