Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that the state’s property taxes are too high.

He made the remarks as part of a wide-ranging State of the State address which covered everything from fixing the flags at the Thompson Center in Chicago to addressing the need for clean energy.

Pritzker, in his second year as governor, said he was willing to entertain ideas from both sides of the political aisle, but property taxes are too high. He decried government entities which “max out levies even when they don’t need to.”

“…with nearly 7,000 units of government in Illinois, it’s time to empower local taxpayers to consolidate or eliminate them,” Pritzker said, noting “there are perverse incentives in state law to encourage that.”

Illinois REALTORS® has long been in favor of measures which allow for the consolidation of the state’s governmental units. Illinois has more units of government than any other state in the U.S. The state also has among the highest property taxes.