School leaders in Illinois will be watching intently as lawmakers return to Springfield this week to hear from the Governor as he delivers his State of the State address Wednesday, hoping to hear about his plans for property tax relief in the state.

Superintendent of Mt. Pulaski Schools, Fred Lamkey indicates property tax relief has been a hot topic in Springfield for some time but lawmakers have never been able to come up with a solution. He anticipates that could change this year.

The tax structure in Illinois varies based on a community's population. According to Lamkey, there are tax-cap counties and non-tax-cap counties. Because they are non-tax-cap county, they can tax for the resources they need.

Tax-caps would impact districts on how they raise revenue in the future. Lamkey explains many Illinois districts work hard to make sure they keep their levies low, minimizing the impact on taxpayers. In the future, that could handcuff districts.

Teacher retirements could be put on school districts at some point and Lamkey points out, if districts are unable to tap into local tax dollars to help ease that burden, it will handcuff a lot of school board's in how they can manage the increasing costs.