Taxpayers across Illinois oppose a progressive tax but many state lawmakers still refuse to stand up against House Speaker Mike Madigan’s progressive tax push.
Dwyane Wade’s Matteson home has been on the market since May. At its current 5 percent effective property tax rate, the buyer would pay for it again in property taxes within 20 years.
By Orphe Divounguy, Austin Berg, Bryce Hill, Joe Tabor
01/22/2018
Illinois' jobs growth trailed that of the nation during the first half of 2017, then slowed to a halt in the wake of the General Assembly's record-breaking tax hike.
Negotiations between government-worker unions and governing bodies are conducted behind closed doors, away from public scrutiny. And yet taxpayers are required to pay for whatever extravagant benefits the unions obtain. Recently a bill in the General Assembly would have brought more transparency – and accountability – to the process, but it failed to make it out of committee.
Just as Illinoisans elect state representatives, state representatives elect the speaker of the House every two years. To become the speaker, Madigan just needs a majority vote.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.