View as PDF Chicago—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) responds to the threat by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) to strike if taxpayers are no longer forced to pick up the 7% contribution to their pensions.
“It is amazing that Karen Lewis, CTU president, finds the notion of teachers paying their own way into their own pension fund, as dictated by statute, a cause to strike,” stated executive director of TUA, Rae Ann McNeilly.
“Paying 9% into their own pensions isn’t asking too much, is not a pay cut, and certainly isn’t unfair to the teachers who will benefit.”
“Taxpayers were forced to pay 7% of the 9% employees’ pension contribution without a voice and without a choice. Now that there is financial crisis in Chicago’s governments, bureaucrats are again looking to taxpayers to pony up even more of their hard-earned money.”
“Chicago teachers are certainly not underpaid civil servants with an average salary of more than $74,839, 9 months on the job, and Cadillac benefits. The teachers’ salaries alone are far in excess of the $45,000 average income of the taxpayers who pay them.”
“There has been a lot of talk and analysis over who is to blame for the current financial crisis. One thing is for certain; it wasn’t caused by the taxpayers who are constantly burdened with bailing out the mistakes of the bureaucrats who craft the deals that are so harmful to the taxpayers,” added McNeilly.
“The Chicago teachers, under the leadership of Karen Lewis, were on strike for seven days only three short years ago. All they have to show for their efforts are additional cuts to programs, massive layoffs, and school closings. CTU is willing to strike over their own investment in their respective retirement, but at what cost to the community?”
“And what are we getting for our money? Less than 65% of CPS students graduate. Which government employee or teacher representative gets paid based on the graduation rate, the single most important outcome? Who do we hold accountable when the Chicago teachers make more than any other school system in the region and are at the top in compensation across the country?”
“We have been calling for pension reform for years and to no avail. The CPS pension fund has, as predicted by TUA, reached the point of critical mass. Taxpayers have taken a pay cut every time government pensions have been sweetened and bolstered by bureaucrats who will never be held accountable for ushering in Chicago’s financial crisis.”
“I defy teachers, or any government employee, to look into their neighbors’ eyes and say, ‘you deserve another pay cut so I can make more in retirement than you make working.’ They have to be able to say to their neighbors, ‘I don’t care if you can no longer afford your home’s property tax payment, I want more.’ That is the reality of demanding more. If you are a teacher, your neighbor is your employer,” challenged McNeilly.
“As of our 2013 study of CPS pensions, Manford Byrd tops our list of taxpayer-funded annual pensions at $174,157 per year.”
“Barbara Eason-Watkins, Herman Escobar, Denise Gamble, Valerie Brown, Maria Rodriguez O’Keefe, Noemi Esquivel, Elizabeth Gonzalez, Miguel Trujillo, and Everett Edwards will all collect over $5 million in estimated lifetime pension payouts!”*
You can see the complete list of our top 200 2013 CPS pensions here.
“Short of full reform, we should at least end pensions for legislators and judges who tend to make decisions in their own best interests. We should also remove CTU from the equation. They add a layer of insulation between the employer and the employee, or the taxpayers and the teachers.”
“It’s time to stop the political blame game and get a bill passed for a referendum changing the government employee pension system to end unfunded liabilities and excessive financial burdens to taxpayers.”
“Taxpayers are fed up. For a well-paid teacher to demand even more blood from the individual taxpayers who make less, have little job security, and struggle to save for their own retirement is incomprehensible and unacceptable. We are ready to respond with a strike of our own.”
*Lifetime estimated pension payout includes 3% compounded COLA and assumes life expectancy of 85 (IRS Form 590).
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Berwyn, IL– Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America, will be hosting a property tax assessment appeal seminar with Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Dan Patlak on Thursday, August 27, 2015, at the Berwyn Public Library for taxpayers seeking to appeal their 2015 property tax assessments. Berwyn Township is open for appeal August 3 –September 1, 2015.
The hour long session will educate taxpayers on how to file a successful property tax appeal and address why property taxes go up when the value of your home goes down.
The seminar includes a presentation explaining the appeal procedure at the Board of Review. Before the end of the evening, taxpayers will have an opportunity to work with staff from the Board of Review to address their specific questions and concerns.
This event is free to the public, and there is no fee to appeal at the Board of Review. Taxpayers are asked to bring a copy of their most recent tax bill.
The seminar will be held:
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Berwyn Public Library
2701 Harlem Avenue
Berwyn, IL 60402
6:30 p.m.
Taxpayers may file an appeal online by visiting the Board of Review website at www.cookcountyboardofreview.com
Also, appeal forms are available at the Board of Review located at 118 N. Clark St., Room 601, Chicago, IL, or at the Bridgeview Satellite Office located at 10200 S. 76thAve., Room 237, Bridgeview, IL 708-974-6074
Taxpayers United of America (TUA) was founded in 1976 by activist and economist Jim Tobin. Since then, TUA has saved taxpayers over $200 billion in taxes and has become one of the largest taxpayer organizations in America.
The Cook County Board of Review is a quasi-judicial elected office responsible for adjudicating assessment appeals for all property in Cook County. Commissioner Dan Patlak represents the 1st District of the Board of Review, which encompasses 90% of Suburban Cook County and part of the 19th and 41st & 45th Wards of Chicago.
View as PDF Chicago—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) released five analyses of the ongoing Illinois budget dispute over the past two weeks, outlining various ways the Illinois General Assembly and Governor Bruce Rauner (R) could implement reforms to pass the state’s first balanced budget since 2001.
“Taxpayers need Illinois’ political class to properly address the current budget impasse by enacting meaningful reforms,” said Jared Labell, TUA’s director of operations. “But if the bureaucrats in Springfield insist on upholding the status quo, which has brought the state to financial ruin, then a continued budget deadlock is preferable to higher taxes, new state income and sales taxes, more debt, and increased spending.”
“Illinois’ state pension systems total nearly $200 billion in unfunded liabilities and the whole racket is inevitably unsustainable, as we discuss in Part I of TUA’s budget analyses. The politicians have shown for years that they cannot be trusted to manage other peoples’ money, let alone their savings for retirement, nor should this be the role of government,” said Labell. “Each day that passes without transitioning new government employees from the current defined benefit plans to 401(k)-styled defined contribution plans is another lost opportunity to manage this ever-growing economic catastrophe. Not only would this change shield taxpayers from great financial risk, but it enables government employees to better manage their finances for their retirement needs and allows portability as they save for their own retirement.”
“Spending reform must be made a priority, as is clear in Part II of TUA’s budget series,” continued Labell. “The proposed level of appropriations for all state funds in fiscal year 2016 tops $60 billion. As TUA president Jim Tobin put it, “The political class and some media outlets frame the budget crisis as an issue of revenue, but that’s just not the case. The problem with Illinois’ budget is the result of years of profligate spending by the General Assembly and a series of governors who encouraged it.”
“The budget appropriations game is one that is played by both members of the Illinois General Assembly and the governor,” said Labell. “Even though Gov. Rauner has put forth a serious effort to make cuts to the bloated Illinois budget, in the Part III of TUA’s budget analyses, we point out that more than $15 billion in spending remains constant from fiscal year 2015’s actual appropriation totals compared to Gov. Rauner’s 2016 proposed appropriations. The time has come for more budget cuts.”
“The Illinois State Police are the Praetorian Guard for the political class and are inessential,” said Labell. “Sweeping cuts to the superfluous Illinois State Police force would save taxpayers untold billions in expected salaries, benefits, and pension costs, as outlined in Part IV of TUA’s budget series.”
“Although there appears to be a growing bipartisan consensus in Springfield to cut loose the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development (DCEO) from the clutches of the state government, it’s hard for politicians to give up on old habits,” said Labell. “So they are only proposing to turn some of its functions into ‘public-private partnerships,’ instead of abolishing the agency altogether. Part V of TUA’s budget overview encourages the complete privatization of this department’s operations, rightfully leaving the economic prosperity of Illinois and its businesses to the market, not the whims of bureaucrats. The government should not be in the business of doling out corporate welfare or subsidizing politically connected firms with our tax dollars as Illinois faces such grave financial difficulties.”
“The state of Illinois has been without an operating budget for nearly a month, and the sky has not fallen. The members of the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. Rauner can work together to protect taxpayers from further economic calamity, or the political gridlock should persist. The government cannot expect Illinoisans to continue to send their tax dollars to Springfield if the political class is intent on fiddling while Rome burns, all the while using taxpayers’ hard-earned money as kindling,” concluded Labell.
