St. Clair, Madison counties home to multimillion-dollar property tax slush funds

By Chris Lentino
06/01/2017
Property taxes are set to increase in Madison and St. Clair counties, and local taxpayers should know that through TIF districts, politicians divert tax dollars that could go toward schools, libraries and public services to separate accounts that foster a lack of transparency and accountability.

TAGS: Dan Beiser, Jay Hoffman, Katie Stuart, Madison County, property taxes, St. Clair County

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Pension apocalypse? COVID-19 exposes long-running fragility of Illinois public pensions

Illinois’ pension crisis has been a growing problem for decades, and its negative effects on state residents are well documented.1 Economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and related government shutdown orders threaten to bring that long-running crisis closer to its breaking point. The state’s five pension systems collectively held nearly $139 billion of debt at...

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CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students

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