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.
How many seniors are forced to sell their homes due to high property taxes? What if the school portion of their tax bill were eliminated for those over 62? Would that entice more to stay? Some counties in and around Atlanta eliminate up to 100% of school taxes on property values of under $400K. Every city has different incentives. Would that slowdown out migration?