“INFRASTRUCTURE” TAXES HELP POLITICIANS, NOT COMMUTERS

By on February 18, 2020   /   IL, Illinois, Latest  
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Raising taxes for “infrastructure” is a scam that helps politicians but not commuters, according to Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayer Education Foundation (TEF).

“Politicians want to raise taxes for infrastructure because new projects give taxpayers the impression they are getting shiny new things for their money,” said Tobin. “But, in fact, these projects actually harm commuters.”

“Several studies by transportation expert Randal O’Toole, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, show that with the exception of New York City subway ridership, the future for the rest of the government transit industry is dim. Yet billions of dollars are still being poured into declining government transit systems instead of improving roads.”

“O’Toole provides some startling statistics to illustrate these facts.”

  • Other than New York City subways, nationwide ridership fell 1.2 percent for 2019 as a whole.
  • When compared with 2014 ridership, 2019 ridership fell in 44 out of the 50 largest urban areas.
  • Transit buses, including commuter buses, trolley buses, and bus-rapid transit as well as conventional buses, carried fewer riders in 2019 than in any year since 1939.
  • Light rail is also doing poorly, losing more than 4 percent of its riders in 2019.
  • Government Transit is not healthy in almost all urban areas. Los Angeles and Washington ridership peaked in about 2008; Chicago in 2012; and the others in 2013 or 2014.  If government transit can’t thrive in Chicago, which has the nation’s second-largest downtown, then it is really becoming a one-urban-area industry (New York).
  • Whenever it opens a new light-rail line, Los Angeles loses five bus riders for every light-rail rider it gains, and even light-rail ridership declines in years that it doesn’t open new lines.

“O’Toole shows that building government rail transit usually does more harm than good to a transit system. Gasoline is cheap and autos provide people access to far more jobs and other economic opportunities than transit,” said Tobin.

“Interstate Highways, called the world’s best transportation system, were paid for entirely out of federal and state highway user fees. There is little justification for raising more taxes and trying to get people out of their cars and onto transit, which in turn means there is little justification for the tens of billions of dollars of annual subsidies American taxpayers give to the government transit industry.”

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TUA SUPPORTS BANKRUPTCY FOR ILLINOIS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

By on February 11, 2020   /   Blog, IL, Latest  

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CHICAGO—The head of Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today supported changing laws to allow the State of Illinois to declare bankruptcy, and also recommended that local governments be allowed to declare bankruptcy.  

“A recent article in Thecentersquare.com discussed the proposal of Richard Porter, attorney and Republican National Committeeman, that Illinois should have ‘A quick GM-style bankruptcy that would replace ‘Old Illinois’ with ‘New Illinois,’ with help from the federal government,” said Jim Tobin, TUA president. “We proposed the idea of an Illinois bankruptcy ten years ago. We still support the idea, but with important differences from that proposed by Porter.”  

See: https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/op-ed-is-bankruptcy-the-best-option-for-illinois/article_d0fccb94-4843-11ea-b300-4744b6c176f4.html

“Porter proposed a new State Constitution to buy the assets of ‘old Illinois,’ and federal help paying off the state’s accumulated pension debt, suggesting a cap of $80,000 annually per pensioner as a limit.”  

“I see no reason why taxpayers should be forced to help pay-off the state’s gigantic accumulated pension debt. The state should be allowed to declare bankruptcy…period. And a cap on pensions of $50,000 is more reasonable.”  

“In addition, the General Assembly should allow local governments to declare bankruptcy, with no taxpayer bailout allowed.”

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OUTRAGEOUS GOVERNMENT-EMPLOYEE PENSIONS HARMING MCHENRY COUNTY TAXPAYERS!

By on January 31, 2020   /   IL, Latest, Pension Reform  
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The Taxpayer Education Foundation (TEF) today released its study of the McHenry County area government-employee pensions, highlighting the top pensions in the Teachers Retirement System (TRS), the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) and the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). Taxpayers United of America (TUA) issued the following statement based on the TEF pension study.

“It is no mystery what’s driving the economy-killing property tax increases in McHenry County,” said Jim Tobin, TUA president. “It’s the state’s lavish, gold-plated pension plans for retired government employees.”

“The perpetual tax increases that plague Illinois residents have nothing to do with children, roads, or services. They are about pensions for the privileged government class. This money may be ‘earmarked’ for buildings or whatever, but in reality it only frees up increased taxes for government pensions. It’s a shell game.”

“Those of us in the private sector must reduce our spending if our income decreases; we can’t just go to our employer and demand more money to fund irresponsible spending. That’s not true for the political class.”

“The IMRF pension fund, which gives lavish, gold-plated pension benefits to retired municipal employees, is subsidized by property taxes. If that isn’t bad enough, IMRF pensioners are also eligible to receive Social Security pensions.”

“The entire local and statewide pension system in Illinois is unsustainable. The other five statewide pension funds are partly funded by the state income tax. Democrat Governor Jay Robert ‘J. B.’ Pritzker and his tax-raising cronies want to stick it to middle class taxpayers by increasing the state income tax again. They placed, on the November 2020 ballot, another statewide income tax increase. What does a statewide income tax increase mean for you? It means stealing from you to subsidize government pension millionaires.”

“The federal graduated income tax was sold to taxpayers as ‘a tax cut for the middle class.’ How did that turn out?”

“The state government employee pension system is the single cause of Illinois’ critical financial situation and it is mathematically impossible to tax our way out of this situation.”

“When you look at what the individual government retirees are actually collecting in taxpayer-funded pensions, you can get a better idea of why this theft of taxpayer wealth is so outrageous. Keep in mind that the average taxpayer will collect only about $17,500 a year from Social Security.”

“Here are some egregious examples.”

“Kirk Reimer retired from Crystal Lake Park District at the age of 55. His current IMRF annual pension is $104,096. His estimated lifetime pension is $987,511 over a normal lifetime. He also is eligible for a Social Security pension.”

“Ronald Miller retired from Crystal Lake CCSD 47 at the age of 55. His current annual pension is $185,140. For a total contribution he made to his pension of only $284,287, he will accumulate $6,435,383 in taxpayer funded pension payments over a normal lifetime.”

“Teresa Lane retired from McHenry CHSD 156 at the age of 55. Her current annual pension is $158,038. For a total contribution she made to her pension of only $183,460, she will accumulate $5,777,191 in taxpayer funded pension payments over a normal lifetime.”

“Christine Harris retired from Crystal Lake CCSD 47 at the age of 54. Her current annual pension is $150,228. For a total contribution she made to her pension of only $210,249, she will accumulate $5,657,601 in taxpayer funded pension payments over a normal lifetime.”

“Douglas Evans retired from Seneca TWP HSD 160 at the age of 55. His current annual pension is $147,007. For a total contribution he made to his pension of only $209,384, he will accumulate $5,420,343 in taxpayer funded pension payments over a normal lifetime.”

Click Here to view top McHenry County government pensions.

“The Illinois government in Springfield has failed us. It’s in everyone’s best interest to solve the pension problem before the system completely collapses. It is no longer a matter of ‘if’ it will collapse, but when.”

“All new hires should be placed into 401(k) style retirement savings accounts. Member contributions to their retirement funds should be increased. Retirement age for full benefits should be increased to at least 65, preferably to 67, and contributions for health care also should be increased. Anything short of these reforms will do nothing to permanently solve the problem.”

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