Your property taxes pay for government workers’ guaranteed salaries, benefits and pensions while you get no such guarantees – Wirepoints on with Jeff Daly of WZUS Decatur Radio
April 18, 2024
1 Comment
Ted joined Jeff Daly to discuss why Illinois’ property taxes are such a national outlier, why Illinoisans are forced to pay the high, guaranteed salaries, benefits and pensions of the government class, why Illinoisans aren’t getting their money’s worth for what they pay, the teachers unions’ influence over elections, and more.
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
More pension theft. Not just loss of defined benefit plans but also “retirement age increases, employee contribution increases, municipal funding guarantees, benefit recalibration and municipal cost reductions.” No end to pension theft.
Anonymous–Regrettably many years ago Illinois lawmakers with no obligations to pay the costs made pension promises they shouldn’t have. Today, due to poor investment performance, deliberate under-contributions and stubbornly high unemployment that has robbed the state of income tax revenues, the funding ratio of Illinois pension plans is perilously low. There is plenty of blame to go around; from legislators, to local governments, pension boards and labor, all had a hand in the creation of this mess. See my upcoming article for more on the police and fire plans.
Jim Palermo
Is there anywhere that totals up all the deficits in those local pension plans? I have looked before at the Illinois Department of Insurance reports, which are supposed to do that, but they are incoherent. Are we just flying blind on a the total picture?
Good to see that somebody has finally made this point. The 401-k type option is a great plan for going forward, but it does NOT reduce the ridiculous unfunded liabilities we already have.