61 Vernon Hills village employees earn more than $100K

By Vincent Caruso

05/07/2018

More than half of the full-time village workforce takes home total compensation over $100,000 annually.

TAGS: Lake County, municipal government, municipal pensions, pensions, property taxes, salaries, vernon hills

East St. Louis police and fire pension fund crises risk state intervention

By Brendan Bakala

04/29/2018

East St. Louis’ police and fire pension funds experienced large funding shortfalls in 2016, putting the city at risk of revenue garnishment from the state comptroller’s office.

TAGS: East St. Louis, Illinois Department of Insurance, municipal government, municipal pensions, pensions

Elgin residents facing multitude of tax and fee hikes

By Brendan Bakala

12/08/2017

A 2018 budget proposal for Elgin includes a new gas tax, an increase in water and sewer rates, and other tax hikes.

TAGS: Elgin, municipal government, municipal pensions, pensions, property taxes

Decatur passes budget out of balance by $3 million

By Joe Kaiser

12/06/2017

As its population and tax base erode, the city of Decatur passed a budget for fiscal year 2018 more than $3 million in the red.

TAGS: budget, decatur, municipal government, municipal pensions

Palatine passes property tax hike to pay for pensions

By Brendan Bakala

12/06/2017

Palatine homeowners will see higher property tax bills in order to pay for higher local pension costs, as well as a dip in state funding.

TAGS: municipal government, municipal pensions, Palatine, property taxes

More than 250 Peoria city employees receive over $150K in compensation

By Brendan Bakala

09/12/2017

Lucrative compensation for government workers stands in stark contrast to the city’s budgetary struggles and a flagging local economy.

TAGS: local government, municipal government, pensions, peoria, property taxes

Oswego hikes taxes on fuel and prepared food and beverages

By Brendan Bakala

09/07/2017

The new taxes are planned to pay for road maintenance and improvement as well as general use. As is the case in communities throughout Illinois, pension costs are crowding out other spending in Oswego.

TAGS: budget, municipal government, Oswego, pensions, property taxes

Taxpayer-funded Lombard hotel filing for bankruptcy

By Joe Kaiser

08/04/2017

A decade-old, 18-story, taxpayer-funded hotel in the village of Lombard is headed for bankruptcy, proving to be a misguided investment of taxpayer dollars.

TAGS: cronyism, Lombard, Lombard Public Facilities Corp, municipal government

Illinois has 63,000 government workers making over $100K

By Joe Kaiser

07/27/2017

High-priced government workers cost taxpayers in Illinois $10 billion a year, with municipal managers in areas surrounding Chicago reaping the most benefits.

TAGS: Chicago, DuPage County, Kane County, Lake County, LGDF: Local Government Distributive Fund, McHenry County, municipal government, Will County

Fact-checking BGA’s claims on ‘low-spending’ Illinois

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner

05/23/2017

While the Better Government Association has claimed Illinois’ budget contains no fat to trim, a deeper analysis reveals the state has many areas of expensive inefficiency to reform in state and local government costs, the Medicaid program and K-12 education.

TAGS: BGA: Better Government Association, budget, education, local government, Medicaid, municipal government, state worker pay, taxes

Budget Solutions 2020: A 5-year plan to balance Illinois’ budget, pay off debt and cut taxes

Gov. J.B. Pritzker inherited a $2.8 billion budget deficit the moment he stepped into office. Next year, that deficit is projected to be $3.4 billion1. It’s the same story every budget season. But Illinois’ budget crises could be a thing of the past if the state would adopt pension reform, right-size its union contracts and...

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Budget Solutions 2020: A 5-year plan to balance Illinois’ budget, pay off debt and cut taxes

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Harry Jackson

Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

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