-- 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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For townships that are slips of land surrounded by suburban towns or that overlap the boundaries of a town, the case for merging the township into a nearby, adjoining, or overlapping unit of government seems fairly strong. For the 17 counties the Chicago Tribune article says do not have townships, it would be interesting to learn how they became “township-less” and whether there were long-term cost savings to taxpayers as a result. In predominantly rural areas, the case for getting rid of townships is not always so clear. There are townships comprising 20 or 30 square miles or more of… Read more »
parasites have to die & fall off, otherwise they stay on the host
Consolidating school districts would be the biggest savings to taxpayers. Florida has 65 unit districts with approx 40,000 students each. Illinois has about 868. That and property tax/pension reform could and I stress “could” make Illinois somewhat more livable. But I am just a dreamer having a bad nightmare or am I. ???