-- 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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Illinois collar counties exceed 3% property tax rates. Chicago maintains p-tax rates around 2% of fair market value. America averages 1% of fair market value property tax rates. Mortgage rates (which can be fixed) are around 3% of market value. When a family in Illinois must pay a total of 6% of property value annually in mortgage interest (3%) PLUS property taxes (3%), versus the rest of America which pays only 4% of property value (3% for mortgage and 1% for taxes), it is logical to assume that more families will fall into mortgage payment delinquency. The real question America… Read more »