Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Unclear on the concept

Friday, May 10, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Her dear friends would know how to spell Baar…

Also, her dear friends might’ve thought to invite some of her former staff to the ceremony.

…Adding… They deleted the tweet, but I figured they would so I saved it.

18 Comments

Is it time to start thinking about merging some of Illinois’ counties?

Friday, May 10, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Illinois Policy Institute…

A small county in southwest Illinois is facing big pension obligations and the possibility that it won’t make payroll in late May.

Perry County faces a $1 million shortfall that is threatening its employees’ second payday in May. County leaders May 13 will consider recommendations to hike property taxes and fees, to curb spending, to lay off employees and to shorten their workweek.

“We basically need $1 million in the month of May just to meet payroll and to pay what bills we have left,” Perry County Treasurer Mary Jane Craft told WPSD-TV. “If we just meet payroll and not our bills, we still need $400,000.”

How did the county fall into crisis? Shrinking revenue and growing pension demands appear to be at the heart of the crisis.

Maybe we could address some of these problems by consolidating some of Illinois’ 102 counties. We talk about eliminating townships all the time, but counties spend real money and they’re all required by law to elect their own state’s attorneys, clerks, etc.

Tiny little Perry County has only 22,350 residents. That’s not even half a Chicago ward. Putnam County, the state’s smallest, has just 6,006 people.

The General Assembly could step in and redraw boundaries, but there is another way.

* From the Illinois Counties Code…

Sec. 1-4001. Petition to unite counties. Whenever any number of legal voters, not less than two hundred, one-half of such number being owners or life tenants of real estate, residing in any county in this State, shall petition the county board of their own county, for leave to have their own county united and annexed to any adjoining county, and shall also petition the county board of the adjoining county, to which they desire their county to be united and annexed, for leave to have their own county united and annexed to such adjoining county, it shall be the duty of the several county boards so petitioned, to order that the propositions provided for in this Division shall be submitted to the legal voters of their respective counties. The several county boards shall certify the propositions to the proper election officials who shall submit the question at a general election in accordance with the general election law. … Provided, that such proposition shall not be submitted or voted upon more often than once in 5 years.

Life tenants are defined here. The procedure for handling the mergers if approved by voters is here.

If nothing else, it would be fun to watch the hostile takeover attempts.

…Adding… The land-owning requirement probably isn’t constitutional for obvious reasons, but somebody ought to see if this could work.

48 Comments

Video gaming operators float alternative to Pritzker’s tax hike

Friday, May 10, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Grant Morgan…

If the state of Illinois wants more revenue from video gambling, one gaming industry executive said Thursday, lawmakers should loosen betting restrictions rather than raise video gambling tax rates.

Ivan Hernandez, who heads the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association, offered that proposal to the state House Executive Committee, which is considering several alternatives for increasing state revenue from video gambling. […]

Video gambling machines are taxed at 30%, with the remaining money split evenly between the machine operator and the establishment housing the machines. Pritzker’s plan would increase the state’s tax rate to 50%, resulting in more than $100 million in new revenue for state and local governments. […]

Elements of Hernandez’s proposal include raising the bet limit on single plays from $2 to $4, increasing the maximum winnings on a single play from $500 to $1,199, allowing games with higher jackpots, and increasing the number of gambling terminals allowed at one location from five to six.

Those measures, Hernandez said, would create $210 million in new tax revenue the first two years, without changing the tax rates.

I dunno. Maybe they can combine the two ideas somehow, while exempting small establishments from an increase and then give local governments a bigger share of the take for property tax relief or something.

As with sports betting, cannabis, etc. I think the more they’re talking about details, the better the prospects are. But only up to a certain point. May 31st is three weeks from today. That’s almost an eternity in General Assembly World, but it’s still just 21 days away.

…Adding… It’s Ivan Fernandez, not Ivan Hernandez. Hannah Meisel got the name right and has this context…

Along with the revenue enhancements, video gaming operators also floated the idea of allowing the state to use additional revenues to plug budget holes for the first two years, and assuming a progressive income tax passes — Pritzker’s number one priority — the money could then be funneled to “vertical” infrastructure projects, like building and maintenance of new construction projects around the state.

Those vertical projects are being pushed hard by colleges and universities, who point to old buildings as evidence the state hasn’t properly invested in every aspect of higher education.