High parking fees in the city only add to the heavy burden of taxes and fees Chicagoans face.

Chicago Public Schools has issued an additional $500 million in long-term high-interest bonds, following $387 million the district borrowed from JPMorgan in June.

Chicago Public Schools failed to pay in full the $733 million pension payment that was due June 30, instead making a partial payment of $464 million, even after taking out a $387 million loan from JPMorgan.

Though the Illinois House of Representatives appears close to overriding Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a tax hike budget plan, and thereby ending Illinois’ more than two years without a full-year budget, Moody’s Investors Service has said it might still downgrade the state’s credit, largely due to Illinois’ unsustainable debt.

In a statement to the General Assembly July 4, Rauner listed the reasons why he vetoed the budget.

On June 28 the Illinois House of Representatives failed to pass Senate Bill 484, an illusory property tax freeze that did not offer real reform, left Chicago homeowners out in the cold, and would have left in place an opaque and expensive property tax system that benefits special interests over taxpayers.

Senate Bill 484 would offer a freeze in name only, as it fails to address the very costs that drive up Illinois homeowners’ property tax bills.

A four-year freeze riddled with exceptions won’t help Illinois homeowners. Illinoisans need a long-term freeze on local property tax levies and a cap on the tax burden for individual homeowners.

In two separate deals with JPMorgan, CPS borrowed $387M to make a teacher pension payment at end of June and as a result of the deal, will accumulate at least $7M in interest.

The budget plan proposed by Republican General Assembly members would raise taxes by over $5 billion without enacting any significant spending reforms.