{"id":23684,"date":"2025-09-02T13:56:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T13:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/?p=23684"},"modified":"2025-09-02T14:05:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T14:05:07","slug":"santa-fe-realtors-promote-diverse-housing-options-in-housing-strapped-region-2-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-2-4-2-2-3-2-4-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-2-3-2-2-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/homepage\/success-story\/ccar-im0925","title":{"rendered":"Illinois REALTORS\u00ae and Champaign County Association of REALTORS\u00ae Successfully Campaign Against Property Tax Increase"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In Champaign, Illinois, where property taxes rank third highest in the nation with respect to home values and where median incomes are shrinking the fastest, the township was seeking to pass a major property tax increase for the second time in as many election cycles.\u00a0 The Champaign County Association of REALTORS\u00ae <\/sup>turned to Illinois REALTORS\u00ae <\/sup>for help opposing the referendum \u2013 a delicate task, as the tax revenue was being sought to fund a new homeless shelter.\u00a0 With polling resources and an Issues Mobilization grant<\/a> from the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party, they mounted a campaign to dissuade the voters from accepting the additional burden.<\/p>\n

Gideon Blustein, Illinois REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup>\u2019 Senior Director of Advocacy Programs, notes that there was effectively no opposition to the homeless shelter. \u00a0\u201cIn fact, the liberal-leaning university town was likely to favor a new shelter, and the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> only objected to the method of funding it. \u00a0But the local association made it clear that the community simply couldn\u2019t afford the tax increase, and we knew that the added tax burden would disproportionately hurt lower- and middle-income households, pushing them further toward the edge, and even homelessness, themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their mission to educate and persuade voters, the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> had one significant advantage: they had recently conducted a statewide polling and focus-group research project, giving them granular insight into the demographics, values, and voting patterns of communities across Illinois. \u00a0\u00a0Says Blustein, \u201cWe were able to identify the messages that would resonate strongly with local voters and put together a campaign that broke through existing inclinations.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the seat of the state\u2019s flagship university, he continues, Champaign Township boasts one of the most highly educated electorates that NAR\u2019s contract pollster had ever seen.\u00a0 So, the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> designed a campaign that was less emotional, and heavy on facts, data, and citations \u2013 almost like an academic paper.\u00a0 All of its messaging answered the question: What happens to this community when taxes are raised by this amount?\u00a0 \u201cIt focused entirely on the already-high property taxes in the township, and the fact that it was now asking for an increase,\u201d says Blustein.\u00a0 \u201cThen we highlighted what this would mean for the local cost of living, especially for those already living on the edge in terms of housing.\u201d \u00a0Mindful of the social sensitivities of the area\u2019s progressive voters, the campaign never addressed the shelter issue and emphasized that the increased tax obligation would force more residents into homelessness.<\/p>\n

Because it was an especially sensitive campaign, they didn\u2019t want the local association to experience any surprises. Blustein and his team were careful to involve the local AE and GAD, and by extension, their board and Government Affairs Committee, in\u00a0reviewing\u00a0all the direct mail pieces, digital ads, and streaming television ads\u00a0before\u00a0they\u00a0were launched strategically over the course of the election season.<\/p>\n

What was looking like a very tight race going into election day became a remarkable win: the measure was defeated by 59%, bearing out the results of all the polling and focus groups.\u00a0 \u201cThat statewide research will be informing our strategies for years to come!\u201d proclaims Blustein.\u00a0 He is careful to point out, however, that the victory, though welcome, is not a cause for celebration, but rather a further mandate to work toward housing affordability and solving the root causes of homelessness throughout the state.<\/p>\n

To learn more about how Illinois REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> is working with local associations to reject unfair property tax increases, contact Gideon Blustein, Senior Director of Advocacy Programs, at gblustein@illinoisrealtors.org<\/a> or 847.899.1873.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Polling conducted by the REALTOR\u00ae Party informed a high-stakes campaign against a significant property tax increase in Champaign, Illinois that would have dealt a heavy blow to affordability and brought low-income residents closer to homelessness. An Issues Mobilization grant supported the mailings and advertisements that brought the message to the voters.","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,33,296],"tags":[1867,1277],"class_list":["post-23684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-us","category-success-stories","category-success-story","tag-champaign-county-association-of-realtors","tag-illinois-realtors"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23684"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23695,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23684\/revisions\/23695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}