Today’s Taxing News: Tax Collections Down; Out-of-Town Visitors Getting Whacked
There were two tidbits in today’s headlines that further support my push to fully repeal the Stroger sales tax hike in Cook County.
First, despite rising taxes and fees, tax collections are actually down in the state (again). As the Champaign News-Gazette reports, overall state tax collections are down 9.5% in July.
The reason for this decline? Simple: people are out of work. When they are out of work, their incomes drop (obviously). That leads to a drop in income tax revenues. They also consume less, which leads to a drop in sales taxes. It is for that reason that increasing the income tax and keeping sales taxes high will only further decimate our economy.
If government takes more of the people’s money, it will only cause them to suffer more and spend less. For those individuals who are small business owners, that will also affect job creation.
Pat Quinn and Todd Stroger are wrong: we need less, not more, taxes.
That coincides with another story today that shows that “Chicago is the worst tax city for travelers.” USA Today reports on a new study by the National Business Travel Association:
The study looked at the 50 U.S. cities with the most air passengers. It found that a typical business traveler pays $101.27 in taxes on average for hotel, rental car and meals during a three-day, two-night stay in Chicago— more than in any other city.
So, in other words, our local politicians are doing their best to repel new visitors, tourists and conventioneers from our city. Once again, that won’t result in more tax revenue — it will result in further economic harm that will put our governments deeper in debt.
Not smart. Not smart at all.
In Case You Missed It: Tribune Whacks Endorsers of Stroger, Berrios
Filed under: Blagojevich, Budget, Corruption, Elections, Mayor Daley, Reform, Taxes, Todd Stroger
We meant to post this earlier today, because it’s just a wonderful editorial by the Chicago Tribune.
Not only does the Tribune take a nice whack at all those Democrat politicians who endorsed Todd Stroger for County Board President in 2006 — they whack many of those same politicians for endorsing Cook County Board of Review Commissioner/Cook Democratic Party Chair Joe Berrios in 2010:
The list of pols who endorsed Stroger survives online, and for that we’re supremely grateful. His endorsers remain stakeholders in his broken promises, his patronage-larded budgets, and his notorious Friends and Family Hiring Plan.
Much as they might wish voters would forget their Stroger legacy, he’s all theirs:
Mayor Richard M. Daley is on the list, as are Durbin and now-President Obama. So are U.S. Reps. Bobby Rush, Jesse Jackson Jr., Dan Lipinski, Danny Davis, Jan Schakowsky and current White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Five statewide officeholders — Rod Blagojevich, Pat Quinn, Lisa Madigan, Dan Hynes and Jesse White — also urged the rest of us to elect Todd Stroger.
And here’s the piece about Berrios:
What’s especially galling is that many of those who endorsed Stroger now have endorsed his crony Joe Berrios, a lobbyist, member of the county tax appeal board and candidate for the influential office of county assessor. When not in Springfield lobbying Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (a Stroger endorser) and Senate President John Cullerton (a Berrios endorser), Berrios passes judgment on … tax appeals for clients of Madigan’s and Cullerton’s law firms. That conflict is grotesque.
Good for the Chicago Tribune.
We’re somewhat surprised they didn’t mention the fact that their competitor, the Sun-Times, also endorsed Todd in 2006.
Update from today’s County Board meeting
Filed under: Blagojevich, Corruption, Elections, Mayor Daley, Reform, Spending, Todd Stroger
Hypocritical.
That’s what we call the county board’s vote today to boycott Arizona businesses that do business with Cook County — while jumping through hoops to exempt an Arizona-based company that handles red light traffic cameras.
As you can read in this story, Commissioner Peraica voted against the “boycott Arizona” measure, and provided this response to Commissioner Edwin Reyes, who criticized Tony for his vote:
“I take offense at a personal attack like that because to me, as an attorney and an officer of the court, as one who has received the benefits of everything that’s the best the United States has to offer, I feel I have an obligation not to stomp on the Constitution, but to support this Constitution, even when it’s not convenient. Even when it doesn’t please my personal agenda.”
In other news — the county board once again failed to override Todd Stroger’s veto of our hiring freeze. Tony supported this hiring freeze to rein in the abuse of the Stroger administration. Unfortunately, Stroger’s allies on the board were able to block the majority vote.
The Stroger Six, Our Newly-Proposed Ethics Reforms, and Another Stroger Investigation
Filed under: Blagojevich, Corruption, Elections, Mayor Daley, Reform, Spending, Todd Stroger
by Tony Peraica
It was quite a day here in Cook County.
First, the Cook County Board failed to protect the taxpayers by coming up short in a vote to override Todd Stroger’s veto of our hiring freeze.
More to the point — six county commissioners failed the taxpayers by voting against the veto override. The Chicago Tribune editorial board calls out these “Stroger Six”:
The tally, 9-6 to override, fell short of the necessary 11 “yes” votes. The Stroger Six: William Beavers, Jerry Butler, Earlean Collins, Joan Patricia Murphy, Deborah Sims and Robert Steele. Steele and a seventh commissioner who gutlessly voted present, Edwin Reyes, had been co-sponsors of the original measure to tighten controls on Stroger.
Also during today’s county board meeting, I introduced new amendments to the county ethics ordinance to help curb ethical abuses by some county politicians.
Please watch my brief video explaining this ordinance.
ABC 7 Chicago, The Prairie Stater, Illinois Review and Publius Forum have also reported on our new ethics measures.
Finally — yet another investigation into questionable spending by the Stroger Administration. This one involves dubious spending on U.S. Census contracts. The Chicago Tribune’s Hal Dardick reports:
Two top aides to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger sidestepped the need for commissioners’ approval in doling out nearly $150,000 in census outreach work to people they knew. The eight contracts are among those being investigated by the county inspector general’s office…
Another day, another investigation.
As the politicians continue to abuse your tax dollars — we will continue our battle to rein them in and protect the taxpayers.
Does Todd Stroger admit an illegal act?
Filed under: Blagojevich, Corruption, Elections, Mayor Daley, Spending, Todd Stroger
Please watch the video below of a Fox Chicago Sunday segment set to air tomorrow: at about the 2:55 mark, does Todd Stroger admit an illegal act related to the expenditure of federal funds? The U.S. Attorney needs to investigate.
Job Suspension = Career Advancement (in Chicago)
In the private sector, most people fear being suspended by their boss.
But in the public sector (especially in the Windy City), such a suspension could equal career advancement.
So is the case of Michael Picardi, Chicago’s former Fleet Commander, who was suspended by Mayor Daley earlier this year for providing city contracts to Central Auto Body, whose owner, “John Szybkowski, was convicted nearly 30 years ago of faking work orders on police department vehicles and giving kickbacks to city workers.”
Picardi’s suspension recently ended. And so did his job with as city Fleet Commander.
But not to despair. It appears that his career has advanced — as he has landed a $129,000/year job with the Chicago Police Department.
Only in Cook County …
Ex-Bridgeport Village couple building a case against City Hall
Jose and Sandra Ruiz what they thought was their dream retirement home in the Bridgeport Village development, in Mayor Richard Daley’s11th Ward, for $900,000.
And now, according to a federal lawsuit they’ve filed against the Daley administration and some of the mayor’s political clique, they lost their home and their life savings due to corruption and clout.
Read the rest of the article at the Chicago Tribune.
Part 4 of My Interview with Chicago News Bench
Filed under: Mayor Daley, Reform, Spending, Taxes, Todd Stroger
Following is Part Four of the series of interviews I completed with Chicago News Bench. In this video, we discuss Cook County corruption, Tony Rezko, Mayor Daley, and the county’s oppressive sales tax. Please watch this interview here:
Privatization or Cronyization?
Mayor Daley has become a public fan of “privatization” over the years.
He privatized the Skyway. Talked about privatizing Midway Airport. Privatized the parking meters.
And now he’s privatizing city trucking (gee, there’s never been a city trucking scandal before, has there?)
Anyway, true privatization is supposed to save taxpayers money by putting out certain government functions to bid to private companies. That is — putting it out in a competitive bid. Basic free market economics teaches us that this competition breeds better service and lower cost.
Unless, of course, the privatization is rigged and the bidding is anything but competitive.
Which brings us to this story in this morning’s Chicago Tribune:
About 60 recently laid-off Chicago truck drivers picketed Friday at a city facility on the South Side, protesting that politically connected private companies are now doing work public employees performed for Mayor Richard Daley’s administration.
Under a deal that went into effect July 1, the city hired private contractors to haul construction debris from city work sites for the Water Management Department. Among the companies chosen was Reliable Asphalt Corp., which received a $158 million, three-year contract.
Reliable owner Michael Vondra has donated tens of thousands of dollars to local politicians, including Daley, the Democratic organization in the mayor’s 11th Ward power base and the pro-Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization. City records show Reliable’s lobbyists on the deal are Victor Reyes, a former Hispanic Democratic Organization chairman and top mayoral aide, and David Bonoma, son of Daley’s longtime secretary.
Privatization is a convenient buzzword behind which the Daley Administration can hide behind to dole out lucrative contracts to political cronies while pretending to save the taxpayers money.
Mayor Daley’s Olympic Confusion
Filed under: 2016 Olympics, Mayor Daley, Spending, Taxes
So, did Mayor Daley commit the taxpayers as unwitting guarantors of the cost of the 2016 Olympic Games … or didn’t he?
Well, last week he sent word from Switzerland that he had, in fact, done just that.
But now, in a press conference back home in Chicago, Mayor Daley offered an explanation that was, well, confusing as heck.
The Chicago Tribune reports:
In a news release, Daley said he may have “spoke too quickly” when he agreed in Switzerland to give an unlimited financial guarantee.
Pressed by reporters, Daley then seemed to suggest he hadn’t made a blanket guarantee: “I just said I will sign an agreement, I didn’t say which one.” He added the city still planned to amend the Olympics contract to ease Chicago’s liability.
Well, that certainly clears things up, eh?
As Commissioner Peraica points out in this video, despite the firestorm surrounding Daley’s announcement from Switzerland, the mayor and Olympic organizers still are leaving taxpayers in the dark — even holding secret meetings with Chicago aldermen.
What should worry all Illinois taxpayers — even the most ardent Olympic supporters — is Chicago’s track record on funding and completing large projects.
We all can remember the Millenium Park billions-over-budget-and-years-late project…
And how about the CTA “megastation” project that has cost tens of millions already and now sit sidle in the middle of Chicago’s Loop?
Chicago just hasn’t shown the ability to effectively and efficiently manage large projects. And that makes us worried that the taxpayers will be left footing the bill for cost overruns. Furthermore, it’s very likely that, if those cost overruns are significant, that Mayor Daley will use his clout to push some sort of taxpayer bailout from Springfield.
And that leaves every single taxpayer in the state of Illinois on the hook for yet another Chicago boondoggle.
This isn’t about the Olympic Games. It’s about protecting the taxpayers. It’s about requiring Mayor Daley to, once and for all, act in a responsible, transparent manner that doesn’t insult the voters and throw our hard-earned tax dollars down the drain.
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