by Wesley Fox According to the Rockford Register Star, Illinois will soon have to pay interest charges on the $2.2 billion it borrowed from the federal government. Illinois took out the loan to help pay out unemployment benefits after the state unemployment fund ran dry. Beginning on January 1st, the federal government will begin charging interest...
by Kate Piercy The city of Chicago has just approved 6 million dollars in tax increment financing (TIF) for Accretive Health Inc. “to pay for job training and the build-out costs” of a new facility, which will be located at 231 South LaSalle Street. By law, TIFs are intended to promote economic development in blighted areas,...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Since 2000, Chicago’s city budget has increased 11% (adjusted for inflation). Spending reforms are needed to ensure the long-term health of city finances, but it appears that Mayor Daley would rather continue depleting the city’s reserves. Failing to make tough spending cuts today will only make the situation worse down the road. The Chicago Tribune reports: The...
by Kristina Rasmussen Americans for Tax Reform just released its 2010 Illinois list of Tax Pledge signers: WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) released an updated list of incumbents and challengers in Illinois who have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. These candidates have made a written commitment to their constituents to never raise their...
by Collin Hitt A new brief by the red-hot Civic Federation looks at the state budget in FY2011: “Total spending and transfers out increased by $543 million, or 1.6%, from $33.0 billion in FY2009 to $33.5 billion in FY2011.” Yes, programmatic spending is down. But pension payments are way up, 67 percent. Government in Illinois isn’t getting smaller yet...
In a recent survey of 750 Likely Voters in Illinois, Rasmussen Reports measured citizens’ views on the Illinois budget crisis. 73% of voters in Illinois blame the budget crisis in the state on politicians’ unwillingness to reduce government spending. 16% blame the taxpayer’s unwillingness to pay more in taxes. 10% are not sure who is more to...
by Ashley Muchow Illinois has received $8.4 billion in stimulus funds since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed in early February of last year. While these funds came as life preservers to some, a recent Mercatus on Policy study shows quite the opposite. According to Russell Sobel and George Crowley of the Mercatus Center, federal grant funding leads...
The Illinois Honest Taxation Pledge has another new signer! Senator Dale Righter (R-Matoon) reaffirmed his commitment to protecting taxpayers and being honest with voters through his signature today. The pledge asks incumbents pledge to oppose and vote against all tax hikes through the start of the 97th Session of the General Assembly in 2011. Previously, David Vaught the Illinois...
With the elections in less than 2 weeks the campaign rhetoric is heating up. On the federal level one of the hot button issues is the expiration of the so-called “Bush” tax cuts, set to expire on January 1st, 2010. Despite the harsh recession Congress has failed to extend the 2001 & 2003 tax cuts....
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Like many state governments, city and county governments across the country are facing huge unfunded pension liabilities. Recently, researchers from the University of Rochester and Northwestern University found that the average unfunded municipal pension liability per household is about $15,000. Unfortunately, Chicago has the highest per household unfunded pension liability of the 50 cities...
by Mark Cavers The Illinois Honest Taxation Pledge has another new signer! Representative Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) reaffirmed her commitment to protecting taxpayers and being honest with voters through her signature last week. The pledge asks incumbents pledge to oppose and vote against all tax hikes through the start of the 97th Session of the General Assembly in 2011. Previously,...
The silence continues. Illinois judges and organizations who represent the state’s judiciary are still refusing to comment about their skyrocketing salaries and perks revealed last week with the publication of the Institute’s special report:Judicial Pay and Perks in the Prairie State. Calls and e-mails seeking comment placed this week to individual jurists, the Illinois Judges...
The Illinois Honest Tax Pledge has two more signers: Senator John Millner(R-Bloomingdale) and Representative Renee Kosel (R-Mokena). The pledge asks incumbents pledge to oppose and vote against all tax hikes through the start of the 97th Session of the General Assembly in 2011. Previously, David Vaught the Illinois Budget Director was quoted as saying, “We’re going to pass a tax...
by Ashley Muchow A five-week tax amnesty period for those behind on their taxes this year began the 1st of this month. SB377, signed into law this summer, allows those who have accumulated back taxes between June 30, 2002 and July 1, 2009, to pay without penalty from October 1st to November 8th. Those tax...