Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: The Godfather *** Updated x1 ***
Next Post: Question of the day
Posted in:
This just makes no sense to me…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration pledged a veto of a regional sales-tax increase to help fund Chicago-area mass transit, saying Thursday that legislators should consider eliminating more corporate tax breaks instead. […]
The RTA says the CTA, Metra and Pace need a total of $226 million in additional operating subsidies to erase their deficits, with the CTA’s share being $110 million. Transit officials have said they will have to curtail bus and train service in the Chicago region if new funding is not part of a budget agreement when lawmakers and the governor resolve their stalemate.
Blagojevich officials said the governor remains opposed to sales tax hikes and thinks closing tax breaks would help transit and other budget needs.
Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston), who sponsored the transit sales-tax hike, said the governor should approve it because it is a regional tax that supports the Chicago area’s mass transit system. Eliminating business tax breaks further shifts the burden of funding mass transit costs onto the state, she said.
I know that I said earlier this week that the CTA, RTA and those who use the services should play a major role in any solution. I continue to believe it. But the governor’s opposition to sales and income tax hikes during his first term was because taxpayers shouldn’t be expected to bail out a corrupt state government. During his second term, he just says he doesn’t want to raise taxes on “people.”
This is a regional tax. People outside the service area would pay nothing. And, frankly, a quarter point is a pittance.
Governor, you can’t be Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt at the same time. If you want to expand government (health insurance), shore up education and fix the transportation infrastructure then you gotta dump this goofy GRT idea (which you brought up again during negotiations yesterday) and go with a different tax. If you don’t want to raise taxes that are acceptable to a majority of legislators and “the people,” then you have to back off your big ideas. It’s simple, really.
Anyway, here’s more on the end of session, the budget and etc., all compiled by a very hungover Paul…
* Tribune Editorial: Fix the trains and buses
* Daley steering clear of state stalemate
* Highlights of House Democrats budget proposal
* Sen. Radogno: An ‘utter failure’ to serve taxpayers
* House budget proposal would fail to cover Illinois expenses
* Jones talks of middle ground
* Editorial: Do nothing legislature merits no pay raises
* Lawmakers leave with no action on budget, electric rates
* Senator won’t apologize for remarks about governor
* Senate waits for rate freeze vote
* Rate vote will wait at least a week
This is an overtime session open thread.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 9:49 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: The Godfather *** Updated x1 ***
Next Post: Question of the day
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
“Governor, you can’t be Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt at the same time.”
As a matter of fact, I believe that this was the centerpiece of Rich Little’s act at the White House Correspondents Dinner this year.
I knew Rich Little.
I worked with Rich Little.
And you, Governor, are no Rich Little.
– SCAM
Comment by so-called "Austin Mayor" Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 9:53 am
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe that the RTA Act provides for eliminating corporate tax breaks as a revenue source.
Comment by Bluefish Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:02 am
Did Senator Radogno refer to “austerity” in her letter to the newspaper? I thought that this term was foreign to the vocabulary of Springfield politicians. Will she be expelled from the legislature for this heresy?
Imagine, spending less money when you cannot afford to spend more as a means of living on a budget and not incurring debt.
Comment by Honest Abe Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:26 am
Good for State Senator Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline.
No individual should apologize to anyone who has just threatened them.
It was Blagojevich’s tirade!
It was Blagojevich who railed on Jacobs!
It was Blagojevich who “blew up like a 10-year-old child”!
I don’t believe anything Blagojevich nor his administration cronies say. It’s all lies and spin.
Comment by Stand Your Ground Mr. Jacobs Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:30 am
Doubling our RTA sales tax is “a pittance.”
Just proving the best tax is a tax paid by someone else.
Comment by Cal Skinner Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:33 am
Cal, I would guess that the only people who are furious about the prospect of adding a quarter point onto the sales tax to prevent a transit meltdown are car-driving anti-tax zealots.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:40 am
.. Or, in the governor’s case, airplane-riding, helicopter-flown, Cadillac-chauffered anti-tax zealots.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:43 am
The Governor is an idiot. Please, Mr. Governor, raise my taxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!!!!
Comment by Jerry Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:47 am
The problem with all the mass transit systems is that they cannot get the cashbox to support the day to day operations.
As a resident of the collar counties, I get access to a very low quality of service and see nothing but empty busses clogging the roads and polluting the atmosphere with their black diesel exhaust. I do not want to send more $$ to Chicago to support the bloated burocracy there.
I fail to understand why the taxpayer has to support those who can use the systems to their advantage. Those in Lake Forest, Kenilworth or for that matter Antioch should be able to pay the full cost of the day to day operations. It is the responsibility of the resident to choose where to live in relation to their work location.
As structured today, wider access to public transport means increases in operational support by the taxpayer. This is simply unsubstainable. We need a better model.
It is one thing to have a model which builds highways and mass transport systems out of thepubli treasury, it is an entirely different thing to permanently subsidise the use of that same system.
We h ave been tweaking the old system for a very ling time. A bit here, a bit there. An insignifican quater percent.. a cup of coffee a day. At some time it will be too much.
The biggest danger to our system of govenment is that 60% of the people do not pay a federal income tax and percieve that their governmental services are a ‘right.’ There is no downside to voting oneself more benefits since it does not cost them anything.
I wonder what those statistics are at the state level?
Comment by Plutocrat03 Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:48 am
Well, I’m not a car-driving, anti-tax zealot (I always walk if it’s an option and our overall annual tax outlay is in the six figures) but I see no point in giving the RTA and CTA more money to pour onto politically connected contractors and to maintain, and even hire more, expensive politically connected bureaucrats who already number in the thousands. Ron and Carole, remember, at best eliminated 18 positions in the CTA, and those folks probably just moved down the hall until the dust settles. Organizational chart games.
Get rid of some of the acres of bureaucrats
in the CTA/RTA, and I’ll take another look at the
tax increase. Government is not welfare for the politically connected. And Julie Hamos, a wealthy Evanston Democrat, hardly speaks for the average taxpayer.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:50 am
rather than raise any tax, why not blend the transit systems into one system including the tollways. Then add open road tolling to all chicago area expressways (Kennedy, Eisenhower, Stevenson, Dan Ryan, Edens, 394…)and adjust the tolls/fares for peak times. Too many cars on the expressways and not enough riding the rails? Kick up the tolls and hold the fares until supply and demand level out.
Comment by cashflowpro Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:54 am
So Rich, you are advocating increasing the sales tax? Isn’t that regressive? Won’t that hurt the poor? Why should some single mom barely scraping by in Fox Lake have to subsidize some well off Lincoln Park resident?
(and I won’t accept the argument that the single mom in Fox Lake owes her entire existence to King Chicago, Lord of All Economic Activity in Illinois, Who Brings Us All A-Plenty, so she should just shut up, be grateful, and pay)
Comment by Leroy Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:55 am
Anonymous, I strongly, absolutely agree that reforms are needed. The RTA/CTA have to clean up their acts. I also think that riders should be a part of the solution. What I don’t have any sympathy for are kneejerk reactionaries who will oppose any tax hike no matter how tiny and no matter how great the need.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:56 am
Cal, cook residents will be paying 1.25% if the tax is raised, collar suburbanites will pay .5%. The split is what? I heard 60/40. Looks to me like the city subsidizes Metra/Pace, not the suburbs subsidizing the CTA. If cook had $1 billion in sales and the collars had $1 billion, cook residents would pay in $12.5 million, collars would pay in $5 million. CTA gets $10.5 out of the deal. Metra/Pace gets $7 million. Unless I have the funding split wrong, its the collars that get the subsidy. With the total dollars being $226 million, of which $110 million is for CTA, then the Metra/Pace share is still higher at $116 million.
If your family spends $25,000 (nice round number) on taxable goods, your extra burden is all of $62.50. Total burden for the collars would be $125 a year, which is probably less than a 30 day pass on Metra from McHenry County. City folk like myself will have a total burden of $312.50 on $25k in spending.
And yeah, I know, Metra/Pace also serve Cook county, and even parts of the city, but CTA also serves suburban cook.
Comment by Jerry Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:57 am
Leroy, it’s a quarter point, for crying out loud. And what would hurt the poor more, a tiny increase on the sales tax or a huge increase in the CTA fare?
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 10:57 am
Talk about contrasts! He is referring to opposite ends of the political spectrum, at least in regards to money priorities.
Reagan can’t escape criticism, though, for his massive expansion of defense agencies, missile defense programs, the War on Drugs, a lack of military oversight - all while putting us farther and farther into debt. That kind of reminds of another president…
Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 11:11 am
Jerry - You are seriously oversimplifying things here.
The split is really 60/30/10, CTA, Metra, Pace respectively. It’s important to note that Metra serves to (a) provide service within the city between the loop and southwest and southeast nieghborhoods (Beverly, South Chicago) that CTA trains don’t serve; and (b) bring suburbanites into the city, where they will inevitably spend money (and pay Cook sales tax).
What I don’t understand is why the proposed funding split allocates 60% for CTA when the RTA says that it’s share of the total funds needed is only 49%.
Comment by grand old partisan Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 11:48 am
There are other ways to subsidize the poor and lower middle class to enable their use of mass transit, like reduced-fare cards. Just like we do with food stamps, Section 8 housing, etc. Upper middle class to wealthy transit riders can afford a fare bump and still come out way ahead vs. driving on $3.50 gas and $25 downtown parking. It’s all part of the potential solution.
At first glance, I like the idea of combining the “free” expressways, tollways and RTA into one mega-agency - but if you think there’s a food fight among CTA, Metra and Pace over who gets what, especially for their capital expansion projects - just try throwing highways in the mix. ISTHA does a better job of cost recovery, maintenance and expansion than the other 3 agencies combined. But the “free” IDOT expressways are facing a funding crisis that will be fueled (pardon the pun) by high gas pices, more efficient vehicles, alternative power systems like electric that can’t easily be taxed, and higher construction material prices. A different mode of “user fee” will be needed to keep up in the future.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 11:53 am
A quarter point isn’t much if that was all the taxes we payed, but it isn’t. All of the taxes just keep adding up, enough already.
The(people)say Thank You Governor for saying NO and meaning NO.
Comment by (618) Democrat Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 11:56 am
Don’t want to beat a dead horse, but…
Jerry - Metra and Pace provide LOTS of service to Cook and CTA provides NO service to counties other than Cook. You’re whole mathematical breakdown seems based on a city vs. burbs arguement, not cook vs. collar.
Comment by grand old partisan Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 11:58 am
I noted that at the end of my prior post, GOP. The CTA, I remind you, also extends its trains into cook county suburbs that are poorly serviced by Metra. Evanston, the near northwest suburbs around O’Hare, and the near west suburbs all have access to CTA trains. There is definitely some overlap, I wasn’t denying that. Though, if the CTA had the capital funds necessary, then it could consider some of the expansion projects that would reduce the need for Metra to cover for it (extending the orange line to Ford City, expanding the Red Line the the southern edge of the city).
Referring to it as a 60/40 split is not inappropriate as the CTA includes both trains and buses, whereas Metra only provides trains and Pace only provides buses.
I can’t say specifically why, for this fiscal year, its 60/40, with CTA only requesting 49%, but I would speculate that it is because of this current operating year. CTA needs $110 million to plug its funding hole, Metra/Pace need $116 million. Long term, the additional sales tax will (likely) be closer to the 60/40 split.
Now, if Metra riders are spending a great deal in the city, that is their choice isn’t it? City/Cook sales taxes are higher than collar sales taxes already. That’s the way it is now, and that’s the way it will continue to be. Those surbanites can just as easily choose to go shopping in Oak Brook, and avoid Cook sales taxes.
Comment by Jerry Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 12:08 pm
There’s lots of ways to spin the Chicago/Cook/collar argument over funding and taxes. If you look at the frequency and variety of service considering all public transit modes, Chicago comes out way ahead, especially for those within 1/2 mile of CTA tracks. Southern Cook has the most frequent Metra service by far in Metra Electric. The collars have OK service if you live within 1/2 mile of the radial Metra routes. Pace is a very under-used service and 99% of suburbanites would not miss it if it disappeared (however, serving the otherwise immobile is an important public service). The resident of Crete, Johnsburg, Braidwood or Hampshire who pays the sales tax will likely not get a big bang for their contribution.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 12:53 pm
the future of cities is public transit. global warming is real and sooner or later we have to do something about it. the cities that adapt well to a low-carbon future are the ones that will prosper. cities like phoenix will be the detroits of the next 50 years.
chicago is well positioned for this challenge, but there’s no leadership from any level of government. take a look at what mayor bloomberg in new york just proposed: a comprehensive blueprint for expanded transit, congestion pricing, and other steps to move ny toward environmental sustainability.
we shouldn’t be talking about raising fares - if anything, we should lower or even eliminate them. people who take transit are helping us all by not adding to the severe public health and environmental costs of driving. they’re even helping drivers by reducing congestion and taking pressure off gas prices. the incentive structure is all wrong - make driving more expensive, and transit cheaper to use.
Comment by jake Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 1:02 pm
Urban centers depend on mass transit. Heck just drive to Skokie and you’ll see pace busses, or Aurora, or Elgin - highly urban and provide a service so that not all the cars are on the road. Where would they all park? and the air polution. Infrastructure of mass transit is a must. The cost is $75 for a monthly pass. My Toyota is $50 something a week. For Pete’s sake anti taxers have to look at the over benefits and quit being so narrow minded. You go Julie! Are you sure you’re a Democrat?
Comment by game plan Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 1:22 pm
Funding mass transit in the Chicago metropolitan area is an absolute necessity. It’s good public policy.
A 1/4 % sales tax increase is entirely reasonable to meet the current RTA, METRA. PACE, and CTA funding shortfalls. It’s not just a CTA funding problem.
Blago is msiguided on this issue to say the least. My recollection - perhaps faulty - is that Cal
Skinner has been an anti-mass transit tax zealot
For decades.
I’m in favor of administrative reforms too. I’m not opoposed to modest annula fare increases. I’m repeating myself from past posts, but draconian fare increases and ervice reductions make absolutely no sense.
Comment by Captain America Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 1:44 pm
Rich,
I think you were right the first time. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to bail out a corrupt state government.
Comment by Lula May Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 2:25 pm
Get real.
The percentage of Illinoians that use mass transit is so small the amount of public money spent to let them use it is wasteful.
Get real.
Even with a world class mass transit system, people would rather drive their cars.
Stop pretending we’re Sweden. We aren’t, and that is a good thing.
Spend the money on other transporation system that will pollute less and be more efficient. Expecting that there will be one day when commuters use mass transit sounds like some lame Popular Mechanics article from 1955.
Unless you want some kind of world where bureaucrats decide how you get around, let freedom ring!
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 2:33 pm
to VanillaMan:
what world do you live in?
do you realize the issue is that 1.5 million people a day (thats: 1,500,000) use mass transit on the CTA alone. the problem is that there’s no money to even run the system. current cutbacks estimate a loss of 260,000 customers a day. where do these people go? how do they get to work? the reality is, not everyone can afford other options. this might not be sweeden, but this is chicagoland. we use our mass transit and are extremely thankful we have it. the cta and metra have successfully been expanding and improving their service for years without additional state money. the money the did have went to repairing 100 year old lines, one of which is the third busiest in the system.
get real vanilla man,
people use public transit. i’ve never owned a car. and i’m not the only one who uses transit. there’s 1,499,999 others that can stand behind me.
Comment by michael_k Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 3:16 pm
Seems like the larger problem is that the City of Chicago has spent all this money on Millenium Park, the Olympics, Hired Truck Scandal, other rampant corruption, etc. and now they can’t afford to maintain their transit system. Why should Chicago be able to slop around cash for all these goodies and not have the funds for one of the more important expenses to the city and its citizens? If you’re upset mass transit ain’t got the dough, take it out on your aldermen and your mayor, don’t ask the state for a handout.
Comment by Gene Parmesan Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 3:35 pm
Yeah, c’mon Vanillaman. That comment was a bit out of touch with reality.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 3:47 pm
As a resident of this state, my tax money goes to the state to be spend on what I, the constituent, deem are important spending issues for the state government. At the top of my list is public transit. I and 10 millions other people live in this area, and a large majority, at least 20%, demand more money for mass transit. That percentage is almost if not 10% of the tax money in our state. This is not a handout; it is investment in the economy and future of the state of Illinois and the Chicago region. Last, I checked, there are 12 million people in this state, 9 million in the Chicago region, and 5 million in Cook County.
This is an important issue and needs to be addressed. No one is asking for the entire state to pay, only those in the region. What is wrong with that? It is our money, our transit. The governor should know that. Every naysayer should know that.
The RTA is responsible for transit overall. Not the city of Chicago. The RTA answers to the state, not the mayor.
Comment by michael_k Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 3:49 pm
Jerry, you are missing my point -
All of Cook County pays the higher sales tax, not just the city. You are right that the CTA trains and buses go into Evanston, Skokie, Rosemont and Oak Park - but those are all still Cook county, and thus pay the same RTA sales tax as the city. The CTA does not operate anywhere in the collar counties, where the tax is lower….but, PACE and Metra operate in BOTH the collars and Cook, with the later’s entire function being to bring people between the collars and Cook. Your breakdown of numbers to reach the conclusion that “its the collars that get the subsidy” doesn’t take into account that fact. Now, PACE does provide exclusively intra-collar service, but that is not 3/4 of their load….which is what it would need to be for your number scheme to match your conclusion.
Thus, I maintain that you are wrong. The collar counties do not recieve nearly as much service from RTA as cook does, and thus should not pay as much. Especially if the money is going to be allocated in a formula that does not even reflect the admitted needs of the agency.
Comment by grand old partisan Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 3:52 pm
there seems to be a continuing misunderstanding here. rta is not asking for a “handout” from the state. it is funded by taxes in chicago and the collar counties plus fares - the rest of the state pays nothing. rta is not asking for money from the state - it’s asking to raise the tax rate in the counties it serves so that revenues can keep pace with the cost of providing service. even if daley weren’t corrupt at all, transit would still be underfunded. daley has no control over the funding formula.
Comment by jake Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 3:57 pm
Hey, maybe if we keep underfunding mass transit as we always have, traffic congestion, air pollution, and global warming will all just magically take care of themselves.
Pretty much how George Bush is managing the war in Iraq.
After all, it would be insane to keep doing things the same way over and over again and not expect a different result on the 100th or 1000th try.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 4:33 pm
I agree and disagree with YDD’s premise. Yes, transit can help overcome some of those issues. No, transit is not going to replace cars and trucks in this century. The twin solution is to promote transit and give it the proper support where it is most feasible, and to make cars and trucks environmentally friendly and economical where they are most feasible.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Friday, Jun 8, 07 @ 4:53 pm