shifting tax burden to the property tax
Yesterday I ran into John Hayes, the president of the Oak Park library board.
Amazingly the conversation turned to politics.
He told me that the Oak Park libraries just got hit with a 20% increase in health costs (they were told to expect a 13% increase). He also said, IIRC, the OP libraries have to double their contributions to the pension fund.
The Pantagraph says:
How can the state ask local gov't to contribute more to the fund if the state pols are just raiding the money to keep pledges on state income and sales taxes?
Amazingly the conversation turned to politics.
He told me that the Oak Park libraries just got hit with a 20% increase in health costs (they were told to expect a 13% increase). He also said, IIRC, the OP libraries have to double their contributions to the pension fund.
The Pantagraph says:
Once again, Gov. Blagojevich and the Democrat-controlled Legislature have used pension funds to "balance" the state's $53 billion budget.Is the Pantagraph right that this budget is balanced by borrowing from the pension fund?
All should be ashamed. But they won't be held accountable because it won't immediately affect anyone. And they can go into next year's elections proclaiming, "We didn't increase your income or sales taxes."
How can the state ask local gov't to contribute more to the fund if the state pols are just raiding the money to keep pledges on state income and sales taxes?
posted by Carl Nyberg at 8:20 AM
6 Comments:
Any time you don't fully fund a financial commitment, it's borrowing. Check the GOP page on this http://www.ilgop.org/news/contentview.asp?c=4925
and this nugget from the GOP:
The scramble by political insiders to grab as much as $50 million in underwriting and legal fees from this deal looks all too much like business as usual in Illinois politics. As Crain's Chicago Business reported recently, an investment bank has just taken on the wife of U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, and one of the authors of the Blagojevich plan has just formed a company that could cash in on the bond fees. Others with a connection to Blagojevich are lining up for this deal as well.
It's true that they're "borrowing" from the pension fund. Aren't they supposed to get some sort of approval to borrow money from one area of the state budget to cover another?
It's interesting, too, that the Chicago area is getting raises in budget allocation (esp. the colleges) while their downstate counterparts are getting cut.
In Decatur, Richland Community College is getting $800,000 less this next fiscal year than they did last. We just had a referendum passed this past November to continue extra funding to the college because of past cuts. Now what? I guess if I lived in chicago, or were friends with Rod, maybe this wouldn't have happened.
Go figure.
Wait a sec, here:
"He told me that the Oak Park libraries just got hit with a 20% increase in health costs (they were told to expect a 13% increase). He also said, IIRC, the OP libraries have to double their contributions to the pension fund".
Did God tell Mr. Hayes to do this.
Or tell the board members to do this. Is it written in that big contract in the sky?
If it's too much (and it probably is....I live in Oak Park, and my property taxes are astronomical--and about $1400 a year goes to the library--then have the employees contribute more to medical and pension costs. If they don't like it, they can leave. I am sure there are lots of young librarians out there who could replace them.
And if Mr. Hayes is not capable of negotiating an employee agreement that is favorable to Oak Park's overburdened taxpayers perhaps he should step down and let somebody else try.
Where does the Governor's General Counsel work? At Quinlan and Carroll Law Firm or the Governor's Office?
Well if you send him an email at william_quinlan@gov.state.il.us, this is what will return:
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM QUINLAN & CARROLL
Due to the proliferation of unsolicited and often offensive electronic
mail messages, and in order to provide a more secure and productive
environment for its employees, Quinlan & Carroll has installed an
electronic mail validation system as part of our anti-spam strategy.
The electronic mail message you have sent to wjquinlan@qclaw.com is
being held in quarantine until you complete the following simple
one-time-only validation check.
To deliver your message to wjquinlan@qclaw.com, please click on the
following registration link:
http://sl.qclaw.com/46868008570487
This one-time registration allows you to freely send messages to
Quinlan & Carroll. You will not have to register again.
This administration is all over the place with no accountablity.
No one gets fired. The house is never cleaned and the same people who has made this Gov look impecably bad remains on his staff.
Blago needs to clean house!!!!!!!!!!!
When are you going to re-start updating this?
Thought you would like this. easy ways
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