Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer
April 22, 2026
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Summary and audio linked here.
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Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
34 Comments
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago Fiscal Crisis Worse Than Pre-Bankruptcy Detroit, HIV Surge and Public Health Threat From Open Borders Goes Unreported
April 10, 2026
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Summary and audio linked here.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
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.
Eliminate her salary
It has begun – People are saying residence rents have softened considerably – that’s the canary in the coal mine.
Ever since JB’s election, as theme in my peer group has been not if we are all leaving Illinois, but when… The ham-handed way he and LL have handled the virus are just extra nails in the coffin – it was already well sealed. What he either doesn’t get, or is expecting, is that the folks who carry the financial burden of the state are the most mobile… Also, in the post-covid reality, many can now work remotely, which further removes the need to live in Illinois… Or, he hopes for this and can become King of Chiraq and can… Read more »
Do it. Chicago benefits greatly from unique revenue streams that a scant few towns in the state benefit from, such as conventions, tourism, festivals, and professional sports. In good times, does Chicago share this revenue with, say, Naperville? Of course not.
All the other residents of Illinois who don’t benefit from these unique revenue streams have to make up for this in their property taxes. We already paid. Chicago residents should do the same.
Chicagoans pay lower property taxes than most other IL places but they get hammered on lots of other things add up to more than the property tax differential. See https://www.illinoispolicy.org/the-chicago-squeeze-property-taxes-fees-and-over-30-individual-taxes-crush-city-residents/
In general, the property taxes for condos and south side homes are taxed far less than most other single family homes in Chicago and Cook County. The taxes do add up though quickly. There are still townhomes and condos out there with $2,000 property taxes.
Leave Chicago and Illinois to the elites. Let them pay for the mess. Nebraska is hiring
Purely anecdotal but I personally know of 5 young couples all HENRYs (High Earners Not Rich Yet), that are moving from Chicago to Indiana and Ohio in the next 6 months as a result of the excessive shelter in place terms, continuing high taxes, and dismal fiscal outlook. It will look like Detroit in 5-7 years…
Democrats think that their base likes these things. That’s why they keep doing it. In fact, wasn’t there some poll that 75% of Illinoisans think Pritzker is doing a good job on the pandemic?
The problem is the voters, not the politicians.
Exactly right. Since the voters can’t be fixed neither can Illinois, hence the need to leave.
Stop complaining. Leave Chicago. Leave Illinois. Get it over with so you can finally move on with your lives. Stop being victims.
If she does it the foreclosure rate will be astronomical. The only way to prevent this catastrophe is to stop giving the taxpayers money away.
If you move from Chicago to Rockford your property tax’s will double. We are at 4.1% of total value.
Which is why people are moving out of Illinois altogether.
And our property taxes in Indiana are less than 1% thanks to our constitutional cap on them. Hence why the smart ones are moving here.
Fiscally Responsible Government is just icing on the cake
But in Illinois a constitutional cap would just be ignored. Look at the unbalanced budget and 2nd amendment infringements.
Property taxes in Nevada are constitutionally limited to a 3% increase per year and they are already insanely low if you have an older home. My property taxes on a similar costing home in NV are about 25% of what they were in Chicago… add that there is zero income tax and I’m coming out way ahead every single month for the rest of my life.
But a house in Rockford is going to be assessed at a much lower value than the same house in Chicago, so that has to be part of the equation. The only good place to live in Illinois is rural, outside of any city limits whatsoever.
True but there has been no appreciation for decades now.It would have been nice to make a little money. Many people’s homes are still valued the same from the late 1990’s. My home from today is still down from purchase price in late 2007 by $13K. Many home mortgages in zip 61104 are still underwater due to very high tax’s. My home is $172K and I pay $7K so during a 30 year mortgage I will pay over $210K in tax’s and the city is always broke.
I am sorry…that must stink. We bought a house on a small acreage in the country. Our taxes are just a touch over 1000$ per year. Our friends in the nearest little town pay three times as much, for a much smaller property/house. Another good thing about these rural properties: they tend to sell like hotcakes due to those low taxes. It’s rare to see one take longer then a month to sell. Usually it takes about a week. We’re hanging onto ours, though, for the time being. Did I mention it’s really peaceful and quiet? And we do without… Read more »
Rural is better but not the solution because rural communities have fewer things to tax so property gets hammered. I paid enough real estate tax in coles county to rent a three bedroom house in Nebraska.
Chicago’s not at four percent yet, but “it ain’t over ’til it’s over.” Also, does anyone move to Rockford anymore? It used to be called “The Screw Capital of the World.” Of course, that now takes on a different meaning when considering the four percent.
The only good thing to come out of Rockford was Cheap Trick.