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.”
