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.
Tony on Quinn’s Cook County “Tax Reform” Gimmick
PrairieStater.com quotes Tony regarding the gimmicky Cook County property “tax reform” bill signed into law this week by Governor Quinn:
Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-16), who is also a real estate attorney, is looking for real reform. “We need to reform the tax assessment process to reflect that of Texas, Florida and dozens of other states where you don’t need a PhD in mathematics to figure out how your real estate is assessed and taxed,” Peraica said. “I don’t support these gimmicks and would move for a system that would promote truth in taxation. I would support acquisition based assessment: what is the purchase price of the property, apply the tax levy of various taxing units (there are way to many) and that is your bill. Forget about the equalizer. Exemptions granted should be clear and easy to calculate/implement.”
NY Times: Cook County Health System Staff Reductions ‘Not Enough’
The New York Times reported on staff reductions at the Cook County Health and Hospital System — quoting Commissioner Peraica in their story:
Despite facing a $42 million shortfall in patient revenue, the Cook County Health and Hospitals System has laid off only 100 workers out of the 1,350 positions that administrators promised to eliminate this fiscal year.
A six-month status report shows 665 vacant positions and 335 filled positions that have been eliminated. But of the filled positions, only about 100 workers were actually laid off.
“I don’t understand how you’re going to make this up by the end of the fiscal year,” said Tony Peraica, a member of the Cook County Board.
Oops, They Did it Again: Stroger Crony Gets County Contract
by Tony Peraica
Well, more of your hard-earned tax dollars are going to foot the bill for yet another Stroger crony.
This time, it’s a former Stroger campaign staffer, Ray Harris, who was hired to help the county with collective bargaining agreements (by the way, he’s a former official with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union — just whose side will be he be representing in future county labor negotiations?)
He was supposed to be hired to a one-year, $60,000 contract — but the uproar raised by me and some other reformers forced Stroger to only ask for a one-time $15,000 contract.
Unfortunately, the Cook County Board today voted to approve this crony contract. Commissioner Tim Schneider and I were the only county commissioners to vote “NO” on this contract.
The Sun-Times quoted me following today’s vote:
“This is yet another appointment of a former political worker to the county payroll,” Peraica said. “I think it’s inappropriate. I think it’s something that shouldn’t be allowed or condoned.”
Please click here to watch the video we posted previously in which I discusses this crony contract in more detail.
After November, we’ll be watching closely to see if the newly-elected County Board President decides to continue Harris’ contract — or rightfully cut him from the county payroll.
VIDEO: County Board Update
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.
VIDEO: Duck-and-Dodge with Joe Berrios
This weekend’s Fox Chicago Sunday appearance by Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Joe Berrios was very telling.
Watch as Berrios — also the Cook County Democratic Party Chair — pooh-pooh’s questions about him being too cozy with insiders such as State Democratic Chair Mike Madigan who, by the way, is a tax appeals attorney whose law firm brings cases before Berrios.
Is Berrios employing the old “Rostenkowski Defense” (everybody’s doing it, so I should, too)?
The Red Light District, Extortion Edition
Thanks to Publius Forum for shining a spotlight on this latest slap in the face of taxpayers by the Stroger Administration.
This one deals with the Stroger Administrations’ response to suburban Cook County municipalities who have chosen to opt-out of the wrongheaded, troubling Red Light Traffic Camera program:
To mollify the suburban cities the board included an opt out clause in its red-light camera rules. If the cities didn’t want them, they could opt out and keep them out of their areas. Stroger and his extortionist buddies were shocked, though, when “nearly every Northwest Cook County town proceeded to opt out” of his grab for suburban driver’s wallets.
What to do, what to do? Stroger was losing his new revenue stream. How could they stop it?
Eureka! Toddie had an idea…
He could illicitly hold back all maintenance fees for the roads in the offending opting out suburbs until they decide to let him put his red-light leeches in their cities.
So, according to Cook County’s criminal boss, if the suburbs don’t let him have his red-light cameras to bleed the citizens for one more drop of tax blood, why he’ll refuse to fix the country roads in their area.
Please click here to read our previous post about the profiteers and lobbyists behind the Red Light Camera scam.
Former County Correctional Officer Convicted for Aiding Jail Break
This is what happens when the county’s hiring system is based on illegal patronage instead of actual qualifications:
A former correctional officer at Cook County Jail was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Thursday for helping six inmates escape in 2006.
Wanna get rich? Work at Metra
Budget crunch? What budget crunch?
Economic crisis? What economic downturn?
It might be easy to see how many state and local government employees might be blind to the challenges facing most taxpayers in this down economy.
Earlier this week, we learned that Governor Quinn has been handing out hefty raises to members of his staff.
Todd Stroger has been on a hiring (and contract-giving) spree to his friends.
And, now the Sun-Times uncovers an apparent taxpayer-funded cash cow at Metra (and here we thought transportation was underfunded)….
Metra paid 151 employees more than $100,000 each last year, excluding health-care costs and Metra-funded retirement contributions. Of the commuter rail agency’s 40 top-paid workers, 15 belonged to labor unions. Philip Pagano, who was Metra’s executive director until taking his own life in the face of an internal Metra investigation, allowed several nonunion employees to trade sick days and vacation time for cash payments. Those buyout payments no longer are allowed.
Click here to see the full list of these employees.
Hmmmm…..
We thought the RTA was in nearing a “crisis point” on state funding (according to this February 2010 story).
And, didn’t the General Assembly just pass a sales tax hike specifically to bail out the RTA?
Apparently your money just went to pad the salaries of the nouveau rich who work at the government agency.
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