-- 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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Some of this is assessment by dart board and all of it is undisciplined spending at all levels of local and state government, especially the state. Illinois I believe has the largest public debt per capita in the US. Not only no pension reform and never a spending cut but Democrats further enshrined public pension protection in the state constitution. Classic liberal government overreach abetted by a weak GOP and guys like Edgar. Wrap it all in chronically low voter turnout and here we are. Or there we were once we move elsewhere.
We moved out of state for this very reason. I couldn’t deal with not knowing if I could afford to pay my taxes each year. And yes, it’s clearly government overreach. But voters don’t seem to get it. They keep electing officials that do not understand how to run a healthy government. Ignorance is bliss, I guess?
My tax bill went up nearly 50%. I don’t know if or when this tax revolt will ever come.
Best guess is when taxpayers organize. Right now we are each on our own. If we want to protest our assessment we must do it on our own or hire an attorney. When the assessor looks over all the info we/attorneys gathered they have access to legal council which we also pay for via taxes. So we pay for us and them. Many of the larger retail stores like Woodman’s/Meijer’s/etc hire their own legal teams to protest and when they eventually win the tax rate goes up for the rest of us thanks to PTELL. Taxpayers need to have an… Read more »
I’d gladly take a 30% bump compared to the 74% increase I just got hit with. And I’m nowhere near those 15 south suburban communities.
Cook county deled my homeowners and senior discount! And yet Preckwinkle won’t spend any money in the south suburbs