-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Property tax rates in Cook County are at least 50% lower in Cook County ~2%) than in collar counties (~3%). Imagine how many prospective buyers are disqualified, when property taxes on a median price home take more than 9% of median household income (national average less than 4% of hh income to p-tax). Imagine the effect on local economy when discretionary income of most households is reduced by 5% more than almost every other American household. Where should households cut back in order to afford that extra 5% to pay property taxes? Not eat out? Skip college savings? Get rid… Read more »