Monthly archive for April 2021

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Chicago— On April 6^th taxpayers rejected two major property tax increase referenda put forth by affluent government bureaucrats. The first referendum was a limiting rate increase for the village of Steger that would have cost taxpayers in property taxes an additional estimated $210 per home owner a year. The other was a property tax increase put on the ballot by Warren Township High School Dist. 121., which would have cost local taxpayers an estimated total of $7.8 million dollars in property taxes a year.

“When it comes to referenda, Taxpayers win,” said Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America. “It is really that simple. As shown with the Income Theft Amendment, a graduated income tax increase that Pritzker tried to pass last year, taxpayers are not stupid. We know a con when we see one, and that’s all these so called ‘necessary’ tax increases are.”

“These two wins together make 441 taxpayer referenda victories for TUA, and shows that there is still plenty of hope for Illinois. So long as taxpayers maintain the right to vote on new tax increases, we can keep greedy tax thieves away from our pocketbooks.”

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Illinois Governor Jay Robert “J. B.” Pritzker, the worst governor Illinois has ever had, signed House Bill 2451 on April 5, 2021 which increases Chicago firefighter pensions. The legislation will increase Chicago property taxes of between $18 to $30 million per year.

The bill, originally introduced in 2019 by notorious tax thief Rep. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago), jacks up the pensions of 2,200 active and retired Chicago firefighters. HB 2451 removes a provision that restricts the firefighters born after 1966 from receiving a 3% automatic annual cost of living adjustment, or COLA, on their pension.  The COLA will now be 3% instead of its current 1.5% yearly increase.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, in an example of a broken clock being right twice a day, released a statement criticizing HB 2451. According to Lightfoot, the bill is a “massive, unfunded mandate to the taxpayers of Chicago at a time when there are no extra funds to cover this new obligation.”

“In other words,” said Jim Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of America, “Chicago is going to raise property taxes up to $30 million per year. In a time where everyone is hurting, Pritzker is again kicking everyone while they’re down to give money to his friends. When the property bill comes due and Chicagoans see the latest increase, this time the one who should be blamed is Pritzker.”