Dixon & Sterling Government Bureaucrats Still Stealing From Taxpayers

By on February 11, 2015   /   Illinois, Latest, Pension Reform, Rae Ann McNeilly, Taxpayer Alert  

View as PDF Dixon, IL – Lee and Whiteside County area government pensions are decimating area taxpayers according to a study by the state’s largest taxpayer group, Taxpayers United of America (TUA). The study reveals the individual pensions paid to the retirees of Sterling, Dixon, Lee County, Whiteside County government employees.
“Our study shows that Lee and Whiteside County taxpayers are still being robbed blind by government bureaucrats in the form of lavish, gold-plated pensions,” stated TUA’s executive director, Rae Ann McNeilly.
“Dixon taxpayers should have taken back some of the money stolen from them by former comptroller, Rita Crundwell, when they had the chance.”
“Instead, Dixon politicians took the money from one thief and spread it around many thieves by dumping recovered millions into the immoral pension cabal.”
“This is the epitome of throwing good money after bad. This one-time infusion of cash will only slightly delay the inevitable hard-fail of an unsustainable crony system designed to siphon money from taxpayers for the benefit a the few.”
“Dixon and Sterling are increasing the property tax levy by the maximum allowable amount without a referendum or hearing year after year. True to bureaucratic form, Sterling city administrator, Scott Shumer, blames other bureaucrats for making the increase necessary because ‘the cities have no say’ in setting pension benefits.”
“But as the state budget is cut and less money will be sent back to municipalities, bureaucrats like Shumer will continue to reach into taxpayers’ wallets to feed their lust for other peoples’ money rather than cut expenses to balance budgets.”
“For those of us in the private sector, we must reduce our spending if our income decreases; we can’t just go to our employer and demand more money to fund irresponsible spending.”
“Yes, the pension promises made constitute irresponsible spending! Where else can a person get guaranteed payouts of millions on such a small personal investment?”
“Consider the annual pension of $169,467 being paid to retired government teacher, Boyce J. Wolf from Rock Falls TWP HSD 301. His estimated lifetime payout is $5.7 million! Retiring at the ripe old age of 57, his personal investment in that gold-plated payout was a mere $174,215, or 3.1%.”
 
“Then there is Gerald L. Carslon, retired from the Dixon municipal government. He get’s $44,911 in annual pension payments but because he retired at only 55, those payments with compounded annual cost of living adjustments will accumulate to more than $2 million! His personal investment was only about 3.1% or $62,918.”
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“The average Social Security ‘pension’ is only about $15,000 a year and taxpayers pay about 15% of every penny they earn for that modest payout.”
“There are hundreds of area government pensions getting theses lavish, million dollar pensions. Statewide there are more than 11,000 government retirees getting more than $100,000 a year in pension payments.”
“This pension cabal is the single cause of Illinois’ critical financial situation and it is mathematically impossible to tax our way out of this situation.”
“This financial squeeze of paying for yesterday’s services with today’s tax dollars is only going to get worse if Governor Rauner successfully cuts spending in the coming years. Any relief of those spending cuts will never reach taxpayers if municipal governments continue to increase the property tax levies as is happening throughout Lee and Whiteside Counties.”
“The Illinois government has failed us; local governments have failed us. Government employees would rally behind pension reform if their union bosses and the pols they elect were honest with them about the future of their pensions. It is 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.”
“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, then what are we waiting for?”

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Warning: Illinois’ Cigarette Tax Policy Hazardous to Your Health!

By on February 10, 2015   /   Illinois, Latest, News Releases, Rae Ann McNeilly, Uncategorized  

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Chicago – In its latest study that compares cigarette tax rates to cigarette smuggling rates, the Tax Foundation confirms our long-held position that the egregious cigarette tax hikes in Illinois, Cook County, and Chicago promote crime and present greater danger to residents, according to Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“Illinois’ cigarette smuggling rate has increased by 102% from 2006 to 2013. We predicted such a rise, and I testified to these facts at the Cook County Board hearings on their most recent tax increase. We can safely predict that this crime rate will continue to increase since, despite our warning, Cook County proceeded with an additional $1.00 per pack tax increase in March of 2013. Worse yet, Chicago doubled down and increased their per pack tax by $0.50 in January of 2014 making cigarette purchases made in Chicago the highest tax rate in the country at $7.17* per pack,” stated Rae Ann McNeilly, executive director for TUA.
“It’s troubling that their lust for other peoples’ money, aka taxes, limits the ability of the tax-raising bureaucrats to look beyond the faulty logic that tax increases are a good thing when all of the years of data and analysis support our position that such tax increases are not only immoral, but detrimental to the community by expanding black markets and the additional crimes associated with illegal activity.”
“We can’t say it enough times; tax increases serve one purpose only and that is to grow government. 80% of local taxes go to fund salaries and benefits of government employees. Government bureaucrats are desperate to keep the defunct Illinois pension system afloat for as long as they can.”
“Cook County Sheriff, Tom Dart, attributed the shortfall in revenue projections from the prior cigarette tax increase to the black market sales and still the bureaucrats failed to heed the warnings.”
“These cigarette tax increases are especially insulting to taxpayers. The bureaucrats rely on the faulty belief that sin taxes, as they are called, influence behavior in a positive way inducing people to quit smoking. The reality, as supported by years of data, is that these tax policies create a whole new danger to the community while relatively few people actually quit; they simply find a black market source for their habit.”
“When you look at Illinois’ map, it is easy to so how close you are at any location within the state to lower tax and lower cost cigarettes across the bFF450-Charts_1orders of neighboring states. From anywhere in the state, you are never more than a couple of hours’ drive from much lower priced cigarettes. And for those who can’t or don’t drive, the entrepreneurial smuggler is at your service.”
“Until we finally reform Illinois’ pension system, we can expect to see bureaucrats across the state raise taxes wherever they can and cigarettes are an easy target.”
“The Illinois government has failed us; local governments have failed us. Government employees would rally behind pension reform if their union bosses and the pols they elect were honest with them about the future of their pensions. It is 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.”
“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, then what are we waiting for?”

*The associated Tax Foundation data does not include the $1.01 federal excise tax imposed on each pack of cigarettes.
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