-- 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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This is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Government always penalizes productivity and rewards nonproductivity. This system results in crap for everyone. Destine to destroy the downtown area, as if it needs any help.
This program works by lowering property taxes to owners who commit to affordable housing goals. That shifts their property taxes to other owners, thereby making other housing more costly. I will work on a column on that.
Consider splitting a lunch tab – if one diner shorts his/her share, the rest of the diners have to make up the difference.
Basically it’s how the tax ‘pie’ is split. If one property pays less tax, the rest of the ‘pie’ has to make up the difference.