Sangamon County

Outside money pours into communities to pass sales-tax hikes

By illinoispolicy
10/29/2014
The public school district in Jacksonville, Illinois, is criticizing fellow Illinoisans for educating residents about a significant sales-tax increase proposal on the ballot – a tax increase that would drive up the cost of gas, clothes, prepared food, electronics and more. School district officials called the Illinois Policy Institute a “Chicago based” group, when we’re...

Pension ‘fix’ has many problems, but the Pension Clause isn’t one

01/13/2014
In December 2013, Gov. Pat Quinn signed a pension “reform” bill with many serious flaws. For example, it: barely makes a dent in the state’s unfunded pension liability; guarantees pension funding at the expense of taxpayers and all other government services; creates a fake 401(k) plan; doesn’t means test cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs; still allows state workers to retire much earlier...

TAGS: pension guarantee, pensions

Springfield City Council votes to hike sales tax

03/31/2013
After several hours of debate, the city council voted 6-3 to raise the sales tax from 8 percent to 8.5 percent to repay an $86.6 million, 15-year bond issue to finance the three-year infrastructure program.

TAGS: sales tax

Institute on WAND TV: Illinois’ addiction to pork

12/31/2012
Institute policy expert, Jonathan Ingram, joined Doug Wolfe on WAND TV to discuss Illinois’ addiction to wasteful spending. Check our Piglet 2012 for examples of pork in Illinois. MUSEUM CAPITAL PROJECTS ABRAHAM LINCOLN MEMORIAL GARDEN FOUNDATION, INC. (Sangamon County) – $82,433. Renovation of the Ostermeir Farmhouse to add handicap accessible features, waterproof basement, replace carpet,...

TAGS: waste

Quinn Signs Bill Easing Way for Local Sales Tax Increases

08/29/2011
by Kristina Rasmussen Governor Pat Quinn recently signed a bill making it easier for local school districts to reap a windfall from higher local sales taxes. According to Chris Wetterich over at the State Journal-Register, Quinn’s action“eliminates the ability of county boards to block or reduce school construction sales tax levies.” That’s a shame, because as I experienced...

Local Tax Hikes and Borrowing on the Ballot This Fall

09/14/2010
by Kristina Rasmussen A round up of local Illinois measures on the ballot this November 2 by Ballotpedia.org shows that local governments across the state are trying to hike taxes and borrow more money. Some examples, with individual summaries from Ballotpedia.org: Sangamon County sales tax hike. The tax would add one percent to the current sales tax rate in...

Spotlight on Spending #7: One Out of Four – Public employee compensation

By Chris Andriesen
07/14/2010
The Problem Illinois’s state budget is billions of dollars in the hole, but that didn’t stop Illinois government from handing out pay increases to 46,000 state workers on July 1, 2010. Indeed, Governor Pat Quinn has handed out 43 raises (averaging 11.4 percent to his staff) since he took the oath of office. All areas of government...

Ready for the Snow? Gauging Illinois’s Performance on a Critical Core Service

By Kate Campaigne Piercy
02/16/2010
In January 1979, a severe winter storm blasted Chicago. The city government failed to clear the roads of snow, which virtually shut down the metropolis for a week. The snow closed O’Hare International Airport for a record 42 hours. Drifts, many of them 12 feet high, blocked more than 1,400 of the city’s streets. An...
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Chicago Forward 2026: A pro-growth plan to end city budget deficits

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.

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Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

By Paul Kersey
06/19/2014

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

By Ted Dabrowski
05/02/2016