The Illinois Supreme Court has struck down a law meant to help a business expand in Illinois.
The Illinois Constitution says you can’t have laws targeting individual people or businesses. So to get around that, lawmakers will sometimes pass bills that seem general but, wink wink, everyone knows who’s benefitting.
That’s what happened for Elliott Aviation, which serves private and corporate planes in Moline. In order to encourage expansion here in Illinois rather than in Iowa, lawmakers voted to eliminate property tax bills for private aviation companies at Quad City International Airport.
The local school district sued, saying the law would cost it $150,000 a year.
In a 6-1 decision, the Supreme Court struck down the tax break. The majority says nothing separates Elliott from many businesses at other airports — or anywhere along the border.
In an email, Elliott spokesman Andrew Evans says the company is “disappointed" in the ruling. He says the company's "primary focus will remain on our employees and running our business here in the Quad Cities in a very competitive environment. This and many other factors will be considered as we grow and expand our business in the future.”
