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Chicago — It’s that time of year again: when trees are aflame with fall colors, football is in full swing, the little goblins are blissfully anticipating the thought of mountains of candy, and…the government cabal is again reaching for your wallet!
Rather than cut spending to meet the existing revenue, hundreds of government agencies are expecting voters to approve measures that will steal even more of our hard-earned money.
In these difficult economic times, government school bureaucrats are seeking bond issues of gargantuan proportions to build new schools, athletic facilities, and other non-educational expenditures.
These bonds and the interest on the principle are paid by raising your property taxes.
Champaign Community Unit School District #4 is seeking an unbelievable $183.4 million in bond debt for building enhancements, additions, and even a new building. This is their third bite at the apple as referenda for $144 Million and $149 million have failed in the most recent elections.
If that isn’t bad enough, the Village of Round Lake Park is seeking a bond issue approval of $5.4 million to reduce the amount of unfunded pension liabilities for the police. Borrowing money to pay a debt is much like paying one credit card with another. This practice can lead to nothing but trouble for the taxpayers of Round Lake Park.
Overall, there are 218 tax-increase, advisory, and other miscellaneous referenda on the ballot for the general election on Tuesday, November 8, 2016.
Please check the list at the link below to see if you will be facing any of these referenda on your ballot. We need to send a loud and clear message to the government bureaucrats that we have had enough!
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 General Election Referenda
Taxpayers United has been fighting for taxpayers for over forty years. We have saved taxpayers billions of their hard-earned dollars by helping to defeat 420 local property tax increases since our founding in 1976.
View as PDF Chicago — On October 12, 2016, dozens of Illinois taxpayers from Taxpayers United of America (TUA) and Illinois Tax Revolution (ITR) converged on the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago to protest devastating property tax hikes, calling for immediate reforms at the local and state level.
ITR co-founders Bob Anderson of Wonder Lake, Joe Tirio of Woodstock, and Dan Aylward of McHenry have organized two previous tax protests since founding their new grassroots movement this past summer. They made headlines earlier this year when members of the newly formed group began paying the first and second installments of their property tax bills in dollar bills.
Working with TUA, both groups are pursuing systemic changes to local and state government in Illinois, including property tax relief, government pension reform, and consolidating school districts and the roughly 7,000 taxing bodies in Illinois, or eliminating some of them altogether.
“The Cato Institute recently published its annual Freedom in the 50 States analysis, and unfortunately for our residents, Illinois is ranked 44th for fiscal, regulatory, and personal freedom policies overall,” said Jared Labell, executive director of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“The study clearly explains why Illinois is one of the most fiscally irresponsible states today. Whether it’s regarding local taxes (ranked 49th), government subsidies (ranked 47th), government debt (ranked 44th), or overall fiscal policy (ranked 48th), Illinois’ state and local governments are getting away with highway robbery every day that they operate on taxpayers’ dollars without implementing long-lasting reforms to solve their perpetual fiscal nightmare.”
“Illinoisans’ residential property-tax burden has risen by 76 percent in the last quarter-century. In the span of just a few decades, residential taxpayers now pay more than two-thirds of all property taxes in Illinois, which has the second-highest residential property taxes in the country.”
“We are proud to be working alongside the members of Illinois Tax Revolution in our pursuit of rolling back property taxes, reforming government pensions, and eliminating financially burdensome and unnecessary taxing bodies in Illinois,” said Labell.
“Our concerns will be taken to Springfield during the fall veto session, and we intend to speak with the leadership of the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. Rauner (R) to ensure that government officials hear our grievances loud and clear. With the help of our supporters and taxpayers across Illinois, there is no doubt that our message will be heard and addressed.”
“Nearly forty years after TUA’s founder and president, Jim Tobin, led his successful property tax strike, another tax revolt is on the horizon and portends to be more widespread. Taxpayer outrage can only be quelled by reducing the tax burden currently smothering average folks across Illinois,” said Labell. “The politicians would prefer that we remained silent, but we have a message for the taxpayers of Illinois: Taxes are revolting, why aren’t you?”
View as PDF Chicago —Taxpayers United of America (TUA) has fought disastrous government tax policies for forty years, and unfortunately, the government thrives off of the poor decisions made by politicians. Earlier this week, sources close to former President George H. W. Bush (R) leaked word that he would vote for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) in this November’s presidential election.
As a non-partisan taxpayer advocacy organization, the politics of that disclosure aren’t as relevant as the impact of tax policies on the economy and your average taxpayer’s bank account. Clinton, hardly a budget hawk, seems like an odd choice for the former president, unless you know his record.
At the 1988 Republican National Convention, then-Vice President Bush made his notorious statement, “My opponent won’t rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes and I’ll say no. And they’ll push, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push again, and I’ll say, to them, ‘Read my lips: no new taxes.’”
However, two years later, Congress pushed for higher taxes and Bush capitulated, signing into law higher income tax rates, raising taxes on gasoline, tobacco, liquor, wine and beer, as well as hitting the elderly with higher premiums and deductibles for Medicare.
“We’re upset that Congressman Daniel Rostenkowski (D) and President Bush are about to sign the biggest tax increase in Washington since 1982,” said TUA’s president and founder, Jim Tobin, as he led protests in Chicago against the powerful chair of the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee and President Bush. The Chicago protest coincided with other taxpayers voicing their grievances with the government across the country. “If politicians tell you that they are trying to balance the budget, they’re lying. They plan on more than $100 billion in higher spending next year,” concluded Tobin.
As the government accrues massive debts and increasingly spends beyond its budget, taxpayers are doubly burdened with tax hikes and a weakened economy. The private sector is drained of resources, and the government perpetuates its cycle of debt, spending and taxes, only to offer more of the same as a solution.
Bush denounced tax hikes in 1988 only to relent two years later. The subsequent failing economy sank his approval ratings leading into the 1992 election, which he then lost to Bill Clinton (D).
TUA’s opposition to ruinous tax policies is not bound by political party, but only our fidelity to taxpayers. Average folks struggle to provide for themselves and their families, due in large part to counterproductive government taxes. Taxpayers can trust that TUA will always champion the interests of our supporters and members, never backing down or compromising, unlike former President and current Hillary Clinton supporter, George H. W. Bush.
