-- 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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
“Federal tax changes from 2017 could make it more politically difficult for local governments to raise taxes, according to a report.”
I know my school district is up to the difficult challenge! They’ll find a way to raise my taxes!
The other side of this is that many states reaped huge windfall revenue gains from the 2017 tax legislation. Many, many fewer folks will itemize deductions on their federal returns, and they will owe more on their state returns because most states only allow you to itemize if you also do so on your federal return. Fewer deductions combined with unchanged state tax rates means more revenue for the states. Here in Virginia, the state revenue increase is over $1 billion annually, and the New Democratic legislature is wasting no time spending all of it, thank you very much.