-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Illinois loses more millennial taxpayers and dependents to other states than any state except New York; this means Illinois’ distressed housing market is losing a big contingent of first-time homebuyers.
Comment: Note that Mike Lucci is in as Policy Director. You’ve seen many of his articles here. An outstanding choice.
Comment: Yes, they did, which is a pretty sorry statement since rating agencies look out for bondholders. Would have been nice if they’d taken notice earlier of what service recipients and taxpayers have been saying.
State contributions to pension plans will decline $1.5 billion in fiscal 2018, by far the largest single spending cut in the budget. They did that — and this is another secret that was buried in the budget — by delaying lowered discount rate assumptions. A schedule will phase them in. Expect a huge spike in unfunded liabilities.
Kudos to Joe Cahill at Crain’s for finding this.
And check out the ten-year record of huge losses.
The agency that operates McCormick Place will be able to pile on to its massive debt load thanks to the state’s long-awaited budget. Built into legislation that passed last week is a $293 million increase in the bonding capacity. The agency maxed out its borrowing limit two years ago. Despite a gargantuan long-term debt burden that totaled $3.7 billion as of June 2016, McPier officials plan to take advantage of the new line of credit immediately.
We are being looted. The muni bond industry is going all out to keep raising the credit card limit and sucking every ounce of blood out to ensure it gets repaid.
Comment: Hey Ferichs, you’re the Treasurer. Why don’t you go to New York and try to sell this phony budget?
Comment: Outrageous. See our own article on this in the right column.
The end of a two-year-old budget logjam drove a sharp narrowing of Illinois’ spread penalties last week as the market looked favorably on passage of a spending plan with $5 billion in tax hikes.
Budget deal claims it will save $500 million annually, but some have their doubts.
School districts across Illinois owe nearly $21 billion in long-term debt. That’s an increase of over 67 percent since 2002, when debt equaled $12.3 billion. School debt grew at nearly double the rate of inflation over the 2002-2015 period.
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