OAK PARK—On Thursday, May 3, Taxpayers United of America (TUA) will canvass the streets of Oak Park with flyers in order to raise awareness about the deceptive referenda ballot language used by the Oak Park Government School District 97 in 2011. The district’s tactics resulted in a successful property tax increase.
TUA later filed suit on behalf of Oak Park Taxpayers, to end such deceptions.
“When we challenged the deceptive activities of the School District, we knew it wouldn’t be easy,” said Christina Tobin, vice president of TUA, and Founder of Free and Equal Elections Foundation, “But the actions of the school board were so blatant, we had no choice.”
A shocking ruling by Judge Mary Mikva, on the lawsuit, basically said it was “ok” for the district to grossly understate the amount by which property taxes would increase.
But the suit also claims that the district knew in advance that the ballot grossly understated the property tax increase.
“The board didn’t just understate the tax increase. It led voters to believe that the property tax increase would be only $37.40 per $100,000 of their property value when in reality, it would be $126.04 per $100,000! That is nearly three times more than they told taxpayers it would be,” said Tobin.
The district admitted that it did not use the state equalization factor. If it had, the factor would have accurately calculated the proposed increase’s taxpayer impact.
TUA has appealed the Mikva ruling, because if the ruling stands, taxpayers could be legally misled in future, in school districts across the State, as to estimated property tax increases. The appeal has been filed in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.
“We will take this case to the Illinois Supreme Court if necessary”, stated Tobin. “In the meantime, we are dedicated to educating the citizens of Oak Park about the issue. So expect to see a flyer in your neighborhood!”
NOTE: 80% of District 97 spending goes to salaries and benefits. All of the recent 67% state income tax increase is being used to fund the lavish pensions of retired government teachers and other employees. To view the top 100 pensions and salaries of Oak Park Government School District 97, click here.
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CHICAGO–The most outrageous pensions in all the Illinois state pension funds are to be found in the State University Retirement System (SURS), according to Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“If you want to see why the pension funds in Illinois are lurching toward insolvency, look no further than the State University Retirement System,” said Tobin. “The pensions are so mind-boggling that if I didn’t have our list of the Top 100 SURS pensions, no one would believe it.”
Click here to download the Top 100 SURS pension amounts (PDF).
“The highest of the ‘Top 100’ list again is Tapas Das Gupta, of the University of Illinois-Chicago, whose annual pension is an absolutely astounding $426,885 (as of 4/1/12). Each month he pulls in $35,574. His monthly pension is about the same as the median full-time annual wage in Illinois, which is $35,256.”
“Since 1/1/98, Gupta’s total pension payout is $3,001,481.”
“Number two on the Top 100 list is Edward Abraham, also of the University of Illinois-Chicago. His annual pension is $414,709. That’s $34,559 each month. Since 1/1/98, Abraham has collected a total pension payout of $1,979,314.”
“Number three on the Top 100 list is Riad Barmada, also of the University of Illinois-Chicago. His annual pension is $397,919 — $33,160 a month. His total pension payout since 1/1/98 is an astronomical $4,627,975 — the highest total pension payout of the Top 100 SURS pensions.”
“Who says teachers are underpaid?”
“The way to fix the broken pension system is to replace pensions for all new government hires with social security and 401(k)s, and increase current employee contributions. This is the only way to eliminate the unfunded liabilities that plague taxpayers.”
“In addition, voters should kick all Springfield Democrats out of office on November 6, 2012. They are the ones who approved the temporary 67% state income tax surcharge, all of which is being put into the state pension programs.”
This release is the third in a series. To see the first, click here: Pension Millionaires Draining Lifeblood from TRS Pension Fund. For the second, click here: State Troopers & Corrections Officers Quick to Capture Lavish Pensions.
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OAK PARK—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) is taking their demand for justice to the streets of Oak Park. In a canvass blitz of Oak Park Government School District 97, TUA is pedaling awareness of the status of its lawsuit against the district.
“Every resident in the district needs to be aware of the political games being used to protect district leadership from the consequences of the electioneering that we allege to be illegal”, said Jim Tobin, president of TUA.
“TUA and Noel Kuriakos have filed an appeal to the unbelievable ruling of Chicago Machine judicial darling, Judge Mary Mikva, that basically approves of the district’s practice of knowingly grossly underestimating the amount by which property taxes would increase on the April 5, 2011 property tax increase referendum.”
“We are covering the district with flyers to make sure every taxpayer is aware of the tactics the district used to pass the property tax increase referendum and the remarkable approval of those tactics by Judge Mikva”, added Tobin.
“Like the others before it, this property tax increase has nothing to do with ‘the children’ and everything to do with preserving the generous salaries and benefits of the government school employees. 80% of District 97 spending goes to salaries and benefits”, said Tobin.
View the top 100 pensions and salaries of Oak Park Government School District 97 (PDF).
“The lavish pensions of the government school employees are paid by the 67% income tax surcharge passed in 2011. The average government teacher pension of those who have retired in the last two years is $65,000.”
“We are not going to be intimidated and we are not going away. We are just waiting for dates for oral arguments or a ruling in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. This is just the next step in the process that we will see to the end”, stated Tobin.
“The ‘status quo’ political gamesmanship is no longer acceptable.”
