MATTOON PROPERTY TAXES SUCKED INTO BLACK HOLE OF GOV. PENSION PLANS

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Chicago – Taxpayer dollars from a recent Mattoon property tax increase was consumed by lavish, gold-plated government employee pensions. A report from the Journal Gazette & Times-Courier identified that the increased property tax went almost exclusively to retired government employee pensions.

“The retired Illinois government employee pension system is a scam,” said Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “Mattoon government employees get to enjoy life with pensions that increase 3% compounded every year, while Mattoon taxpayers are driven from their homes.”

“In 2004, Mattoon taxpayers handed over $1.4 million to government employee pensions, $1.2 million of which was property taxes. In 2020, taxpayers were forced to pay $4.1 million to the government pension system, the vast bulk coming from property taxes.”

“Government bureaucrats are going to discover that they cannot loot the middle class to pay for outrageous government-employee pensions forever. Taxpayers are not bureaucrats’ serfs, and are free to go to lower-tax municipalities or even to other states. Taxpayers have already been taking this option, and higher property taxes are only going to accelerate the process.”

“The one way to solve the Illinois pension crisis is to put all new government employees into 401(k) plans immediately and pass a Fair Pension Amendment. An amendment to the Illinois state constitution can allow for renegotiation of Illinois government employee pensions that are fairer to taxpayers.”

CTA Redline Scam

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Does Chicago have $2.3 billion to spend on anything? That’s the price of extending the Red Line from 95th Street to 130th Street, a distance of 5.6 miles–almost $411 million per mile. Much of this money, about half, must come from federal funding that has not yet been approved.

Will this gargantuan project increase ridership, and if so, will this increase pay for the excessive extension? Of course not. The city will be throwing money it doesn’t have down the bureaucratic black hole. That’s what bureaucratic agencies, planners and commissions do best. They always present their most optimistic scenarios, that almost always end up costing more than originally predicted.

Only a relatively small number of commuters would use this extended line. The subject of user fees is ignored because nobody believes that the Red Line extension can pay for itself. Unlike private businesses, public projects do not need to pay for themselves although they should. That is the fundamental problem.

Furthermore, maintenance of this Red Line extension would add to Chicago’s already huge deficit. Indeed, almost a billion dollars a year is needed just to maintain the current CTA lines and that’s just to keep this outdated system from further deterioration. About $12 billion is needed for the current maintenance backlog, which is not even in the Red Line extension discussion.

The CTA Red Line is a mode of transportation that is obsolete. Relying on 19th century technology is a formula for the past, not the future. Spending tax money on boondoggles never seems to deter the overpaid government bureaucrats who are adept at spending other people’s money. That is what they do best.

VICTORY!

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Chicago–In an historic victory for taxpayers, Ill. Gov. Pritzker’s income theft amendment, the proposed change in the Illinois Constitution to usher in a graduated income tax, was defeated. “Every taxpayer victory is important for Illinoisans, but of all our victories, this one was the biggest,” said Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).

“Unlike what Pritzker thought, taxpayers are not stupid, and neither are they gullible. Illinoisans pay some of the highest taxes in the United States, and we’ve already seen several massive tax increases from Pritzker over the past few years. Taxpayers have had enough, and the repudiation of Pritzker’s money grab is evidence of that.” 

“If governor Pritzker, Speaker Madigan, and all of their cronies still want to hold office after this election, they must add a word to their dictionary: REFORM. Instead of lying to taxpayers with their endless empty promises, they need to roll up their sleeves for the first time in their lives and fix Illinois.” 

“How would they fix Illinois? Simple: reform the Illinois government pension system that has destroyed so many communities across Illinois. It can be done with a simple constitutional amendment to allow the state government-employee pension plans to be restructured for the benefit of everyone. I call it the Fair Pension Amendment.” 

“In addition to the rejection of the income theft amendment, taxpayers also rejected Home Rule in Crestwood. Home Rule is also a Trojan-horse tax increase like the income theft amendment. History has shown that Illinois taxpayers, when able to participate in direct democracy, will always reject higher taxes. The two referenda wins together make 439 taxpayer victories for TUA, and prove that petty tyrants like Pritzker can not increase state taxes if Illinois citizens make their wishes known at the polls.”