Commentary: Cook County residents want transit funded — but not with new taxes – Chicago Tribune*

Jack Lavin, of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and Will Johnson, of The Harris Poll: "The issues of revenue and reform are never easy, but the public’s opposition to new taxes for a vital service with wide support should not be surprising. Residents and businesses across Chicago already face a high tax and fee burden and worry about shouldering more costs amid widespread economic uncertainty due to rising tariffs, persistent inflation, state and local budget deficits and unprecedented threats to critical federal funding."
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The Railroader
10 months ago

We are told of the wonderful contribution of $2.5 Billion to Chicagoland’s economy from the RTA and its operating wings CTA/Metra/Pace. Let’s look at the 2023 financial statement for the CTA. These are the most recent ones available on the CTA website. By their own numbers, the CTA took in $328.8 Million at the farebox. The CTA spent $2423.8 Million to provide rides paid for by farebox revenue. For every dollar the CTA took in to operate its system, the CTA lost $6.37. It gets worse. The CTA also spent $3.5 Billion to maintain their system, this represented the 2023… Read more »

Last edited 10 months ago by The Railroader

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Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades

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.

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