-- 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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That pensioners whose income is not taxed in Illinois are moving out of state only underscores the argument that out migration is not tax related. I am one of those SURS members who moved out of Illinois despite paying higher taxes in my new state – because I was offered a 30% pay raise, and better higher education benefits for my children, and these more than offset the higher taxes I had to pay. Now that I am collecting my SURS pension I am paying a 5.75% tax rate on every dollar of it here in Virginia.
Then again, maybe the fact that they are moving out of states is a reflection that they, as former government workers, know how bad it really is. I think the question of whether taxes affect migration is misleadingly narrow when it comes to Illinois. Here, it’s part of a much bigger picture. People know it’s not just their taxes now but the huge ones inevitably coming, the poor service they get, the corruption and much more. People put up with high taxes in states they think are honest and where they get their money’s worth, like WI and MN. But… Read more »
State income tax isn’t the only tax. There are ridiculously high local property taxes, 10% sales taxes (in Cook, slightly less in collar counties), cigarette taxes, liquor taxes, gas taxes, $1.00 tolls just to use the federal highway system to get around the suburbs….and so on, and so on…It’s way less over the border in IN and WI and IA. My spouse got a small one time $1,200 ‘bonus’ at work last month. After taxes, it *might* enough to cover the expected 10% increase in property taxes on my $350,000 home. So difficult to get ahead when every extra penny… Read more »
Finally!!! Someone dug up the stat I’ve been wanting to see for years. All those monthly pension checks leaving Illinois, a big number. All the spending of those checks nowhere near Illinois, another big number. All the spending of those pension checks not on Illinois property taxes, another big number.