SPRINGFIELD – To help address one of the top problems facing the South Suburbs and communities throughout Illinois, Senator Patrick Joyce (D-Essex) is joining the Property Tax Relief Task Force, which will propose concrete ideas to help reduce residents’ property tax bills.

Joyce has major concerns regarding the high property tax rates Illinoisans pay compared to the rest of the nation.

“I represent communities where the property tax rate is higher than 30%,” Joyce said. “That’s not sustainable or fair to the people who live there.”

Residents of Park Forest paid a 33.62% property tax rate in 2017. In neighboring Will County, according to Tax-Rates.org, residents pay twice the national average in property taxes.

“High property taxes, disproportionately affect low- and middle-income families, discourage migration from other states, and make it harder to open small businesses in our communities,” Joyce said.

 The bipartisan Property Tax Relief Task Force will look at different legislative solutions to reform the state’s regressive property tax system. One of the major goals of task force is to cut taxes for low- and middle-income earners.