-- 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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As household incomes shrink and property taxes inexorably rise, the percentage of household income demanded for property tax payments rises. Household budgets can only contain 100%. When one Expenditure category demands more, other categories must reduce expenditures. Is there a percentage of household income property tax burden which is an inflection point, at which median income households are unable to retain home ownership because other expenditure categories cannot be reduced? BLS publishes Household Expenditure Surveys. https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables.htm#calendar Download report for 2021, Quintiles of income before taxes Note that there are around 26,700 households (consumer units) in 5 income categories. Here are the pretax mean and… Read more »
How does the outmigration from IL of higher income earners, like Ken Griffin, affect these statistics? Wirepoints publishes the IRS statistics of how much wealth leaves IL. Less people, less money, means higher tax burden on those who stay.
My guess is that it is a mix of higher income earning households leaving combined with the flood of poorer third world illegal immigrants. Anecdotally, my son tells me at least once a month about some friend or peer whose families are leaving IL for TN, SC, WI or IN. I also see illegal immigrants everywhere on the roads these days, driving complete jalopies in the far right lane on the tollway, going 10 mph under the speed limit. I have a buddy who is a school teacher is a suburban school dist that is half hispanic, and he says… Read more »