-- 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 simple math. America has a 1% property tax rate (in return for sufficient quality social service provision). For similar mediocre or worse quality social service provision, Cook County charges 2% property tax rate, 3% in many collar counties, and almost 4% in McHenry County. The property tax rate is capitalized into the cost of housing (“affordable” or not). 2-3% extra payment (in return for zero additional value) of total home value per unit is thousands of dollars more per year in a State which does not have opportunities to earn thousands of dollars more per year to balance… Read more »