View as PDF Chicago – Tax Accountability (TA), the political action arm of Taxpayers United of America, has announced its candidate endorsements for the March 15, 2016 primary election.
“I am proud to announce endorsements of such qualified candidates in these critical races,” said Jim Tobin, Chairman of TA.
“Illinois voters need to look long and hard at the records of the incumbents in every race and ask themselves if they are truly represented. TA can stand behind every one of these candidates who have pledged to fight tax increases.”
General Primary March 15, 2016
Dan Patlak for Cook County Board of Review, 1st District
Kelly Liebmann for McHenry County Board District 6
Joe Tirio for McHenry County Recorder
Tom Wilbeck for McHenry County Board District 1
Allen Skillicorn for Illinois State Rep – 66th district
James Marter for U.S. Senate
State Senator Kyle McCarter for U.S. Congress – 15th district
Please click on the links to read more about each candidate.
View as PDF Chicago – Government bureaucrats in Westchester, Franklin Park, and Summit have placed referenda on the March 15, 2016 ballot for voters to approve Home Rule status for these villages. According to Taxpayers United of America (TUA), Home Rule means higher taxes.
“For decades, I’ve called it ‘Home Ruin,’” said Jim Tobin, president of TUA. “Why would any taxpayer want to give up their right to vote on property tax increases?”
“Home Rule always means higher taxes. Home Rule status in Illinois means that the cap limiting the amount that bureaucrats can increase property taxes is removed. It gives bureaucrats a blank check to do what they wish with your tax dollars – and without a vote. How many government bureaucrats would you trust with a blank check bearing your signature?”
“Home Rule also gives local government authority to tax nearly any product or service they want. What they don’t tell you is that such taxation drives consumers to neighboring communities, where the taxes on products and services are lower.”
“And if high taxation isn’t enough, Home Rule is used extensively to add regulations, fees, and licensing that create even more red tape for business and entrepreneurs,” said Tobin.
“We are helping taxpayers in each of these communities by revealing the truth about home rule and how damaging it is. We are working with local activists and organizations to educate voters on Home Rule and the ramifications of its implementation.”
Voters and taxpayers in Roselle SD 12 are also facing a property tax increase referendum on the ballot for the March 15, 2016 primary, costing roughly $500 every year in increased property taxes for homes valued at $250,000.
“These bureaucrats are seeking an additional $1.5 million of taxpayer funds annually for a school district totaling about 725 students. They have failed to properly account for taxpayers’ dollars, as the district is already facing a budget shortfall of $844,000 for the 2016-17 school year, and we know that 80% of these funds are typically diverted to pay for government employee salaries and benefits,” said Tobin.
“Residents of Roselle cannot afford these proposed property tax hikes, as the area’s unemployment rate is 6% with only a .85% job growth rate. Taxpayers should not be forced to take a $500 pay cut to continue business as usual in the district. Cuts must be made, consolidation must be pursued, and the government bureaucrats need to look over their options again before squeezing more taxpayers for loot, driving more homeowners out of the area by hiking their already ridiculously costly property taxes.”
You can download PDFs of our ‘Vote No’ flyers for printing and distribution below.
“For decades, I’ve called it ‘Home Ruin,’” said Jim Tobin, president of TUA. “Why would any taxpayer want to give up their right to vote on property tax increases?”
“Home Rule always means higher taxes. Home Rule status in Illinois means that the cap limiting the amount that bureaucrats can increase property taxes is removed. It gives bureaucrats a blank check to do what they wish with your tax dollars – and without a vote. How many government bureaucrats would you trust with a blank check bearing your signature?”
“Home Rule also gives local government authority to tax nearly any product or service they want. What they don’t tell you is that such taxation drives consumers to neighboring communities, where the taxes on products and services are lower.”
“And if high taxation isn’t enough, Home Rule is used extensively to add regulations, fees, and licensing that create even more red tape for business and entrepreneurs,” said Tobin.
“We are helping taxpayers in each of these communities by revealing the truth about home rule and how damaging it is. We are working with local activists and organizations to educate voters on Home Rule and the ramifications of its implementation.”
Voters and taxpayers in Roselle SD 12 are also facing a property tax increase referendum on the ballot for the March 15, 2016 primary, costing roughly $500 every year in increased property taxes for homes valued at $250,000.
“These bureaucrats are seeking an additional $1.5 million of taxpayer funds annually for a school district totaling about 725 students. They have failed to properly account for taxpayers’ dollars, as the district is already facing a budget shortfall of $844,000 for the 2016-17 school year, and we know that 80% of these funds are typically diverted to pay for government employee salaries and benefits,” said Tobin.
“Residents of Roselle cannot afford these proposed property tax hikes, as the area’s unemployment rate is 6% with only a .85% job growth rate. Taxpayers should not be forced to take a $500 pay cut to continue business as usual in the district. Cuts must be made, consolidation must be pursued, and the government bureaucrats need to look over their options again before squeezing more taxpayers for loot, driving more homeowners out of the area by hiking their already ridiculously costly property taxes.”
You can download PDFs of our ‘Vote No’ flyers for printing and distribution below.
“Government needs to live within its means and cut spending when tax revenue declines. 80% of Home Rule and other local taxes go to pay for government employees’ salaries and their benefits. By adding new taxes, government bureaucrats ensure their own high pay and lavish pensions.”
“Illinois currently has more than 12,154 annual state pensions totaling more than $100,000 each and more than 85,893 government pensions totaling more than $50,000 annually. It is economically disastrous and mathematically impossible to raise enough taxes to sustain the defunct state pension system, and yet every unit of government continues to try to do while the state has more than $111 billion in unfunded government pension liabilities and an unpaid bill backlog of more than $6 billion,” said Tobin.
“Illinois has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, the state is losing taxpayers by staggering rates every year, and you have to wonder how many people could have stayed in their homes if the property taxes weren’t so high – the second highest property taxes in the country.”
“TUA has defeated 417 local tax increase referenda since 1977. We urge voters in these four communities to tell bureaucrats that they have had enough of government leeching off of their livelihood. These tax increases are not for the benefit of the many, but the politically-connected and government employee class. This comes at the expense of taxpayers, who cannot afford such tax increases, so we urge votes to Vote No.”
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15, 2016.
Taxpayers United of America’s president, Jim Tobin, was quoted by Madison Record about the latest pension data release of the Illinois Judicial Retirement System.
Most of the state’s public pension systems are perilously under-funded, and the Illinois Judicial Retirement System (JRS) is no exception.
Taxpayers United of America (TUA) recently analyzed JRS data and found these startling statistics:
– The average amount that judges contributed to their own pension fund is $124,387, or 4.5 percent of estimated lifetime payout.
– The average estimated lifetime payout is $2.8 million. Lifetime estimated pension payout includes 3 percent compounded cost of living adjustment and assumes life expectancy of 85.
– The average years of service is 17.8.
“Our analysis of JRS reveals more of the same taxpayer abuse that we have found across the state’s government pension system,” said TUA President Jim Tobin, in a press release that provided JRS pensioner data.
“Not only do these judges benefit from the redistribution of taxpayer wealth, they also rule in their own favor to protect the Illinois pension cabal when practical, necessary reforms are challenged in the courts.”
Retired judges in the state’s Fifth Judicial District on average will make at least 20 times – or 2,000 percent – more in lifetime benefits than they paid into their pension fund.
A review of 39 of these judges’ benefits shows that the total of their contributions into JRS was $6,920,809 and their estimated lifetime benefit will be $150,543,282. The total paid to date to these judges is $33,096,062.
The current annual amount paid to them is $5,534,401, with an average annual benefit of $141,908.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Philip Rarick of Troy is the top recipient with an annual benefit of $203,859. He served 29.83 years on the bench, having retired from the high court at age 64 in December 2004. He contributed $179,998 into JRS, and his contribution of lifetime benefits is estimated at 4.5 percent.
He was paid $173,261 annually at the time he left office.
Rarick has so far received $1,913,508 in retirement benefits, and at the age of 85 will have received $3,984,528.
Fifth District Appellate Court Judge Gordon Maag receives an annual benefit of $111,084. He served 17.92 years on the bench, and at age 55, was not retained by voters in November 2004. He contributed $232,112 into JRS, and his contribution of lifetime benefits is estimated at 5.9 percent.
He was paid $163,070 annually at the time he left office.
Maag has so far received $947,139 in retirement benefits, and at the age of 85 will have received $3,931,995.
Recently reitred St. Clair County Associate Judge Ellen Dauber began receiving benefits at the beginning of this year. She will receive $154,037 annually. She served 25.42 years on the bench and retired at age 55. She contributed $282,290 into JRS, and her contribution of lifetime benefits is estimated at 3.8 percent.
Her annual salary when she retired was $181,212.
Dauber has so far received $12,836. At the age of 85 she will have received $7,341,213.
Former Madison County Associate Judge Duane Bailey began receiving benefits last July, after his term expired and he was not re-appointed. He receives $73,264 annually. He served 8.33 years on the bench and was 59 years old when he left. Bailey contributed $118,698 into JRS, and his contribution of lifetime benefits is estimated at 4.4 percent.
His rate of pay when he left office was $177,667.
Bailey has so far received $42,737. At the age of 85, he will have received $2,713,879.
In TUA’s press release issued Monday, it also found:
· Total number of JRS pension beneficiaries is approximately 1,121.
· 751, or 67 percent, collect pensions in excess of $100,000.
· 1,011, or 90 percent of retired judges, collect pensions in excess of $50,000.
· The average JRS pension is $117,473.
· The average age of retirement is 62.
· In fiscal year 2015, taxpayer contributions to the fund were $134,039,684 or 90 percent of total contributions.
· In fiscal year 2015, judges’ contribution to their own pension fund was $15,431,105.
· The net investment return was only 5.1 percent or $36,009,150.
· As of the end of fiscal year 2015, JRS had a 35.4 percent funded ratio with a $1.5 billion unfunded liability.
Tobin stated that the JRS pension system is “ripe with conflicts of interest and corruption and it is protected at every level of a government that chooses to serve itself rather than the constituents it was intended to protect.”
He said the JRS “has been stealing taxpayer wealth since 1941.”
Tobin blames Democrat House Speaker Michael Madigan,
“The ever powerful boss Madigan has supported and promoted the passage of legislation to make these government pensions so very lucrative,” he said.
“It’s past time for the elite ‘ruling class’ to do what is right for taxpayers and to quit padding their bank accounts with the sweat of the working-class. It’s time for boss Madigan and these judges to make government pension reform a reality.”
