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State receipts down $5 billion, unpaid health insurance claims top $3 billion

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* COGFA

Year To Date

Through April, base receipts are down $4.977 billion. The drop reflects comparatively lower income tax rates for the first part of the fiscal year, the one-time nature of some pharmaceutical court settlements recovered by the Attorney General‘s Office last fiscal year, no fund sweeps year to date, and the dismal performance of federal sources.

Gross personal income taxes are down $2.494 billion, $2.212 billion net of refunds, or $2.692 billion when the diversions to the education and human service funds are included. Gross corporate income taxes are behind last year’s receipting by $616 million, or $551 million net of refunds. Other sources are $139 million lower, reflecting the aforementioned court settlement proceeds received last fiscal year. Public utility taxes are off $59 million, while corporate franchise taxes declined $7 million.

A few sources managed to post modest gains. Insurance taxes are ahead of last year’s pace by $29 million, inheritance taxes are up $22 million, sales tax has managed a paltry $19 million increase, liquor taxes $3 million, and cigarette taxes $1 million.

Excluding last year’s $1.074 billion funds sweeps, overall transfers are down $8 million. Lottery transfers are ahead of last year by $23 million, but are offset by a $14 million decline in riverboat transfers, as well as $32 million less from all other transfers.

Federal sources are now down $521 million when compared to last fiscal year. Federal sources to the general funds have been off the expected pace for almost all of the fiscal year. A contributing factor to the poor year for general funds federal source performance has been a large amount of Medicaid bills being paid from the Healthcare Provider Relief Fund, rather than the GRF. [Federal reimbursement is deposited into the fund from which it was spent]. At this late stage of the fiscal year, even if spending and subsequent reimbursements shift back to general funds, federal sources are likely to fall well short of FY 2016 expectations.

* Meanwhile

Now in its eleventh month, Illinois continued operation without an enacted budget has resulted in the State Employee Group Insurance Program (SEGIP) building up a large backlog of unpaid claims. As of the end of April, approximately $3.10 billion in claims were being held by the state from various insurers, organizations, and companies. Of this total, the largest portion is approximately $1.56 billion of Managed Care claims. The second largest line, Prescriptions, Open Access Plans, and Mental Health claims, totals $920 million. The third largest portion of the overall claims hold comes from CIGNA, which has $506 million in claims currently held by the state.

Concurrently, the estimated time for claims to be held is 522 days for Managed Care, 476-554 days for CIGNA, and 448-501 days for Prescriptions/OAPs/Mental Health. This information and other pertinent data is displayed on the chart below. As noted in previous SEGIP updates, without an enacted budget, claims will continue to build up and estimated claims hold times will increase.

* Related…

* Illinois legislators consider more higher education funding

* Plan To Equalize Illinois Universities’ Stopgap Funding Disparities

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 11:56 am

Comments

  1. Rep. Ron Sandack, thoughts?

    @RonSandack: I’m frustrated 2, but taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate. - Ron Sandack, 9/28/15

    Thanks.

    Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 11:59 am

  2. SlickheadSandy really exposea himself when he tries to look like he is thinkin’

    Comment by Annonin' Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:03 pm

  3. The reasons that the tax receipts are down is self-explanatory and shouldn’t be a surprise. We need more revenue- that is also not a surprise.

    The insurance claims are now between 15 and 18 months behind. Any private employer doing this would be explaining themselves to a federal watchdog.

    Comment by Thoughts Matter Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:03 pm

  4. “The reasons that the tax receipts are down is self-explanatory and shouldn’t be a surprise. We need more revenue- that is also not a surprise.”

    Understood but did anyone see the article about the hedge fund billionaire resident of New Jersey who just moved his residence and business to Florida, which has no income tax? New Jersey is predicting that move will cause $300MM annual hit to its budget. If you raise income tax or put in a graduated income tax, the people at the higher end will move their tax residence to a lower or no tax state.

    Comment by 32nd Ward Roscoe Village Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:06 pm

  5. It’s been really fun paying for my daughter’s birth without the assistance of insurance these last 10 months. But Illinois probably doesn’t need me to spend all that money on consumer goods, so no big whoop

    Comment by Johnny Pyle Driver Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:08 pm

  6. ==A contributing factor to the poor year for general funds federal source performance has been a large amount of Medicaid bills being paid from the Healthcare Provider Relief Fund, rather than the GRF. [Federal reimbursement is deposited into the fund from which it was spent]. At this late stage of the fiscal year, even if spending and subsequent reimbursements shift back to general funds, federal sources are likely to fall well short of FY 2016 expectations.==

    Superstar management!

    Comment by Precinct Captain Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:08 pm

  7. Hello governor Brownback.

    Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:17 pm

  8. = If you raise income tax or put in a graduated income tax, the people at the higher end will move their tax residence to a lower or no tax state.=

    Nice that you are carrying their “sky is falling” flag for the ultra wealthy. Maybe they will hire you as domestic staff.

    Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:20 pm

  9. Hey OW, are you planning a birthday party for that tweet? LOL

    Comment by Ducky LaMoore Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:20 pm

  10. Johnny Pyle Driver makes a good point. Many of us are spending our money on medical bills upfront rather than on consumer goods. I have over $30,000 in bills from last year, just hope the providers don’t send them to collections. And cannot wait for my health insurance cost to double and still not be able to use it…

    Comment by Jimmy H Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:22 pm

  11. ===Hey OW, are you planning a birthday party for that tweet? LOL===

    It is the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it?

    If Rep. Sandack would pull up the tweet on “the computer”, and print it, sign it, and get that to me, boy, that’d be a fun way to commemorate it…

    Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:23 pm

  12. To JS- why blame Rauner. The income tax rate had a democratic sunset. They told us the temp bump to 5 was the answer to all ills. I don’t think Rauner was in office back then/ was he? The legislature has spent more then it takes in for a long time and shows no interest in changing its spending habits

    Comment by Sue Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:28 pm

  13. @JS MILL

    –Nice that you are carrying their “sky is falling” flag for the ultra wealthy. Maybe they will hire you as domestic staff.–

    Let me guess, JS, you draw a government paycheck in Illinois and don’t care from where the money comes to get it paid, right?

    If you’re in public education, you’re used to relying primarily to real estate taxes to pay your bills so that you can gouge the taxpayers since “real estate doesn’t move”. Under Illinois unfair law, when real estate values tank, TIFs are granted or special deals like senior discounts are given, the taxpayers lose, but you don’t. The increasing revenue (by inflation or 5%) is just shifted to the remaining taxpayers.

    Problem is that capital, income and private sector jobs CAN move. Allowing freedom for the masses really is a thorn in the public sectors side, isn’t it?

    Comment by Zonker Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:29 pm

  14. Here I go again. Pass a 1.5% tax to be used strictly to pay off back bills and attempt to get the financial house in order. Make this to last until the end of Rauner’s 1st term so that he can supervise that it is actually used to pay off back bills and not shifted around in some clever way. I am trusting him! How could he oppose this!

    The 1.5% surtax would be charged to everyone, including pensioners, although any amount they paid in income tax would be credited and applied to this surcharge. That way everyone is contributing something to this mess.

    Yea, I know, it has a chance in Hades.

    This idea is not that bad and yet no one on either side of the aisle is really trying to achieve a solution that would help. If the Gov and the GA have a better idea that they can agree to , let’s see it instead of just pointing the finger at each other.

    Comment by Federalist Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:29 pm

  15. ===…why blame Rauner. The income tax rate had a democratic sunset. They told us the temp bump to 5 was the answer to all ills. I don’t think Rauner was in office back then/ was he? The legislature has spent more then it takes in for a long time and shows no interest in changing its spending habits===

    Oh - Sue -, LOL

    Rauner made a huge mistake with the sunseting…

    While it was going to happen, Gov-Elect Rauner inserted himself, often, multiple times, in personally requesting that the 5% sunsets.

    Had Rauner kept silent, your argument would have significant weight. Rauner did NOT keep silent, and lobbied for the sunseting to happen, so… your comment makes very little sense.

    Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:33 pm

  16. Maybe GOP officials can declare an emergency and take over management of the state of IL like they did in Flint. Wait, this already is GOP management. Darn.

    Comment by X-prof Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:33 pm

  17. “why blame Rauner.”

    Because he ran on the premise that he could balance the budget without the tax and that he didn’t have an anti-union agenda. To date he has yet to even PROPOSE a balanced budget and has instead spent the entire year trying to crush unions. Meanwhile, our backlog of bills has exploded, social service providers have shut their doors, turning their starving, mentally ill children and elderly back onto the streets, schools are on the verge of closure, and our credit rating continues to tumble.

    Comment by Johnny Pyle Driver Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:35 pm

  18. 32 blah,

    um those states have had no
    inc taxes for decades. if the people were plannining to move based on income tax they would already be gone. yah cant beat 0 inc tax….. which several states have. By yur logice california should havr no wealthy people… they have much higher inc tax at 13.3%! under your model the state should be empty…. Iguess your logic works as well as trickle down economics, which should have pushed receipts up for the year when taxes went down….

    Comment by Ghost Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:36 pm

  19. ===…so that you can gouge the taxpayers…===

    School Boards dictate the taxing, maybe you should start there.

    Again, with the “taxpayers”, who isn’t paying taxes.

    Be. Very. Specific.

    ===Under Illinois unfair law, when real estate values tank, TIFs are granted or special deals like senior discounts are given, the taxpayers lose, but you don’t.===

    So Senior Tax Freeze… but they’re still paying taxes, thus “taxpayers”… the anger your have, LOL!

    ===Problem is that capital, income and private sector jobs CAN move. Allowing freedom for the masses really is a thorn in the public sectors side, isn’t it?===

    What does that even MEAN, lol.

    You should just say…

    “Get off my lawn, you aren’t like me!”

    … and save all your typing.

    Pathetic.

    Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:38 pm

  20. The unpaid medical bills are a huge concern. The other stewards and I were just talking about this yesterday. We’ve got four people in my immediate vicinity that are on payment plans to pay off medical bills or they can’t get treatment now. These are bills our state health insurance was supposed to pay. I get what I call “love calls” from collectors quite regularly that my kids orthodontist uses. The state hasn’t paid and therefore they are coming after me. It’s bad. Really bad. Nobody has had to pay upfront yet but almost everyone has put off dental work. Rumors have it that others have had to pay upfront for extractions, etc. This is THEFT! We are paying our premiums and yet not getting the services!

    Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:39 pm

  21. Five billion short … Kinda puts into context that $2 billion voodoo economics forecast Rauner put out on the graduated tax proposal.

    Comment by vibes Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:42 pm

  22. If you want to do something read Today’s suntimes. According to an opinion piece by Scott Reader- Illinois with 6.6 million fewer residents has 970 school districts compared to 74 in Florida. And you wonder why we have a spending problem. We have 900 more superintendents administering 900 more school districts. Illinois deserves the problems it has since our citizenry tolerates our political system which demonstrates no inclination to fix things but instead just seems intent on raising more tax revenue

    Comment by Sue Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:54 pm

  23. My wife is paying up front for dental work. None of it is emergency or anything, but she isn’t going to put off oral health just because the state is a deadbeat

    Comment by Johnny Pyle Driver Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 12:55 pm

  24. Thanks Bruce. And thanks for all your disciples here who believe in your Sctick — despite seeing the results of your position to decrease income tax revenues.
    You own this, Bruce.

    Comment by Austin Blvd Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 1:05 pm

  25. ==If you’re in public education, you’re used to relying primarily to real estate taxes to pay your bills so that you can gouge the taxpayers==

    No, actually, people who are in public education are used to being paid for the work that they perform as employees. Otherwise, they would be known as volunteers. Where the money comes from isn’t their fault. You do realize that when you provide a service for a fee you expect to get that fee?

    Comment by thoughts matter Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 1:25 pm

  26. Do we here in Illinois really want to emulate the Florida public school system?
    Floridas school test scores are some of the lowest in the nation.
    And the Florida State Board Of Educations response is to lower the score needed to pass….

    http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2016/01/06/florida-education-bar-passes-more-lenient-test-scores/78392408/

    Comment by btowntruth Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 1:32 pm

  27. Sue, while I certainly agree there’s a lot of room for district consolidation (particularly with 1 or 2 school elementary or high school districts) the major problem with your argument is that there are a lot of places where consolidation failed because families don’t want their children spending hours on buses twice a day, or want the experience of a small school or don’t want the loss of town identity. Ultimately if that’s what the local voters want that is their decision and I don’t think the State should engage in forced consolidation which is the only way to get a dramatic reduction in the number of school districts.

    Comment by MyTwoCents Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 1:32 pm

  28. Someone needs to conduct teacher evaluations when the Republicans kill tenure. There are not enough administrators to do that now.

    Comment by Liberty Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 2:23 pm

  29. – If you raise income tax or put in a graduated income tax, the people at the higher end will move their tax residence to a lower or no tax state.–

    Rich Hollywood and Marin County types bankrolled Prop. 30 in Cali.

    Bill Gates led the (failed) initiative to institute a graduated income tax in Washington.

    Warren Buffett thinks there should be a higher federal bracket for the super-rich.

    The effective income tax rate for millionaires in NYC is 12.6%. Donald Trump and David Koch are among the greatest concentration of millionaires in the United States who claim their residencies there.

    Ken Griffin was born and raised in Florida. Yet he chose to make his billions in Illinois.

    And on and on and on…. “The rich will flee” argument is empty.

    Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 2:30 pm

  30. @ thoughts matter

    =No, actually, people who are in public education are used to being paid for the work that they perform as employees. Otherwise, they would be known as volunteers. Where the money comes from isn’t their fault. You do realize that when you provide a service for a fee you expect to get that fee?=

    Far too often their paid multiples of what their work value is at market rates. That’s when the taxpayers are being gouged and employees overpaid.

    One case in point is drivers ed instructors. One Southwest suburban school district I know pays pays well over $110K for 178 days work when teachers have 20 years experience and are 30 hours past their masters. Being a drivers ed instructor pays about $40K per year for a full work year. That’s clearly gouging and unfair due to statutes from springfield and School Board featherbedding.

    Comment by Zonker Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 2:47 pm

  31. ===Far too often their paid multiples of what their work value is at market rates. That’s when the taxpayers are being gouged and employees overpaid.===

    Nope.

    “Why?”

    Teachers leave for better teaching jobs ALL the time, and that includes pay. So, no.

    Further, School Districts know that, so they offer pay to KEEP good teachers from leaving.

    Fair Market? Fair Market.

    Capiche?

    Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 2:55 pm

  32. Zonker - I can’t help what a surbyrban school district pays- downstate Illinois doesn’t pay that. Our teachers teach multiple subjects, chaperone evening activities and field trips, collect admission fees at sports events, and so forth. Of course, we are lucky to have textbooks for everyone. No fancy tennis courts, swimming pools, or football stadiums.

    Comment by Thoughts Matter Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 3:00 pm

  33. Sue:
    The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I’ve got family that moved to Florida. They tell me the public schools there are terrible. Wish they were back here.

    Comment by GA Watcher Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 3:56 pm

  34. == They told us the temp bump to 5 was the answer to all ills. ==

    Everyone conveniently forgets that while the temp tax was put in, the GA did not follow through with the bond offering that was supposed to refinance / pay off the backlog of bills. Only half the plan was followed, so you only got half a solution.

    Comment by RNUG Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 3:58 pm

  35. Word- tell that BS to NJ dept of revenue who last week reported David Tepper moved to Florida. He paid NJ 146 million last year in taxes and said his move to NJ along with his hedge fund was solely tax motivated

    Comment by Sue Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 4:27 pm

  36. By the way- school quality is very address specific. St Johns county in NE Florida has one of the best school systems in the country. It is also the second fastest growing county in the US. Schools in Illinois are not uniform in quality either. We have many great school districts and a lot of crappy ones as well.

    Comment by Sue Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 4:31 pm

  37. Sue, your one-off aside, please point out any inaccurate example I gave.

    And thank RNUG for correcting your chronically faulty memory.

    Comment by Wordslinger Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 4:33 pm

  38. Word- Ken G may decide to move if you bump his effective tax rate to 9. As I said yesterday- I won’t care if they resume the 5 percent rate. It isn’t worth moving for 1.25 in savings- move it up to 9 and a lot of us who have the luxury to relocate will have to give it serious thought. Spending 6 months and a day in Florida wouldn’t be so bad

    Comment by Sue Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 4:38 pm

  39. http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/state-with-no-income-tax-better-or-worse-2.aspx

    Link to a reasonable article weighing the plusses and minuses of state income taxes.

    Comment by My New Handle Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 5:54 pm

  40. Sue, you seem to forget Florida will be underwater someday soon.

    Comment by Jorge Wednesday, May 4, 16 @ 7:17 pm

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