A property tax Will County has collected for more than a decade to help pay for its juvenile detention center is "illegal" because the county never got approval from voters, the Illinois Supreme Court found today.
The tax, approved by the Will County Board in 1997, most recently generated $2.3 million for the River Valley Justice Center, officials said. After reaching settlements with the county for four years, about 300 taxpayers -- most of them corporations -- sued the county in 2002.
Lower courts ruled against them after the county argued it had the authority to impose the tax under a 1907 statute.
But the Supreme Court on Thursday found that the county's levy fell under the guidelines of a tax cap law passed in 1994, which requires certain levies be approved by voters in a "direct referendum."
"It's an important case because it gives teeth to the tax cap act," said James Rooney, an attorney for the taxpayers. "It's not that River Valley doesn't serve a good purpose, it's that they have to go to the taxpayers first."
The court's decision means the county likely will need to hold a referendum if it wants to continue collecting the tax, Rooney said. County officials forwarded calls to the spokeswoman for county executive Larry Walsh, who declined to comment, saying the court decision had just come down.
The state's attorney's office, which handled the case, also did not comment.
Will County has until Nov. 30 to pass a resolution putting a referendum measure on the Feb. 2 ballot.
--Steve Schmadeke
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