-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/4VP742PO7BHJNN325PNJYFKTIA.jpg)
“Collections in many economically struggling, mostly minority south suburbs are perilously low,” researchers wrote. “Those collection rates, which were below 53% in four suburbs, make it tough for schools, municipalities and other government agencies to provide basic services....Ford Heights — where the collection rate was 29.3% compared to the countywide rate of 96.0% — has not been able to afford a police force for years."
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
Ford Heights, the Midwest Wakanda
Who woulda thunk Ford Heights was ahead of the trend in defunding the police!
This is a crystal ball view into the future of most working and middle class Illinois communities. The communities that do survive will look fundamentally different as crime and blight takes over there too, with most homes have multiple layers of security to protect themselves.
low tax collections = people not paying their taxes.
The problem is if you consolidate some of these villages, you’re just spreading the pain around. No village will annex Ford Heights unless they see value in the land that no one else has seen up to this point.