By: Ted Dabrowski
Illinois keeps losing people it can ill afford to lose.
I recently checked in on a prospective donor who I met in Chicago three years ago. I didn’t know him at all back then, but it was easy to get a sense he cared deeply about Illinois. His passion for fixing Chicago’s problems was obvious from the moment I met him.
He was everything Chicago should want from someone in the business community. An engaged and highly successful investor, tech entrepreneur and C-suite executive. Politically active yet still willing to get his hands dirty on real policy issues. Not scared to take on politicians. Paid lots in taxes, too.
To my disappointment, he told us he’d fled Illinois. He was one of the 114,000 Illinois lost in population this year. Here was his email response to a Wirepoints end-of-year request for financial support:
“Good to hear from you and glad all is going well.
I have bailed on Illinois. I’m now a resident of a great state out West. God knows I tried to be a loyal Illinoisan! They say that in the marketplace people vote with their pocketbooks. In Illinois, people are voting with their feet.”
In our line of work, we hear daily from Illinoisans who recently left the state for greener pastures. Illinois is the nation’s second-biggest net loser of tax filers so that’s not a surprise. Most who’ve left are happy to have shed the high property taxes, worsening crime rate and overall disrespect for residents that’s embedded in everyday Illinois corruption.
But I didn’t expect this guy to leave. He’s a player that donates to both sides of the political aisle. He’s advised lawmakers on how to bring down debts, he’s fought against tax hikes and he’s helped raise funds for political campaigns. I figured he was loving mixing it up with Lori Lightfoot like he did in the past with previous city officials.
That’s why I called him directly to dig deeper:
“I love Chicago and I left very reluctantly. I have been intimately involved with trying to resurrect the state, the county and Chicago, but they are all on a path to destruction. Only the open coffers of the federal government is helping them in the short term. And that’s got them spending money on programs that they have no ability to pay for on an ongoing basis.
Illinois is, in blunt terms, no longer going down the sewer. It’s already there. What did they call it in Roman times? Cloaca Maxima. It’s there. When you look at the state’s finances, it’s impossible for Illinois to resurrect itself. It’s just not gonna happen.”
This Chicagoan was one of about 3,000 wealthy taxpayers that Illinois loses, on net, each year. (In 2019, Illinois lost to other states 6,400 tax filers with incomes greater than $200K, while just 3,000 such filers moved into Illinois.)
And when they leave, those people take their families, their incomes, their wealth and their entrepreneurship with them.
Sadly, it’s the same story for every income group in Illinois (see Appendix). This state is being hollowed out.
**********
This same time last year I told The Illinois Channel’s Terry Martin that the state’s leaders had no plan to fix the state in 2021. That hasn’t changed in 2022.
They have no plan to reverse the destructive surge in crime. Nothing is being done about the state’s broken finances except the recent begging for more federal handouts. There hasn’t been a peep about cutting property taxes ever since Gov. Pritzker’s failed commission did nothing. And the education system is getting worse by the day.
Illinoisans can increasingly smell those failures. Cloaca Maxima, indeed.
P.S. That’s not to say there’s no plan. Wirepoints has developed a baseline solution to Illinois’ biggest problem: the pension crisis. Our new Pension Solutions page breaks down the crisis, why it happened and what we can do about it. We also have a whole host of other reforms Illinois should pursue to turn this state around.
Read more about Illinois’ population woes:
- 2021 Census numbers: Illinois population decline second worst in country, behind only New York
- The 2020 U.S. Census numbers are horrible for Illinois
- Don’t fall for Pritzker administration’s misleading comments on Illinois’ population losses
- Downtown Chicago is nearly empty. Pictures Show it.
- Shrinking Illinois: 87 of 102 counties lost population over the decade
Appendix.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about the free speech controversy brewing in Wilmette due to the city’s refusal to fly a religious freedom flag, the city’s left-wing excesses and the growing culture war, the latest money spent on the illegal immigrant crisis, and more.
Weekly crime statistics from the Chicago Police Department: Report through 4/14/2024.
Chicago Public Schools is failing its students in almost every way. What can be done to save the educational futures of Chicago’s children? Join Wirepoints’ Ted Dabrowski as he participates in an education roundtable discussion hosted by Seeking Educational Excellence (SEE).
Perhaps if they started driving on the right like the rest of the country, it wouldn’t be so alien.
Check your picture.
Hooray! Minnesota seems to be at the “zero point”. Here we are, its -20 F, and people still don’t flee. Gotta be the folks. Sure ain’t the idiots in the goverment. Speaking of folks, yesterday I was in a restaurant with the wife, and we had a server with an accent I hadn’t heard before, it seems. So I asked her, “Are you from the Bahamas?” “No, she sneers. I’m from Mexico.” And then lousy service. You have to ask yourself, what’s the deal? Are you that goddam sensitive? I mean I have a brother in law living in Kodiak,… Read more »
Does this person have a name? If so, please reveal it.
You first
Pritzer signs every law that’s put in front of him. he doesn’t question one law, he just signs. He of all people should be leading the charge for a new constitution, but he doesn’t. He’s so goofy looking and has no spine.
Too generous. He is part of the purposeful decline – was put there to facilitate. This is the stark reality of the global free-societies takedown.
The fatal flaw in the pension scheme is becoming apparent. It requires the consent of the victim to keep funding it. But the victims are starting to choose to leave instead of paying.
Many of those 200k+ income earners lived in Cook and surrounding counties and made those dollars in Chicago. The State will survive after the corrupt and inefficient big city collapses. Will the pension systems last another 10 years? I’ll take the under!
amen
Went and got my daughter’s license plate sticker yesterday. The workers at the DMV were doing a great job – very efficient given all the Covid protocol. My disappointment was with an African-American man at the counter trying to register a used car he had bought – given his coveralls I assumed he was a working man. Long story short – when told that the bill for taxes, plates, and fees was nearly $1,000 he was in shock and left. I was so damn angry – obviously he had found a decent used car he could afford from a private… Read more »
JB is the worst of the charlatans…. Blames the rich, and then screws the poor. A guy who inherited an unimaginable sum of money and doesn’t give two hoots about anything other than his perceived reputation…. He and HRC are cut from the same morally bereft cloth.
Not sure what the reference to skin color had anything to do with it…….Fees are difference for whites?!?
He’s pointing out Dem policies and corruption uniformly hurt those they claim to most represent, the working class and minorities.
Try and keep up.
Welcome to Illinois the land if Lincoln, it should read Welcome to Illinois the Land of Pritzker and welfare.
Illinois!-The Land of Linkcard!
Land of Leaving
I did the math. For someone like me that is 60, here is how it played out. I could stay and pay 0% tax on my retirement in Illinois. But, I was faced with ever higher property taxes, sales taxes, cloud taxes etc. It felt like every time I turned around, the government was trying to get in my pocket. I also was faced with an extreme rise in crime. My personal safety and property seemed always to be under a higher threat than in years past. I could choose to stay and fight. But, at what cost. I have… Read more »
“When you look at the state’s finances, it’s impossible for Illinois to resurrect itself. It’s just not gonna happen.” Yep, that’s just about it in a nutshell. Sadly, the vast majority of Illinois’ citizenry just doesn’t care about how bad things are. Many support this bankruptcy of finances and governance because it puts money in their pockets. Far too many others decide that the dismal wave of “no need to worry, we have a plan” blather and harrumphery mouthed and written by Springfield, and parroted by an unquestioning media, means they really don’t need to be concerned. And boy, howdy,… Read more »
About six to eight years ago a good friend of mine told me about a business entrepreneur that he knew who was starting a business in Illinois. At that time the state of Illinois had some type of financial incentive funds to encourage the establishment of new businesses in the state, so he went in and talked with them to see what incentives were available. Within two weeks he was approached by members of a major union and told it would be best for him to employ union workers. This entrepreneur is now running this business in north central Wisconsin… Read more »
I know “of” a lot of Illinoians who live in Kenosha/Racine and commute to Chicago.
watch, fat boy will balance the budget with taxes only
That’s the plan, bleed off as many residents with a brain as they can then make another run at the fair tax.
Chicago can try to lure more tourists with a slogan: Come and see the last days of our glory, before we collapse as Detroit did.
What “glory”. That left a long time ago even before good old boy Jim Edgar.
An enterprising individual leaving the looters and cannibals of IL to move out west, perhaps Colorado? Sounds like Atlas Shrugged. I think we know how the story continues to play out from here.
South Dakota or Wyoming they are the primary two great western states
not controlled by Democrats AKA liberal, lefties.
The money leaving is the most significant aspect. For those of you who are staying, YOU are the ones that will have to make up for the loss. Your best choice is to leave because I see no political will to do the necessary changes which government unions will block. Pity the complacent or unaware for what’s going to hit them.
Sorry, no pity here. They deserve what they get.
The Pension solution is simple. Illinois needs to stop digging. Put a cap on benefits, and disallow any benefit growth above that number.
This can be accomplished under current law, but it won’t under current leadership.
Bravo, indeed! There is no complex problem that can’t be solved by a simple (-minded) solution.
They did stop digging. Hence the “tier 2” pensions. These members are paying in more than their pensions cost.
How can this be accomplished under current law for existing members? Sure you can make changes for new employees but nothing under existing law for current members and nothing “simple” about this problem.
The digging analogy is bad cliche because pension obligations continue to accrue for Tier 1, so there is still digging going on, while Tier 2 has, at least in theory, been reformed. I unfortunately don’t have a better cliche.
Actually it’s a perfect analogy. The hole from tier 1 pensions has already been dug and they changed the plan where legally allowed so they would not dig any deeper. The fact that tier 1 pensioners still have a valid contract doesn’t make the hole any deeper. If you think it does then you truly didn’t understand the depth of the hole. The debt is already owed so coming up with a different cliche won’t change the situation. Honoring a contractual obligation is not digging deeper. There is no magic or simple solution to solve this problem as KJ suggested.… Read more »
But the hole keeps getting bigger with 3% COLAs and longer life expectancies. We can only estimate how big the hole will eventually be.
The 3% increases do not cause the hole to get any deeper because it is part of their existing pension rights. If it wasn’t a contractual right and the state was paying out of the goodness of their heart, then yes that would be digging deeper. Actuaries have calculated the cost of the 3% compounding and we are well aware of its cost. If you really want to stop digging you should be advocating for increasing contributions from the state. The statutory contributions are about 5 Billion less than the actuarial required contributions. Until the difference is balanced the size… Read more »
“Existing pension rights” doesn’t describe a fixed liability. The original thought was that expectations created at one’s hire date could not be diminished or impaired. Then, at various times, the legislature or union contracts increased those expectations. Nothing prevents that happening again … and again … and again. Taxpayers are seemingly powerless against politicians like Lightfoot making ad hoc agreements to award public employees more … and more … and more. So, the eventual train-wreck becomes worse as time goes by. If current trends continue, Washington politicians will bend … and bend … and bend to Teamsters et al and… Read more »
Slash benefits by 50%.
Start there NOW.
None of those were paid into and none were earned.
They were promised and done so by people who had no clue
what they were doing.
The people get railroaded all the time by the so called elected
leaders. Time the people take back what is left of Illinois and boot these
cronies and start over.
Or just help us with NEW ILLINOIS New Illinois, Inc. (newillinoisstate.org)
Slash benefits by 50%. – Not legally allowed. Even if you could ever get congress to allow a state bankruptcy you would probably only see a small percentage cut if any. See PR bankruptcy for details of what’s likely. Start there NOW. – Not legally allowed None of those were paid into and none were earned. Your sense of what is “paid” or “earned” is meaningless. They were promised and done so by people who had no clue what they were doing. They were promised by duly elected members of the legislature and the governor. They were provided the strongest… Read more »
yea,go stand in the free cheese line chump,cuz thats where youre headed
No need Jabroni. I’ve got plenty of money in savings as well as a 6 figure pension. Not to mention a 3% increase coming right around the corner. I’ve been responsible with my money and career choices. Life is good. Prime NY strip steak and some Caymus cabernet to wash it down. Maybe down the road the state will finally make some cuts. Perhaps in 15 years the state will finally get bankruptcy approved by congress. Then they could cut pensions by zero to 8.5% like they are trying in Puerto Rico. By then everyones pension will have increased by… Read more »
yea,good luck eating ramen noodles cuz youre such an important public employee,youre a joke
You appear to have a reading comprehension problem Jabroni. I have money saved outside of pensions. In fact, I earn more from my investments than I do from my pension. Also, if pensions are cut it will be minimal. No Ramen noodles but you do have me thinking about heading out for some Sushi.
No need to get upset just because some of us saved for our future. Hoping that others suffer won’t make you happier.
Jesus. Between Covid, my small business getting hammered now for two years straight, the catastrophic increase in crime, inflation, shrinkflation, supply chain ridiculousness, a lack of unskilled and skilled labor, the potential for my child to get indoctrinated with racial struggle sessions or being groomed to become transgender, being told that my country and myself are irrevocably, systemically racist, the inability to watch a TV show/Movie or even a remade old Movie that isn’t Woke, a President with dementia, a VP who giggles at every difficult question, a governor with a control freak problem, schools that stay closed, stores that… Read more »
We have a repeating choice to make everyday, my friend? Am I going to look for, and appreciate, the good things I see or focus instead on the bad things? Your frame of reference influences your life’s progress, your health and your relationships. You likely can’t substantially change what others say or do.
Congratulations on your ability to see a glass half full in a state that has nothing left in the glass.
James – you averred earlier that popuation loss based on the 2020 census was not a material issue, but did concede that the income gap between those leaving and those arriving. Now we see statistics with an unprecedented loss in this last year. And note Mark Glennon’s comment regarding the net loss of 3400 taxpayers making over 200000 per year. On 2019. 2021 likely is worse – we shall see. This is the group that pays the freight and frankly for Illinois to survive with any kind of decent conditions it needs to grow this class. The hard left in… Read more »
Keep tilting at all those windmills, my friend. See where it gets you in a personal sense.
James – your emotional comments don’t add anything to the discussion. It strikes me you are capable of rigor, but eschew it. And my comments are not tilting at windmills, although I do concede that the financial situation in Illinois is so dire that one could slide into fatalism. I have deep Illinois roots, deeper and more significant than most. Whether it be multiple state athletic championships, a grandfather who was CEO of Chicago’s largest employer, another grandfather who was a pro football player and deputy county clerk for Lake County, a father who started a global business in Chicago… Read more »
I can’t solve IL govt. problems wholesale, so I won’t try. What I know with certainty, though, is that bitchin’ and moanin’ from the bleachers isn’t the same as being the coach who makes the decisions. Its the decision makers who make the rules in the IL political games here. If we find a way to change what motivates them we’ll change how those rules are made. One way to do that is to discourage decades-long career-building laws as it pertains to legislative pensions. Term limits and killing legislative pensions would work wonders there. But, again, the people required to… Read more »
Aside from waking up to see another day, what good things do you see? Your wealth declines every day, your responsibility for city and state debt increases by the minute, you’re not safe in your car, or walking the streets, even on the Mag Mile or an upscale mall like Oakbrook, where we used to shop. No signs of change, except higher taxes and fees. As for relationships, they have already left or in the process of leaving. The new relationships we’ve made are with positive, friendly, outgoing people that I never met in IL. I couldn’t have imagined and… Read more »
Yes, that’s all true to some and partially so to others. Still, isn’t it literally always the case that nearly everyone thinks “the grass is greener” elsewhere? We all can dwell on what we don’t have and either envy or complain about others who seem to have more. But, isn’t it far better psychologically in the the long run to appreciate what personal preparation, good health and plain good luck have added to your life as you look back on it? Every day I see people who seem to have a “better life” than I do superficially at least, but… Read more »
I try to look at the bright side. I am a 69 year old male and I am 100% sure I will never get ovarian cancer and 100% sure my wife will never get prostate cancer.
There ya go: yes, every cloud does have a silver lining if you have the willingness to search for it. Humor is mankind’s best friend, and I appreciate your humorous take here.
I think you are my twin separated at birth! Great synopsis of current state of affairs.
As James suggested to look for the positives, I struggle to find much…
I’m glad for the health of me and my family. Some had the original Wuhan flu, half got vax, some boosters. All are ok.
None have lost job or been fired (yet)
Took a few trips this year before Dr Fraudci installs Covid passports.
After 5 years of begging wife to move out of this corrupt frozen ghetto, finally got a “maybe” this week!
And all that constantly being doubled down by idiots as “the solution”. At the global level you have a world doubling down on vaccines as “the solution” but the statistics only get worse.
“Does anyone have any good news?” Answer #1: Texas, Florida, Tennessee. They still have room for people fleeing Illinois.
Answer #2: 2022 election should improve the national situation.
Answer #3: Maybe you’ll die soon and none of this will matter.
Happy New Year Illinois Entrepreneur!!!
New Illinois, Inc. (newillinoisstate.org)
Your comment cracked me up. Same sh** with my daughter at U of I. As an Illinois lawyer, I have seen my wealthiest and most savvy clients leaving Pritzker’s hell to go to Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, and Arizona. I lam currently in AZ with half my siblings, and plan to sell my suburban home to an escaping Chicagoan.
****For all you leaving the state, please contact me, I will help you sell your property so you can get out of this sh*t hole state**** My Realtor contact info is below. I’m with the people fleeing IL, only problem is my business is here and can’t take my customers with me and I have to be here physically, you see I’m a Realtor selling properties with super high property taxes, that is, IL’s average property tax is 2.5 TIMES HIGHER than the national average, that’s right, 2.5 TIMES HIGHER, go figure, I try to avoid buying anything in Crook… Read more »
This sad trend is going to continue because those in charge don’t care to change it. They’ll deny it’s happening, and then scream “good riddance!” when shown the facts. It really is very easy to leave a state that frankly, cares nothing about you. The two primary reasons people stay is family and employment. The second one just became much less of an anchor, as employment opportunities are out there in some very attractive markets if you want to make a move. You can do it!
Move with family.
The prospective donor appears to be a wise man. He knows when to give up on a lost cause.
Ssshhhhh . . . .
I need this carcass to keep breathing for about another year and a half.