Michael Jordan paid nearly $200,000 in property taxes in 2012 on his Highland Park home. And now, he’s having trouble getting the property off his hands. Interested buyers had the opportunity to own the six-time NBA champion’s 56,000 square foot Highland Park home at auction on Monday – if they had $250,000 to throw down...
This week Illinois borrowed $350 million to pay for projects including roads, bridges and schools. The state issued 25-year taxable general obligation bonds, the first borrowing by Illinois since the state passed its pension “fix” in early December. But not unlike someone with a terrible credit score, Illinois must pay the highest penalty rate of...
The pensions that government workers receive in Illinois are often based upon more years of service than these employees actually worked. That’s because, among many other perks, government workers can apply unused sick days to their pensionable service credit. In the Teachers’ Retirement System, or TRS, Illinois’ largest state pension fund, a 55 year-old teacher...
House Speaker Mike Madigan and proponents of the temporary pension “fix” enacted last week promised taxpayers that it would immediately reduce the state’s unfunded pension liability by about $20 billion. But despite these promises, the credit rating agencies have indicated that they would be waiting for actuarial analyses before making any decisions on how the new law...
While the media and politicians across Illinois celebrate the state’s “landmark,” “monumental” and “courageous” pension fix, for most Illinoisans nothing has changed. Taxpayers will continue to hear calls for higher taxes to keep the state’s pension systems afloat. Government workers and retirees are still trapped in a pension system that gives them no voice, no...
On Wednesday, thousands of Illinois residents got good news when Amazon announced that its Amazon Associates program – which allows bloggers and others with websites to make money when people click links on their sites to make purchases – would once again be open to them. Amazon dropped Illinoisans from the program in April 2011...
Illinois’ property tax rates have skyrocketed since 2010, according to new analysis done by the Tax Policy Center. The survey examined the 23 Illinois counties with populations exceeding 65,000. The average property tax rates as a percent of home value has soared from 1.93 percent in 2010 to 2.28 percent in 2012. This represents an 18 percent property...
Today U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Steven Rhodes ruled that “nothing distinguishes pension debt from any other debt” – and that Detroit’s pension debt can therefore be partially discharged in bankruptcy. What does that mean for Illinois, where huge unfunded pension liabilities threaten to render the state government and many local governments insolvent? If the courts...
House Speaker Mike Madigan’s latest pension proposal is a giant step backward. The overall effect of this plan would be to leave Illinois pensions worse off than they are today – and that’s saying something, considering the state has $100 billion in official pension debt. If this plan passes, both taxpayers and government employees will...
As lawmakers in Springfield prepare to vote on a controversial pension reform plan, a federal bankruptcy court judge in Detroit issued a ruling that could have major consequences for government employees throughout the country. Dealing with numerous objections to the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy, Judge Steven Rhodes ruled that pension debts were not given “extraordinary...
Working at free market think tank in Illinois, it’s easy to get discouraged by bad policies. Despite the many problems Illinois faces, there is much to be thankful for. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are some of the things we are most thankful for this year: Illinois’ flat income tax. Illinois’ current flat tax...
THE PROBLEM Illinois’ $100 billion pension crisis is the worst in the nation. The Illinois General Assembly’s failed attempts to solve the pension crisis in the past have only perpetuated Illinois’ problem. Politicians have done nothing more than tinker at the margins of reform to avoid making tough decisions. The reality is minor changes won’t...
THE PROBLEM Illinois’ five state-run pension funds are more than $100 billion in debt, according to official state numbers. Without major reforms, the funds are headed toward insolvency – and that means retirees may see their pensions cut and younger workers may not have a pension at all. One of the biggest forces behind this...
The General Assembly Retirement System, or GARS, which offers a defined benefit plan for 294 General Assembly retirees, is nearly out of cash. Only massive taxpayer contributions are keeping the system afloat. Without those contributions, the system will run out of money in less than three years. Here are the facts on the insolvent GARS...