-- 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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Due to extraordinarily high property tax rates, no new Illinois development will occur without TIF (subsidies). TIFs ensure that no new contributory development can occur without taxpayer subsidies, and property tax rates have suffered that negative feedback loop, rising ever higher. If Springfield passes Bears megaproject law and freezes Arlington Park assessment at 3+-year-old valuation, it forces County Chief Assessors and Township assessors to abrogate assessment rights to Springfield legislators whose interests may not be aligned with those of local taxpayers. The Cook County triennial assessment was recently performed and Arlington Park new property owners didn’t like the outcome. As is… Read more »
It’s all but over with.
The Illinois regional office for my wife’s Fed agency, located in downtown Chicago, had an in-person ‘town-hall’ meet the supervisors and have lunch and ask whatever you want meeting for it’s over 400 staff members last week. Well over 90% of the staff’s base wages are supplemented with Chicago Locality Pay, the highest in the country for her agency, because they claim they live in Chicago. Kind of, sort of, intended to be a ‘mandatory’ meeting – as they were pre-COVID – except that employees with some sort of – which is to say ‘any sort of’ – reason for… Read more »
Yep, we needed 2 weeks to flatten a curve. Well that curve was the curve ball which ended the loop as the commercial & financial center of Illinois.
Never forget: It was Lori, and Lori alone – with the free reign Gov. Jabba gave her to control Chicago – that shut it all down, for far, far too long. And when she reopened Chicago, it was already too late. She shut it down for the virus initially and then kept it shut down far, far too long ‘for equity’. The rest of the world was opening up and Lori was wearing her ‘Rona Cape as a superhero. Texas and FL were wide open and recovering nicely and our leaders put a vaccine requirement TO EAT AT A restaurant… Read more »
Chicago is too big geographically to funnel 1,000,000+ people into downtown, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, between the hours of 9-5 pm. I used to run around like a crazy person five days a week getting to/from downtown. It sucked, but everyone did it. Now that technology has made it possible to avoid downtown, life is so much better.
What a great idea it was to shut down the economy for covid (except for the mostly peaceful St. George Floyd riots). Who would gave thunk it was the beginning of the end for commercial real-estate? And people laughed at Trump when he said it was a hoax.
Well Cook County home owners won’t think future property tax bills are a fiction.
Assuming downtown commercial property values along with their property tax revenue are going to tank, who’s going make up the $ differance for dedicated property tax levies? Home owners one would assume? Won’t property taxes for home owners increase automatically? Or how does that work? Brandon claimed he wasn’t not going to raise prop taxes but if the increases are automatic can he still get away with making that claim?
WFH created the Doom Loop in major US cities business districts.
Can you say write-down!!