Rockford Sun

Cutting the red tape rather than wrapping the home construction industry in more regulations and taxes is the only way to keep such businesses in Illinois, Dennis Sweeney told the Rockford Sun recently.

Sweeney is the president of construction at Rockford Homes and executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of the Greater Rockford Area. He spoke with the Sun about a proposed 6.25 percent sales tax on some types of home improvement services, contractors, trade groups and even some homeowners.

“They need to make the state more business-friendly, not less,” he said.

Sweeney and others are concerned that taxing home improvement service businesses would have repercussions on the construction segment of the Illinois economy. Trade groups have reported fears about contractors leaving Illinois for other states or even working under the table to avoid tax burdens.

“The states around us are killing us,” Sweeney said. “I don’t know anything about (shops operating under the table,) but I sure know Illinois is losing.”

When asked about a more responsible way forward, Sweeney suggested that state government should clear the way for more business activity by loosening regulations and eliminating barriers to business.

“You have to cut the red tape,” Sweeney said.

A statement from the Home Builders Association of Illinois said Senate Bill 9, an “omnibus tax bill,” includes a use tax that will apply to many types of “repair, servicing, alteration, fitting, cleaning, painting, coating, towing, inspection, or maintenance of tangible personal property that has been affixed to real estate.”

“Many who have read the amendment fail to grasp the impact of this section due to the vague manner in which it is written,” the statement says.

Central air-conditioning systems and the installation of window units, trade groups say, would be taxed, as would accessories like awnings, new cabinets, and even dishwashers and drapes. The statement also presents a list of 50 more items, from swimming pools to ovens, that could be taxed under the bill, calling the state of Illinois “dead last in new home production.”

“We are nowhere close to being back on our feet, and now is not the time to tax homeowners for home repair work,” the statement says, calling for an effort to cut home repair use tax portions from the bill.