Homeowners in Illinois pay some of the highest property taxes in the country, so it might be easy to understand why Rep. Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumberg) introduced legislation to increase homeowners' exemptions, in some cases by $2,000.
But Ted Dabrowski, the vice president of policy for the Illinois Policy Institute, called House Bill 156 a measure meant to mislead.
“It sends a signal to try and trick taxpayers {into believing} that they’re getting a better deal, when in fact it’s just making a bigger mess,” Dabrowski said on "Chicago’s Morning Answer" radio show recently.
Ted Dabrowski
The program is co-hosted by Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson. Proft is a principal of Local Government Information Services, which owns this publication.
“By doing what she is doing, she’s moving the tax burden around, and more of it will fall on companies who are already leaving Illinois,” Dabrowski said.
Property taxes are just one of many financial issues plaguing Illinois. The pension system is essentially bankrupt, and the budget impasse might lead to a consequence no other state has faced: a junk bond rating from credit agencies.
“A junk rating means we become the financial deadbeats of the United States," Dabrowski said. "No state has ever been rated junk."
Despite that worry, there is no chance of getting a constitutionally balanced, pro-growth budget passed, Dabrowski said.
“The chances of some kind of deal that is fake reform -- maybe that’s out there, maybe that’s 10 to 15 percent --but I’d say that there’s no deal,” Dabrowski said.
Chicago's fire and police pensions are bankrupt, and there’s not enough money to keep up with the growth in pension benefits, which eat up a quarter of all Illinois' revenue, according to Dabrowski.
“We added up all the debt across the state and local governments," he said. "There’s about $267 billion in retirement debt. That’s about $56,000 a household in Illinois."
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