Southland mayors and lawmakers are playing key roles in a major push to convince Illinois budget makers to restore the municipal share of revenues collected through the state income tax.

State Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights, is leading the charge in Springfield. DeLuca chairs the House Cities and Villages Committee, which held a hearing Tuesday afternoon on how the state shares income tax revenues with municipalities.

“For far too long state government has used the revenues owed to municipalities to fill holes in the state budget and expand spending,” said DeLuca, who was Chicago Heights mayor from 2003 to 2009.

“That’s the wrong approach,” DeLuca said. “When local governments are shortchanged and are consistently faced with unfunded mandates from Springfield, costs are more likely to be passed onto to the taxpayers.”

Mayors of Blue Island, Country Club Hills, Harvey, Lynwood, Markham and Palos Hills were among those scheduled to testify Tuesday. I watched a livestream video of the hearing but lost internet service about an hour into the proceeding.

The issue has pitted the state against local leaders for years. The fight is over a formula used to dole out income tax revenues through the Local Government Distributive Fund, or LGDF.

“There are a lot of us here who are on your side when it comes to LGDF but no one is stronger than Chairman DeLuca,” said state Rep. Maurice A. West II, D-Rockford.

Back when Illinois last held a constitutional convention in 1970, the state reached a deal with the 1,295 cities, villages, towns and other municipal governments. The state would share 10% of income tax revenues with municipalities, and in return local units of government would agree to never charge an income tax.

Some states, like neighboring Indiana, allow municipalities to charge and collect income taxes. Taxing income is generally considered more fair than, say, taxing a home or other property.

“We are in need of help,” Country Club Hills Mayor James Ford testified. “Pensions seem to be the biggest challenge we have today in my community. We can no longer depend on property taxes because my property tax collection rate has gone down from 98% to about 75%.”

Collection rates are plummeting in communities throughout the south suburbs, researchers with the office of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas found. The alarming trend threatens to disrupt public safety, schools and other essential services.

People in the Southland can no longer afford to pay outrageous real estate taxes on residential properties. That’s leaving taxing bodies to collect a fraction of what they levy.

What would you do if you expected your paycheck to be $1,000 and it was only $750? The fiscal calamity appears to shortchange the Southland more than any other part of Illinois.

Communities are desperate for revenue help. The state’s response has been to legalize video gaming, cannabis and other goods and services. The revenues help some communities, but not all.

“We have an ordinance prohibiting gaming simply because that’s what our residents want,” said River Forest Mayor Catherine Adduci, president of the Illinois Municipal League. “We have very little commercial areas that will even allow cannabis stores or dispensaries.”

Brad Cole, executive director of the Illinois Municipal League, testified the state upheld its end of the bargain and shared 10% of income tax revenues with municipalities for 41 years. Funds were distributed on a per capita basis.

Readers may recall how past governors an legislatures ran the state’s fiscal ship onto the rocks by failing to balance expenses with revenues for years. When a temporary income tax increase was enacted in 2011, the state cut LGDF funding shared with municipalities to 6%.

“Back when the state had fallen revenues, the state asked the municipalities for help, to pitch in, as Brad explained, during the temporary income tax enactment. And we did, we helped,” Adduci said.

“Now that revenues have increased we ask respectfully to restore LGDF to 10%,” she said. “We urge this committee to stand firm and ask that you only support a state budget if it supports fully restoring LGDF funding.”

Boy, have revenues increased. The state raked in more than $50 billion last year, a historic high, Capitol News Illinois reported. The state fully paid off its backlog of unpaid bills, provided $1.8 billion in tax relief, funded pensions $500 million more than was required, pumped its rainy day fund to more than $1 billion and still had more money than it expected.

“The Commission On Government Forecasting Accountability increased its revenue estimate for the current fiscal year by $575 million,” Cole testified. “COGFA anticipates revenues for this fiscal year that ends June 30 to exceed original estimates by $5.5 billion.”

The old argument that municipalities had to tighten their belts to help the state through a financial crisis simply no longer passes the smell test. Municipalities have surrendered $8.3 billion in funding to the state since 2011, Cole said.

“Even here at the state Capitol, that’s real money,” Cole said.

Restoring local share of income tax revenues to 10% is the right thing to do. Southland homeowners should know their local elected officials are doing all they can to lobby on their behalf.

tslowik@tribpub.com