Illinois needs to enact structural spending reforms to avoid following Puerto Rico down the path to insolvency.

Another Band-Aid budget deal won’t fix the financial problems that plague Illinois or stop the state’s credit rating from falling to junk.

Jackson County has the highest median property taxes among the southernmost counties in Illinois, and falls in the state’s top 50 counties for highest property taxes. Meanwhile, Hardin County residents pay the lowest median property taxes in the state.

Chicagoans have been burdened with a slew of new taxes and the full damage has yet to be felt. A state income tax hike, like the one proposed in the Illinois Senate’s so-called “grand bargain,” would only further harm struggling Chicagoans.