Dear editor,
“Illinois families will pay the highest combined state and local tax burden in the nation this year … With nearly 3-in-5 Illinoisans believing the value of public services they receive are not worth the property taxes they pay – which are No. 2 in the nation and account for nearly half of their tax burden – lawmakers should be pursuing structural reforms that will keep families in Illinois.” (Illinois Policy: antitax group)
Townships: “1848 Constitution of Illinois granted voters of counties ability to divide their county into townships. Of the 102 counties of the state of Illinois, 84 are organized into civil townships; … Illinois has 1,428 such townships. 17 counties have no township government; each is instead divided into precincts. Unlike townships, precincts have no functions; all their administrative functions are performed by the county.” (Wikipedia)
”Illinois has more units of local government than any other state. … Whatever the precise number, Austin Berg, vice president of marketing for the Illinois Policy Institute (antitax group), say it’s too high. ‘We can barely get a reliable estimate on how many units of local governments there are. That’s how crazy this problem has really become,’ said Berg. ‘The problem with this massive proliferation of local governments throughout the state is that it was very easy to create these once-upon- time,’ Berg said. ‘That’s why we have thousands and thousands and thousands. But it’s almost impossible to change them. To redesign them. To get rid of them. I think what most people in Illinois agree on is that we pay really, really high property taxes – the first or second-highest in the nation depending on how you calculate it – but we’re not getting the first or second highest quality in government services.’ …’Jerry Crabtree, executive director of Township Officials of Illinois: ‘only 2% to 3% of property taxes goes to townships, while 62% of most property tax bills in Illinois go to the school district.’” (WTTW) “Illinois has 17 townships with boundaries identical to their cities, meaning residents are taxed for both. … History shows that such efforts [consolidation of any governmental units] often invite opposition from those who work for or benefit from the targeted entities.” (Chicago Magazine)
Introduced (not passed) Illinois Bill 2217: “Amends the Township Code. Provides that all townships with a population less than 5000 (Senate Bill) or 500 (House Bill) are dissolved and must either consolidate with an adjacent township or the county containing the geographic boundaries of the dissolving township.” “Representative Joe Sosnowski, bill’s sponsor: ‘the bill will streamline government and save money. You got to start thinking outside of the box. We just can’t keep saying no to everything … we got to compare ourselves to other states.’”(MyStateLine) “If passed, these townships would merge with surrounding townships or counties, and counties would assume responsibilities like property assessments, road maintenance, and general assistance.”(KWQC) “Ogle County Board voted against the bill, and Janes [Board member] said it would increase the taxpayer burden.”(MyStateLine) I can not find mentioned, but seemly likely to me, that tax revenues of dissolved townships might transfer to their county (discussion needed).
Income tax: Illinois Constitution currently states: “A tax on or measured by income shall be at a non-graduated rate. At any one time there may be no more than one such tax imposed by the State for State purposed on individuals and one such tax so imposed on corporations.” 2020, Illinois voters rejected change to allow graduated income tax, despite that Constitution now prevents higher tax rate for higher income people, blocking that source of revenue. Governor Pritzker, a high income person himself, spent $58million of his own money to try to get change passed. (Ballotpedia) Pritzker after graduated tax defeated: “There will be cuts [to State expenditures], and they will be painful. … Our state finances still require fundamental structural change.” (CapitolNewsIllinois)
Pensions: “The Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability reports the latest unfunded pension liability is $143.7 billion. … (The state’s pension system is protected by the Illinois Constitution's pension protection clause upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court and must be [can only be] amended through voter referendum for costs to come down.) … Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker: ‘Our funded ratio for our pensions is much better today than it was when I took office and it continues to go in the right direction.’” (TheCenterSquare). Governments in Illinois gave pensions to employees without providing money to pay them. That is typical politician work: give to people what they want now, later let someone else deal with paying. For many years to come these unfunded pension liabilities will weight on Illinois’ finances.
Debt: “In the fiscal year of 2024, Illinois' state debt stood at about $69.79 billion” (Statistica); interest payments on that debt are substantial and will continue to be so for many years. Why debt so big? More politician work, as above.
Complaining about high taxes is not enough, we need to enact considered and effective changes to reduce expenditures, and not be deterred by people protesting: not in my government unit. From Governor Pritzker’s many statements, he seems to be working and struggling to improve State of Illinois financial situation, hemmed in by mandatory expenses, mainly interest and pension payments (read his speeches and commentary about them). With reduction in Federal money coming to State expected, all areas of nonmandatory expenditures within State at every level need to be scrutinized for downsize (while some new expenditures may need to be considered).
-Henry Tideman, Oregon
