Governor Rauner’s Amendatory Veto of SB1 Artificially Inflates the Equalized Assessed Value of Most School Districts—Thus Under- Funding the Classroom

CTBA analysis shows that school districts around the state would see their funding threatened by Governor Bruce Rauner's amendatory veto of Senate Bill 1, the Evidence Based Model for School Funding Reform.

Part of the veto would require that property wealth in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts be included in a school district's total local resources-even though school districts cannot access tax revenue from TIFs. As a result, including the TIF value makes it appear as if school districts have more property wealth than is actually the case, and reduce the amount of state funding it receives.

In total, of the $313 billion in equalized assessed value (EAV) of property wealth in Illinois, $12.4 billion is in a TIF district, as of 2015.

If this amendatory veto were approved by the legislature, it would lead to less money going to school districts all over Illinois that desperately need all the state support they can get.