Updated July 20th, 2025

Next steps

Get the Illinois General Assembly interested, somehow
Can I download a bunch of data from the county GIS and run a simulated LVT?
What were the geographical boundaries of the 1987 Enterprise Zone?
What was the outcome of the 1987 Enterprise Zone?
Do people on the ground know what LVT is?
Figure out the best elevator pitch - It's not a flat tax, it's not going to raise tax on farmers - It is meant to incentivise development of land that is already urbanized, and dis-incentivise urban sprawl, and dis-incentivise blight. (vacant lots, decripit buildings) It is an incremental change - one factor in the tax formula - which is easy to implement gradually, and easy to roll back if it fails.

Prior art

Found on https://cooperative-individualism.org/

In 1987, Peoria had a 10-year abatement for new construction in certain parts of the city, in an "Enterprise Zone"
John L. Kelly (current at-large city council member in 2025) "has campaigned intensely since 1984 for untaxing improvements"
Peoria Township tax assessor (at the time) Bradley Horton says, "Since we already assess land and buildings separately, this poses no change for us. I determine how much value has been added to buildings and to land ... I simply report these values to the county clerk and treasurer, and the county applies the rates and abatements enacted by each governing body."
There might be confounding factors such as waiving sales tax on construction materials - I do not propose that, that is not necessary for LVT to succeed

Illinois state law does not allow a "split rate" tax (including land value tax) at that time (2007) and probably currently (2025)
Gary Sandberg, candidate for at-large council member, had LVT in his platform
John Kelly, current (2025) at-large council member, supports LVT
Dave Koehler, current (2025) Illinois State Senator, supports LVT