-- 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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I remember reading an article about this about a year ago on the WBEZ site. In the article, the reporter did some actual journalism and interviewed some people who live in these houses. While their tax bills were outrageous, the article became a pity party about their state of affairs. One gentleman by the name of “Jimmy” (If I remember correctly) hadn’t paid taxes or a mortgage in years…and he kept a race car in his garage. He would race it on weekends at the track as a hobby, and he was a forklift driver. He was very proud of… Read more »
You have a good memory, except his name was Courtney. Here you go: https://interactive.wbez.org/dolton/
This is inequitable. My community pays an outrageous amount of tax and it’s inequitable that my community should be required to fund schools and services and pensions for towns where the residents can’t even be bothered to pay their real estate taxes, but mooch off the system.