43 Comments - 47th Ward - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:03 pm: Come to think of it, he didn’t say a word about apple pie. I really like apple pie. Why does Pritzker hate apple pie? - wordslinger - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:05 pm: Willful ignorance is the foundation of the tronc edit board. - Steve - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:12 pm: It’s a fair point. You can’t raise taxes high enough to pay for the coming pension problems. Although, if things don’t change the SEC will eventually come knocking and shut them down for being too underfunded. - Dirty Red - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:13 pm: They lost me at, “The only way.” - 47th Ward - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:14 pm: ===You can’t raise taxes high enough to pay for the coming pension problems=== Wanna bet? - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:17 pm: ===You can’t raise taxes high enough to pay for the coming pension problems=== Maybe you should read the ILSC ruling on pensions and with that, recognize that Illinois has not hit a level of taxation that can’t fund state government and the pension obligation AND bonding responsibilities. You may not like it, but…. - Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:18 pm: Then why os the new Governor cutting the pension payment 800 million dollars? - Jibba - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:18 pm: As I’ve said before, property taxes are not the state’s direct responsibility, so he ought to deal with it only after getting the state in order. Why borrow trouble from someone else when you have enough of your own? Silly. - NeverPoliticallyCorrect - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:20 pm: And just why would the party that championed these pension benefits and agreed to inadequate funding of pensions now be willing to take the honorable course and bring pension benefits into alignment with reality? Oh, that’s right they wouldn’t because they don’t have to. They’ve got Illinois government and it’s theirs to fix or not fix. If they don’t do it and if the Republicans can get their house in order then we might see some change. - Original Rambler - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:22 pm: When I read the editorial, I zeroed in on the word “only.” Just shaking my head at their blatant mischaracterizations. And Steve, you’re going to need to provide some authority for that last sentence. If there needs to be judicial intervention to resolve the pension issue, the court will order a tax increase before shutting “them” down - whoever or whatever that refers to. - Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:24 pm: ===the SEC will eventually come knocking=== The SEC has no regulatory authority with governmental pensions. - Pick a Name - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:24 pm: You may not like it, but……… Florida, Texas, Tennessee will love it - City Zen - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:25 pm: “Workers deserve an income tax cut and a property tax break.” Sorry, retirees, your property taxes remain sky high. - wondering - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:26 pm: The tronc’s pension amendment caterwauling is about one thing only, derail the progressive income tax or at least minimize it. Here is a change without an amendment being necessary that would shut them up, disallow real estate depreciation at the state level, it is farce anyway. Tax capital gains the same as wage earned income. Tell them it is because of the pension problem. They would quickly respond, “What pension problem?” - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:28 pm: The question was “can” the taxes be raised. Again, uber-people aren’t leaving due to their taxes being too high, those folks are staying, it’s those looking for other opportunities. Rich has had numerous posts about this migration. - Jibba - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:28 pm: Oh, that’s right they wouldn’t because they CAN’T. There, fixed it for you. - Anonymous - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:33 pm: How would amending the Illinois Constitution’s pension clause change the pensions of state workers who were hired after January 1, 2011? Would those pensions be even less than tier 2? I don’t think so. - Polpen - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:34 pm: The cost of TRS in this year is 1.2 billion. The cost of carrying debt is 3.6 billion for TRS alone. We can certainly afford the pensions. It’s the debt that is killing us. The constitutional change can not be made post facto, and therefore cannot affect the debt. Like it or not, the states hands are tied by 75 years of fiscal mismanagement. - wordslinger - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:35 pm: –Although, if things don’t change the SEC will eventually come knocking and shut them down for being too underfunded.– How in the world did you land there? The SEC has as much regulatory authority over public pension funds as the WWE or FFA. - Grandson of Man - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:37 pm: “Workers deserve an income tax cut and a property tax break.” You got that right, bucko. The entire passage from which the quote derives is beautiful. I suspect a plan will emerge in which many would get an income tax cut—maybe not a big cut but a cut nonetheless. We’ll see who will oppose a tax cut for many and be exposed as protecting the well-off, even as they scream of how taxes need to be cut. - Stuntman Bob's Brother - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:42 pm: ==Florida, Texas, Tennessee will love it== You left out Nevada. I was in Laughlin last week and the river was wonderful, shirtsleeve weather. Not sure about August, though. - City Zen - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:54 pm: ==We can certainly afford the pensions. It’s the debt that is killing us.== We can certainly afford the house. It’s the mortgage that is killing us. - Anonymous - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:57 pm: The troncbune has lost it. You cannot go back and retroactively change the constitution. Pension reform already happened with tier 2. The tier 2 benefits are awful. It is not a good pension. The new hires are already subsidizing it. A 401k plan at this point would cost the state even more compared to tier 2. This pension thing is pants-on-head silly. - Chicago Cynic - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:58 pm: Kelly Cassidy likes to quote the saying that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason and they should be used in proportion. This seems rather apt. L.I.S.T.E.N. - Southern_Dawg - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:58 pm: I can’t believe this governor isn’t saying all the things his opponent, whom he beat handily, said for 4 long sorry years. It’s almost like there wasn’t even an election. - Lester Holt’s Mustache - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 1:58 pm: ==Florida, Texas, Tennessee will love it== I don’t know, if we start sending all the folks who spent decades electing incompetent fools to public office and then proceeded to spend the rest of their days on message boards complaining about the results of the actions taken by the same incompetent fools that they themselves elected, those states might become angry with Illinois. Might even try to charge us with an “unhelpful emigrate” fee of some sort, what with those people’s inevitable ruination of their new home state and all. - Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 2:15 pm: The proposal puts another $375 million into local public school funding. At some point people should start asking their school board members (whose budgets generally gobble up the most local property tax dollars) about property taxes. The State of Illinois doesn’t have a property tax. - SSL - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 2:21 pm: I’m just waiting to see what Pritzker’s definition of “fair” is. Once he sits down with Mike and John to hammer it out I hope he shares it with us. I don’t think the math works to support a tax cut for the middle class on down. - TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 2:31 pm: Giving a larger voice to Batinick is something republicans are going to regret. You know what I didn’t hear, Mark? How the village of plainfield just pushed $9M of increased property taxes onto people who don’t live in the village, so the village can cover up for the mismanagement of its own funds over the last decade. I also didn’t hear anything about one of the largest TIF districts in the state being created by plainfield within the last few months. Amazingly, I never heard a word out of Batinick locally when all those things were being done by the village he calls home. - RNUG - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 2:32 pm: == Although, if things don’t change the SEC will eventually come knocking and shut them down for being too underfunded. == I don’t believe they have any juristiction over a state pension fund for state employees. - Anonymous - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 2:38 pm: Give it 2 years of no state income tax increase. Pass a progressive income tax, or not in 2020. 2021 is when a big tax increase will hit Illinois tax payers. - RNUG - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 2:39 pm: == Then why os the new Governor cutting the pension payment 800 million dollars? == Either so he can spend it elsewhere or not have to raise taxes by that amount. Pick whichever works for you. - RNUG - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 2:45 pm: == I don’t think the math works to support a tax cut for the middle class on down. == Depends on your definition of middle class. The 2016 income tax figures I posted yesterday and provided links too would indicate you could cut taxes for under either $50k or $75k while I was increasing on the $100k and up. - Typical - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 2:57 pm: If the Tribune would reimburse the state for the costs of litigating their constitutional amendment idea. I could support it. The Tribune wouldn’t do that because they know the idea would not withstand a legal challenge. The 1970 Pension Protection Clause is binding for an employee’s life (if hired before the amendment) even if the clause was amended out. Now future hires could get screwed but how much lower can tier two benefits go? - Demoralized - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 3:07 pm: The Tribune is going to continue to beat the same drum over and over - you have to cut benefits. Doesn’t matter what the Courts have said. They, like some others, don’t care. They’d rather waste time whining about it than be constructive and propose a fix that is Constitutional. - Deadbeat Conservative blocked once today - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 3:09 pm: =how much lower can tier two benefits go? = The deadbeat caucus does not recognize Tier 2. To answer your question, they could go lower by having employees pay in and get nothing back. - another illegal rip-off scheme. - Demoralized - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 3:10 pm: Maybe Rep Batnick can consult with that brilliant mathematician in his caucus, Rep. McSweeney, who has proposed cutting every tax out there without offering any sort of insight into how he would manage the budgets that would result from those tax increases. Cut property taxes? Of course. Of course I’d expect the Representative to support a corresponding income tax increase to offset the loss of revenue. - Anonymous - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 3:27 pm: It’s going to be very difficult to lower income taxes on the middle class and collect enough tax money to pay for all of the governors spending. Remember, the illinois median family income is $80,000. - Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 3:56 pm: ==At some point people should start asking their school board members (whose budgets generally gobble up the most local property tax dollars) about property taxes.== Please feel free to look over your local school’s budget and then go to the meetings and tell them where to cut. It turns out that much of a school’s spending is mandated by the state and most of the rest is determined by the limited supply of teachers, administrators, and staff (the market determines the salary necessary to attract and retain employees). You cannot cut special ed; you need administrators to fill out paperwork, evaluate teachers, etc; you need to provide lunch (and sometimes breakfast); you need to maintain the school building; you need to have certified teachers; you need to have aides; you need to provide transportation; etc. The expense side of the budget is not very flexible. The revenue side is a little federal money; state money (% varies widely); and the rest is property tax. Again, not very flexible. The property tax is determined by taking the expenses, subtracting state and federal revenue. If you want school boards to cut property taxes, the pathway is very simple: send more state money. (Yes, you could remove mandates, but they mostly for things we expect schools to provide like buses and special ed and a safe place for children.) - Morty - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 4:06 pm: As usual, the Trons edit board is hysterical, and not in the funny way - Kids Not Politics - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 4:17 pm: The new funding formula mandates $50 M of the $350 M in required new funding each year has to go to a property tax swap targeted towards high-tax low-wealth areas. So he is directly addressing it even if he didn’t highlight that provision. Also just generally increasing education funding decreases reliance on property taxes. - Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Feb 21, 19 @ 5:54 pm: ===We can certainly afford the house. It’s the second and third mortgage, running up all our credit cards to make the house payments, and skipping a few payments here and there to buy new furniture instead, that is killing us.=== Fixed that for ya. - Question More - Friday, Feb 22, 19 @ 4:26 am: Camelot: British Co. “Managing” IL Lottery sending profits to the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund in Canada. Makes sense. We love the “middle man” No Qualified Executives in IL to “Manage” the Lottery. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.