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Today is the consolidated election in Illinois and we need all taxpayers to get out and vote!
There are well over 100 property tax increase referenda across the state and not a single one of them should pass! Remember that about 80% of local taxes go to salaries and benefits of government employees so it’s really not about the children or even who will pave the roads; it’s about propping up the fat salaries and pensions of the bloated government.
Of particular concern are the following:
Wilmette Park District – Vote No on 2 property tax increase referenda that would raise property taxes $14.5 million!
Westmont CUSD 201 – Vote No to stop a wasteful $19.7 million property tax increase!
Home Rule! Home Rule gives government bureaucrats the right to raise or create new taxes without limit and without taxpayer approval. Home Rule always means higher taxes! Vote no on these Home Rule property tax increase referenda!
Broadview, Shorewood, Shiloh, and New Baden
Every vote is important in the local elections. You can bet that the government employees will be out in force to vote for the property tax increases that prop up their salaries and benefits. Get out there and protect your income by defeating the property tax increase referenda!
Polls will open at 6 am and will close at 7 pm.
Jim Tobin
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CHICAGO—Tax Freedom Day for the nation arrives on April 24, according to the non-partisan Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C.
“Tax Freedom Day is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its federal, state, and local tax bill for the year,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “Tax Freedom Day this year is one day later than last year due to higher tax revenue.”
“The Tax Foundation states that Americans will pay $3.3 trillion in federal taxes and $1.5 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total bill of more than $4.8 trillion, or 31 percent of the nation’s income. Furthermore, Americans will collectively spend more on taxes in 2015 than they will on food, clothing, and housing combined.”
“The date of Tax Freedom Day varies from state to state. Connecticut (May 13) and New Jersey (May 13) are the highest-tax states, and have the latest date. According to the foundation, residents of Louisiana will bear the lowest average tax burden in 2015, with Tax Freedom Day arriving for them on April 2. Also early are Mississippi (April 4) and South Dakota (April 8).”
“Wisconsin used to be a higher-tax state, but under the leadership of Gov. Scott Walker (R), who took on the greedy government employee unions in 2011, forced pension reform upon them, and 
required them to contribute 10% of their salaries to their pension plans, the state is now a lower tax state than Illinois. Wisconsin’s Tax Freedom Day is April 25, whereas the date for Illinois is April 30.”
“Thanks to former Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn (D), considered by some to be the worst governor in the state’s history, Illinois is number 43 in total taxes. Forty-two states have total taxes lower than Illinois. The states surrounding Illinois have far lower tax rates, which is a very bad omen for Illinois. Kentucky is number 6 and Missouri is number 10, by far the two lowest tax states bordering Illinois. By contrast, Iowa is number 18, Michigan is number 28, and Indiana is number 24. Wisconsin, even with various reforms, is still number 37.”
“Fortunately, voters ousted the left-wing hack and union stooge, Patrick Quinn, and Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) appears to be working hard to steer Illinois in the right direction. But Illinois has a long way to go before it can compete with the lower tax states in the region.”
View as PDF CHICAGO—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today released the results of their updated study of the top 200 pensioners of Illinois state pension funds, including SURS, TRS, IMRF, and GARS.
“All 200 of these government pensioners are collecting more than $200,000 dollars a year in taxpayer funded pensions,” stated Jim Tobin, TUA president. “These pension payments accumulate to multi-million dollar payouts over a natural lifetime but the pensioners’ average personal investment is only about 5.5% of the lifetime payouts.”
“This is not a retirement system or a safety net for ‘the poor public servants’ who have given their lives to public service. This is theft. This is immoral and unethical theft of taxpayers’ hard-earned money to be given to the political elite.”
“If government employees increased their own contributions to their own gold-plated pension by 10 percentage points, it would save taxpayers about $150 billion over the next 35 years, or about $4.3 billion a year.”
“Illinois, and Chicago in particular, are in dire financial shape. The future of every Illinois taxpayer is on the line, and yet here we are, years later, still tiptoeing around the problem – the government employee pension cabal.”
“Every day that passes without reforming the pension system, Illinois spirals more quickly toward financial ruin. The credit ratings continue to be downgraded, property taxes go higher, new sales taxes are imposed, home foreclosures rise, and masses of productive taxpayers and businesses leave the state. It is criminal that our legislature allows this to continue.”
“There are now 12,154 Illinois government pensions over $100,000 and 85,893 over $50,000! Those are staggering numbers considering the taxpayers who fund these pensions get an average Social Security pension of about $15,000 a year.”
“As always, Tapas Das Gupta tops our list at $466,409 in current annual pension payments. Last year his annual payments were $452,843. He got a raise of $13,566 – nearly the same as the average Social Security pension of about $15,000! His estimated lifetime payout is a stunning $5.2 million. His personal investment is only about 9.1%.”
“The highest estimated lifetime payout goes to John R. Harper who just retired last year at the ripe old age of 54. His annual government pension is $239,019 and will accumulate to an estimated lifetime payout of $11,513,008. His personal investment is only about 2.9% of that staggering payout.”
View a PDF of the State of Illinois Top 200 Government Pensions as of February 1, 2015.
“There is no moral defense for these pensions or those who continue to prop up this system. This government pension system holds taxpayers hostage for the benefit of a constitutionally protected political class. The union thugs and the political bureaucrats who hide behind the legality of this corruption know exactly what they are doing.”
“Unfortunately, the outcome of the Illinois Supreme Court decision on the impotent pension reforms of SB1 are moot. SB1 doesn’t nearly go far enough to fix the problem and provides additional guarantees to steal enough money from taxpayers to cover the lavish pensions.”
“Adequate pension reform will eliminate unfunded pension liabilities forever by ending the defined benefit system and replacing it with a 401(k)-style retirement savings account going forward. But if we are to keep the defined benefit system, then all current employee contributions must be increased by 10 percent of their pay, there must be an increase in employee and retiree contributions to their healthcare premiums to 50%, and there must also be an increase in the retirement age to 67. Anything less will not solve the problem.”
*Lifetime estimated pension payout includes 3% compounded COLA and assumes life expectancy of 85 (IRS Form 590).
