-- 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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What most people don’t understand is the tax rate is determined by the budget for where you live divided by the total taxable value of all properties. Your proportional share may change depending on value, but total money coming in does not. The ONLY way to lower taxes is cut spending. If you look at historical data, even during the height of the housing crash Chicago took in just as much money as it ever did. Home values cratered, so they just raised the tax rates.
It’s a little-known fact that during the Great Depression, more people lost their homes and farms to TAX FORECLOSURE than to bank foreclosure. The power to tax is the power to destroy. Example: A house worth $200k when annual taxes are $5K…is worth WHAT if the taxes rise to $20k? Not still $200k. At some threshold (between 5% and 10% of “retail value”) a home becomes literally valueless, i.e., it cannot be sold on the market. Illinois is a train steaming at full speed toward a granite mountain. Maybe something will change when tax rates (as a percentage of selling… Read more »
Pension requirements factor into higher tax’s as communities budget a larger percentage to pensions away from basic services. School districts continually get larger and longer contracts without any public scrutiny which raise tax’s on a regular basis. Rockford’s Dist 205 budget is now $490M with lower enrollment. Not many years back budget under $400M with higher enrollment. Go figure! Rockford school dist has total pension pickup for teachers which is paid for by taxpayers mostly thru higher property and other tax’s They are so generous with our money it’s almost hard to believe.
But Rockford is such an awesome place to live!
I know. Rockford is on top of the state but is on the bottom of the barrel.
B-b-b-but, Stroll On State was a smashing success!!!! Why, to listen to the mayor, EVERYONE wants to move to Rockford. How short are memories….I still recall the People-Who-Care desegregation lawsuit, that in all likelihood accelerated Rockford’s demise. There’s a cancer in Rockford, it’s the SW and West sides, and involves people-who-cannot-be-criticized. A friend once owned Section 8 rentals on the West Side; when he learned that the Government would cut its payments to him if a tenant got a job, he was assured by the Federal Employee administrator, “You don’t have to worry about that. Your tenants have never held… Read more »
People Who Care cost taxpayers $250M+ and is probably a stealth tax in perpetuity. Went to Sen Stadelman’s townhall a while back and someone asked why the state promotes single motherhood and he said he was unaware. The person who asked said that Illinois case workers make sure no male (only kids) are in the house when they come back in order to get more benefits. This is normal in Illinois. Do you remember On The Waterfront? That was decent. Went to see Jethro Tull and CCR among others. Then the city cancelled because they made no money.