Taxpayers Fight Two Property Tax Increase Referendums On The April 2 Ballot

By on March 12, 2019   /   Blog, Chicago, IL, Illinois, Illinois Press, Items of Interest, Latest  
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Chicago – Taxpayers United of America (TUA) is working with taxpayers in Hinsdale Twp. HSD 86 and Barrington CUSD 220 to defeat property tax increase referenda in the upcoming April 2 election.

Click here to download the Hinsdale HSD 86 Vote No flyer

Click here to download the Barrington CUSD 220 Vote No flyer

“Both of these districts are pushing massive property tax increases that just aren’t necessary,” according to Jim Tobin, TUA president. “They want to fund wasteful and excessive building projects when Illinois and its individual communities are shrinking in population. People are leaving the state in droves, and here are two more governments that don’t care why: excessively high property taxes.”

Hinsdale HSD 86 has placed a $140 million bond issue on the April 2 ballot. Hinsdale voters soundly defeated a $166 million bond in last October’s election and yet another property tax increase for $76 million in bonds in 2017.

“It seems that Hinsdale HSD 86 bureaucrats are determined to waste even more taxpayer dollars by putting a third referendum on the ballot in as many years, despite dwindling enrollments,” said Tobin.

Hinsdale HSD 86 has seen its enrollment drop steadily over the last six years with a net decrease of about 224 students. One major cause in the enrollment drop is that Illinois has one of the highest rates of out-migration.

“The government hacks running Hinsdale HSD 86 haven’t made any budget cuts but expect taxpayers to take another pay-cut to fund the district’s excessive wish-list of construction projects. They pretend to make cuts, in an effort to hurt parents who voted down the referenda, but all of their phony cuts will be restored if this measure passes. There is not one permanent or meaningful spending cut!”

“The district could argue that they need money for safety and security updates, but that spending category only accounts for about $3.9 million of the $140 million they have put on the ballot. They have neglected to provide basic maintenance on facilities and now expect taxpayers to hand over millions of taxpayer dollars to correct their mismanagement.”

Barrington CUSD 220 has placed a $185 million property tax increase referendum on the April 2 ballot. Barrington CUSD 220 has also seen a steady decline in enrollment is are responsible for educating about 214 fewer students.

“CUSD 220 saw revenues increase .31% in the 2017/2018 school year and yet increased spending by 4.57%…on a dwindling student census.”

“Barrington bureaucrats are hitting taxpayers up for $185 million this year but this is only a down-payment on their 20 year pipe-dream plan of fleecing taxpayers out of $500 million for building projects.”

“They want $5.3 million for safety and security and don’t even create an annual budget for these improvements. That’s just remarkable.”

“Hinsdale HSD 86 and Barrington CUSD 220 share more than just similar demographics; they share a complete lack of regard for the taxpayers who must fund them. Both have let facilities deteriorate over the years without adequate planning or budgeting.”

“Worse than their complete lack of fiscal planning is their ignorance of how taxpayer funded operations work. Every time they plan a pay raise, benefit increase, instructional spending increase, etc., taxpayers must take a pay cut to fund it. If taxes go up $100 a year per taxpayer, every taxpayer has $100 less to spend on his or her wants and needs. So yes, every time they get more money to spend, we have less. And they really don’t care.”

“Government school bureaucrats want hundreds of millions more in taxpayer dollars to build lavish offices that are occupied only about 8 total months a year.”

“Neither of these affluent districts have made any cuts to spending. Why should they? They just put a property tax increase referendum on the ballot and cry about how it’s “for the children.”

“80% of local taxes go to fund government-employee salaries and benefits. So once you get past that spending, it starts being about the children. I urge everyone in these districts to vote No on April 2 and demand the government bureaucrats to cut spending, not increase it.”

“We have defeated 431 property tax increase referendums since I founded the organization in 1976. I can’t wait to add two more taxpayer victories to that number.”

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Cook County Gov Retirees’ Millionaire’s Club

By on November 28, 2017   /   Chicago, Illinois, Latest, News Releases, Press  

Cook County Gov. Retirees’ Millionaire’s Club

Val Zimnicki (312)-427-5128 – (312) 307-4415

November 28, 2017

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Chicago – Taxpayers United of America (TUA) has released its most recent government pension study exposing individual pensions for Cook County government retirees.
“One look at these excessive pensions tells you why Cook County is in dire financial straits. Government bureaucrats have created a tight little millionaires’ club of their own,” stated TUA’s director of outreach, Val Zimnicki.
There are nearly 500 area Cook County government retirees collecting annual pensions of at least $100,000. The median family income is only $56,851 and 16.1% of residents live below the poverty level.
“That puts a $1,374 liability on every man, woman and child in Cook County.  Add to that the per capita liability from the 5 state pension funds of $19,607, and every Cook County resident is on the hook for $20,981,” stated Zimnicki. Moody’s Investor Service puts Illinois’ state pension fund liability at $251 billion.
As of December 31, 2016, the Cook County Pension Fund (CCPF) has a stunning $7.2 billion unfunded liability. That means the CCPF is only 56.7% funded. A healthy pension fund has at least an 80% funding ratio, although the American Academy of Actuaries argues that pension funds should be 100% funded.
“On average, these government pensioners who collect more than the median household income for Cook County, contribute only about 7.5% to their own retirement fund. In the private sector, employees pay 15% of every dollar they earn into Social Security for an average pension of only $15,000!”
“Cook County government bureaucrats are desperate to steal even more tax money from hard working taxpayers, so desperate in fact that Cook County Board president, Toni Preckwinkle imposed a tax on sweetened beverages that hit the low and middle income earners the hardest!”
“The tax, which TUA opposed, was a $200 million tax increase on county taxpayers, which would have gone into the lavish, gold-plated pensions of retired county-government employees.”
But the Cook County Board was forced to repeal the tax when angry citizens testified at the County Board Hearing. TUA’s own, Val Zimnicki was one of many who testified on behalf of taxpayers at that hearing. “Preckwinkle and one other board member voted to keep the beverage tax. She should be thrown from office.”
“It’s so hypocritical of Cook County Democrats to preach about tax reform that protects the middle-class when they bombard the working class with new and higher taxes on services and products most used by this group of taxpayers,” added Zimnicki.
“If there’s any justice, the pending lawsuit, Bargo v Rauner et al, will break the Constitutional protection of the government employees. This protection creates a special class of citizens that directly violates the Illinois Constitution.”
“Just look at what some of these retired government bureaucrats are raking in from taxpayer funded pensions.
Hernan M. Reyes collects an annual pension of $359,613. Assuming he leads a normal life of 85 years, that annual pension will accumulate to $5,846,235. That multi-million dollar payout only cost him $329,637!
Then there’s Subhash Patel. Collecting a current annual pension of $217,045 will provide an outrageous estimated lifetime payout of $7,887,410. Keep in mind that retirement came at only 59 years of age! “Click below to view the top 200 pensions for Cook County Retirees:

“Overpromising benefits to government employees is pervasive throughout Illinois. Without regard to the taxpayers who must fund these excessive pensions, these bureaucrats just keep increasing salaries and benefits, burying the rest of us in debt.”
“The worst part of this financial nightmare is that no steps have been taken to correct the course of Illinois’ fiscal demise. We have proposed solutions that could have an immediate affect on the problem: Immediately place all new hires into 401(k) style retirement savings accounts, increase member contributions to their retirement fund, increase retirement age for full benefits, and increase member contributions to 50% of health care premiums. Anything short of these reforms will do nothing to permanently solve the problem. If it takes a Constitutional Amendment to revise government-employee pension benefits, then we need to get that on the ballot as soon as possible,” concluded Zimnicki.

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Northwest Herald | Local anti-tax group protests in Chicago, gets chat with governor's staff

By on October 13, 2016   /   Chicago, Illinois Press, Latest, Press  

Illinois Tax Revolution and Taxpayers United of America held a property tax protest in downtown Chicago on Wednesday, October 12, 2016, which was covered by Northwest Herald.

About 45 McHenry and Lake County residents braved a cool and occasionally rainy day Wednesday to protest in downtown Chicago for lower taxes.

Members of Illinois Tax Revolution, a new group that has made headlines by members paying their high property taxes with dollar bills, took their message to the plaza of the James R. Thompson Center, which houses state government offices. Members engaged in an hourlong protest, their third after protests in front of the McHenry and Lake counties treasurers’ offices.

Most of the protesters took the train downtown from the Pingree Road Metra station. Among them were group co-founders Bob Anderson and Joe Tirio.

“We’re here to continue to build up our coalition, and to bring the message to the people of Chicago and Springfield that the people are tired of the taxes, and we’re looking for citizens and elected officials to take action,” said Tirio, of Woodstock, who is running for McHenry County recorder on a platform of eliminating the office altogether.

Anderson, a Wonder Lake barber and longtime activist for eliminating township government, said he was happy with the turnout. He spent the months leading up to the protest encouraging people and his customers to attend to make their voices heard.

“There’s certainly enough people here to make sure that McHenry County has a strong voice,” Anderson said.

Several members of the group got a 20-minute audience with the governor’s constituent outreach staff, Tirio said.

The group was founded in the wake of the publicity and support created when McHenry resident Dan Aylward, another of the group’s co-founders, went to the treasurer’s office in June to pay the first installment of his $11,468.38 property tax bill in dollar bills. Aylward, who has said he is being taxed out of a home that has been in his family for more than a century, returned Aug. 31 to pay his second installment in singles, this time joined by three other taxpayers who did the same.

Treasurer’s offices don’t decide tax bills. They only collect what taxing bodies charge, a fact the group knows well. But the sheer number of taxing bodies in Illinois makes other forms of protest, or attending more than a small fraction of their meetings to ask for tax relief, a challenge.

Illinois has about 7,000 units of local government, far more than any other state. On top of county and township governments and community college districts, McHenry County property tax bills include school districts – often several of them – municipal government and special units such as park and library districts.

The state has the highest or second-highest average property tax burden of all 50 states, depending on the study; and a Washington, D.C.-based tax watchdog group places McHenry County’s burden as the 29th highest by county nationwide.
A poll released Monday concluded that almost half of Illinois residents want to leave – and the top reason most cited by the 1,000 voters polled was the tax burden. Census data released this year not only placed Illinois at the top for out-migration, but also for the first time put the number of people moving out at more than 100,000 people.
Among the group’s priorities are property tax reduction, pension reform, consolidation of school districts and paring down the number of taxing bodies through either consolidation or elimination.

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