CHICAGO – The recent pension reform bill being pushed in Springfield requires that government employees pay more towards their lavish, gold-plated pensions, but it isn’t asking them to pay enough. The legislation passed by the House Personnel and Pensions Committee only proposes teacher pension contributions be raised as high as 14.77%, with state employee contributions going from 4 to 9.29%. Taxpayers United of America (TUA) recommends a 19.4% contribution for teachers, alongside a 10-point increase in contributions for all other employees in the state pension fund.
If TUA’s proposal were to go into effect, it would save taxpayers $150 billion over 35 years, or roughly $4.3 billion per year. Healthcare is not a benefit that is guaranteed. Government employees and retirees should pay for half of their tax-subsidized healthcare premiums as well. Currently, they pay nothing towards this. Read more →
The property taxpayers in three school districts continue to battle the property tax increases resulting from the April 5th referenda. In Oak Park School District 97 and in Wilmette School District 39, the initiatives were adopted by the Voters. In Riverside Brookfield District 208, the voters overwhelmingly rejected it, but the lawsuit is seeking damages for the illegal electioneering engaged in by the Board.
In the Wilmette case, on May 23rd Judge Rita M. Novak put the case on an expedited briefing schedule on two main issues: whether to enter a temporary restraining order and whether to dismiss the case. The hearing is set for June 23rd at 11:15 a.m. Read more →
On May 16, 2011 a law suit was filed by Herbert Sorock, a property tax payer in Wilmette, and Taxpayers United of America (TUA), one of the largest taxpayer organizations in America. The suit filed against the Wilmette School Board District 39 and its members, challenges the legality of the ballot used in the April 5th election. The referendum question failed to include the State multiplier in calculating the estimated property tax increase, thereby understating that increase by at least two-thirds of the actual amount.
The suit alleges the Board and its members knew before the election that the estimated tax increase was understated, but decided to go forward with the referendum regardless. Wilmette and at least nine other school districts understated the property tax increase by failing to include the equalizer applicable to all Cook County property tax bills. Read more →
