The Illinois General Assembly today approved a pension bill that requires taxpayers to pay an additional $75 million into the Chicago Park District pension fund in addition to tripling the taxpayer contribution to the troubled pension fund. Unfortunately, this bill is mistakenly being heralded by some as a potential model for pension reform. Make no mistake:...
Chicago Park District total debt: $1.4 billion The Chicago Park District is responsible for overseeing museums, beaches, parks, pools and other attractions. Chicago Park District has an annual operating budget of $410.9 million and employs approximately 3,000 workers. Chicago Park District’s debt burden totals more than $1.6 billion, including debt, health insurance and pension liabilities....
On Nov. 5, Colorado voters defeated a progressive income tax increase by a two-to-one margin — more than 66 percent of the voters said no to higher taxes. Colorado’s Amendment 66 was a ballot initiative to swap out the state’s competitive flat rate income tax for a progressive income tax increase. Specifically, lawmakers wanted to...
Village officials in Schaumburg are pushing for $512 million in new property taxes via a Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, district. The taxes would be used to create an entertainment district north of Woodfield Mall. But it’s not just people who pay property taxes in Schaumburg who would foot the bill. TIF districts cause property...
Members of Illinois’ state-run pension systems claim they’ve paid their fair share into the pension funds. To be sure, these workers have paid in what’s been required legally under mutually agreed upon contracts. But the benefits politicians and union bosses have negotiated for retirees are pushing the state’s pension systems to the brink of insolvency....
Even if Illinois pension funds see investment returns that exceed expectations, that still won’t be enough to plug the largest fund’s hole. The Teachers’ Retirement System reported its pension underfunding grew to $55.73 billion as of June 30, 2013 — an increase of more than $3.5 billion since the end of the previous fiscal year...
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel released today his 2014 plan to close the city’s looming $338.7 million budget gap. His proposal is heavy on tax hikes and short on solutions. The mayor vowed not to close the budget gap with higher property taxes this year. Instead, the plan is to nickel and dime Chicagoans with tax...
State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, recently revealed a new progressive tax proposal with rates that hit Illinois’ middle and working classes hard. Under current Illinois law, the individual income tax rate will be 3.75 percent in 2015. Under Jakobsson’s new plan, however, a higher 4 percent rate kicks in for people earning just $18,000. That income tax...
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to increase the cigarette tax in Chicago by 75 cents per pack. The tax hike would increase the per-pack total to $7.42 — making Chicago the most expensive city in the nation in which to buy a pack of cigarettes. This tax hike is one of the plans Emanuel is considering to...
The Illinois Supreme Court today struck down the state’s “Amazon Tax,” a state law that forced online retailers to pay Illinois taxes regardless of whether they had a storefront or other physical presence in the state. In its ruling, the Supreme Court indicated that it struck down the law because it conflicts with a federal...
As the Illinois General Assembly heads back to Springfield for veto session next week, here is a quick look at what elected officials have signed on to the Illinois Policy Institute’s legislative efforts to prevent lawmakers from amending the state’s constitution to permit a progressive income tax hike, which would increase taxes on 85 percent...
THE PROBLEM The story of Illinois pensions over the last 20 years is full of reforms that were supposed to put the five state-run government pension systems on sound footing, but failed once they were implemented. Despite repeated attempts at a solution, the state’s official pension debt has jumped to nearly five times what it was in 1995. Taxpayers and...
State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, D-Urbana, recently revealed a new progressive tax proposal with rates that hit Illinois’ middle and working classes hard. Under current Illinois law, the individual income tax rate will be 3.75 percent in 2015. Under Jakobsson’s new plan, however, a higher 4 percent rate kicks in for people earning just $18,000. That...
Illinois’ credit rating is in a free fall. Rating agencies have downgraded Illinois 13 times under Gov. Pat Quinn. Most recently, Moody’s Investors Service reduced Illinois’ credit rating to A3 from Aa3 – just four notches above junk status. Even before this downgrade, Illinois already had the worst credit rating in the nation. Illinois’ constant...