-- 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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Too many greedy, minimally useful governments feeding on the taxpayers’ economic survival. Eliminate and Consolidate!
Consolidation or elimination only matters if the taxpayer sees lower property tax bills. If they consolidate two small school districts into one, will there be less administrators, or will the one Principal drawing the short straw simply become an additional assistant with the same salary? Try to guess how the unions will lobby. After all, it’s only taxpayer money. Even if there are minimal or no savings from consolidation, the IL pols and unions will still declare victory and advertise how their efforts are helping the IL taxpayer.
At the higher administrative level that’s often how it works. The new supt. gets a bump in pay somewhere between his former level and the total cost of having a supt. in each district previously. The others in the 2nd admin tier are treated similarly. The rest of the admin staff doesn’t necessarily change much in numbers or pay usually. The real downer in terms of cost constraints is that the district(s) having the lower salary are bumped up to the same salaries for their teachers as the highest paying former district had. So, there may be some cost savings… Read more »
Yeah, the taxpayers may get excited to think such consolidations will occur; then, keep looking in vain for this big drop in their PTs.