A statewide concern: Illinois’ population decline outpaces neighboring states – Wirepoints on ABC20 Champaign
“We are not in good shape” Wirepoints’ Ted Dabrowski told ABC 20 Champaign during a segment on Illinois’ latest population losses. Illinois was one of just three states to shrink in the 2010-2020 period and has lost another 300,000 people since then. Ted says things need to change. “It’s too expensive to live here, there aren’t enough good jobs and nobody trusts the government anymore. There’s just other places to go where you can be more satisfied.”
The Laffer curve could conceivably apply to income taxes (albeit evidence that this has happened anywhere in the U.S. is not compelling). But I don’t think it could possibly apply to property taxes, even theoretically. The reason is that the property cannot readily be moved out of state. So if the homeowner leaves, he sells the house to someone else who must continue to pay the tax. The market value of the home may fall to reflect the high tax burden, so the incidence of the tax falls on the leaving homeowner who, for decades, voted for politicians that promised… Read more »
Slapping a homeowner with lost equity is the most just way to pay pensions because they voted for the politicians that underfunded them? Did you really write that and would you say that to a finance class? Sorry, but I have to be blunt: Illinois should pay you zero on your pension while teaching finance.