Taxpayer Education Foundation research presented by Jim Tobin was reported on by WBBM News Radio. Check out the link below for their coverage of the Illinois pension crisis. “In 2016, homeowners paid $933 million in property taxes for the pensions of local government and school district employees in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.”
Click here to view their coverage of the data.
CHICAGO—The just-released report from the non-partisan Tax Foundation, Washington, D.C., revealed that the U.S. as a whole has worked 109 out of 365 days to pay its total tax bill for the year.
“In a very real sense, everyone is a slave of federal, state and local tax collectors for the first 30 percent of this year,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“Finally, on April 19, which the Tax Foundation has christened ‘Tax Freedom Day,’ the country as a whole will have paid off its tax debts, and can start keeping its earnings for its own use.”
Tax Freedom Day is calculated by adding all federal, state, and local taxes and dividing them by the total income earned in the country.
“This year, Tax Freedom Day is three days earlier than last year, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by the current administration.”
In 2018, Americans will pay $3.39 trillion in federal taxes and $1.80 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total tax bill of $5.19 trillion, 30 percent of national income, according to the Tax Foundation.
“This is still an obscene chunk taken out of workers’ earnings. America will spend more on taxes in 2018 than it will on food, clothing, and housing combined,” added Tobin.
“Despite the federal income tax cuts, government at all levels is still on a spending spree. As the feds cut the taxes and fewer tax dollars make their way to the state and local coffers, state and local governments are raising taxes. The federal tax cuts will soon disappear unless spending, which is funded by borrowing and printing money, is brought under control. The value of the U.S. dollar will continue to decrease as the debt continues to increase.”
“’Tax Freedom Day’ is an oxymoron. Tax Freedom Day isn’t freedom at all; it’s a measure of how truly enslaved we are,” concluded Tobin.
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CHICAGO—Illinois taxpayers won important victories in three local elections on March 20, said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“Taxpayers scored a huge victory in Rockford, Illinois’ third largest city,” said Tobin. “The greedy Rockford politicians tried to bring back unlimited Home Rule taxing powers, which our organization helped Rockford taxpayers repeal in 1983. We sent our Director of Outreach, Val W. Zimnicki, to Rockford, and he held a very-well-received news conference at the Rockford Public Library on March 14.”
“In addition, TUA used direct mail and other techniques to help Rockford taxpayers.”
“Rockford taxpayers beat back Home Rule by 54% to 46%.”
“The politicians running the Village of Merrionette Park, IL, used taxpayer dollars to urge its taxpayers to give them unlimited Home Rule taxing powers. We helped its taxpayers fight this power grab, and unlimited Home Rule taxing power for Merrionette Park was defeated by a 66% to 33% margin.”
“The Village of Homewood, Illinois, also beat back Home Rule by a decisive margin of 70% to 30%.”
“TUA has been helping local taxpayers since 1977, and we have had 426 victories against local tax increase referenda since then.”
“Home Rule is the most insidious form of local government in the U.S.,” said Tobin. “It eliminates the protection of property tax caps and allows local governments to raise taxes without limit, and to create new taxes with which to bludgeon taxpayers.”
“Home Rule is home ruin. It puts property owners and taxpayers totally at the mercy of local government bureaucrats. It can destroy the economy of a city and force taxpayers to move to municipalities that have no Home Rule and lower taxes.”
