Posted on 08/07/2016 4:44:23 PM PDT by Kaslin
With all the trouble that Rahm Emanuel has been having in Chicago lately, specifically with unrest surrounding his police department and other scandals, it’s easy to forget that he’s dealing with another serious problem: his city is nearly bankrupt. As with so many other large, Democrat run municipalities, the chief culprit here is the massively underfunded pension system for municipal workers. Their unions negotiated some real sweetheart deals for them over the years, but the costs were completely unsustainable. When the city began to go broke, no real compromise was ever offered by the unions so Rahm is left to find some way to shore up the funds.
No problem, kids! Hizzoner will simply jack up the utility rates and let the taxpayers foot the bill even more. (Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Rahm Emanuel will propose a new utility tax on Chicagoans’ water and sewer bills in an effort to shore up the largest of the city’s ailing pension funds, according to multiple sources who were briefed on the plan Wednesday.
Under Emanuel’s plan, the tax would be phased in over the next four years, with the average homeowners’ bill increasing $50 each year until it reaches $200 in the fourth year, said Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th, who was briefed on the plan Wednesday morning. The average Chicago homeowner’s water and sewer bill is $114.30, billed every other month, city officials have said.
You may be wondering why he didn’t simply increase property taxes to cover the pension funds. The answer is that he’s already raised them considerably and his elected officials in the city are getting nervous about being run out of town on a rail if they keep increasing the burden in that fashion. But for middle and lower income residents of an already poverty ridden city, jacking up their water bill by 200 dollars may be a bit much to swallow as well.
What makes this even more of a stereotypical Democrat move is the distinctly non-progressive nature of this plan. At least when you increase the property taxes the wealthy tend to pay a bit more. (I believe Democrats refer to that as “their fair share.”) But the utility bills tend to hit everyone pretty much equally, so the city’s poorest residents will feel the pinch the most. In the end, that’s how these things always seem to work. But more than anything else, this should have been a wake-up call similar to what we thought might happen in Detroit when they were dealing with the same issues. The era of massive pension plans for unionized government workers has led to a case of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. But rather than acknowledging this reality, the unions just continue to push back, demanding every penny they can soak out of the system until it collapses under its own weight.
But hey… you just keep on electing those Democrats, guys. I’m sure it will all work out wonderfully in the end.
Chicago - will be the next Detroit soon...
Hey only 78 years to make up the shortfall!
Nice job Rhambo!
I thought, when I saw “typically democrat solution” they must’ve appealed to the Federal Govt and obtained a 30 billion dollar bailout.
Pleased to see that at least they are going to have Chicago residents pay for Chicago boondoggles.
“””The average Chicago homeowner’s water and sewer bill is $114.30, billed every other month, city officials have said.”””
$114.30 billed every other month or $57.15 per month looks pretty cheap to me. I am paying just over $80 per month for water and sewer.
another enemy of America, when do we get smart and go after these criminals
Either Democrats don’t understand the concept of the “death spiral”, or they think if they continue to raise taxes at a slow enough pace they can delay the exodus of the middle class (including the black and hispanic middle class) long enough for the current office holders to retire to Florida.
Using the average amount paid for these utilities is pointless. I think a more realistic figure would me the median amount paid.
The city sits right on the shores of the world’s largest fresh water source, and dumps much of it waste water (after treatment) down the Mississippi through the Sanitary Canal.
Go a few miles inland to the collar counties, and you’ll start to find water and sewer bills that look like yours. But the point is city dwellers should have relatively inexpensive water, and have had it, but soon won’t, because of Democrat incompetence and corruption.
So the actual plan would be to have the pensioners die off before they get paid.
It depends on how many people live in your household, and it depends on the area where you live. I remember when we paid $5 per month for water. We didn’t have sewer then, they put that in our street and area when we were stationed in Germany
That only works if the city has changed from defined benefit to defined contribution for active workers.
I don’t know if that has happened.
That can happen! After all, it is Chicago.
He’ll spend the money on some other thing and come back to the trough once again ...
And there's an Illinois constitutional amendment that guarantees full union pension funding to boot.
Good thing that we have judges in black robes who will overturn such amendments the taxpayers don't like...
Oh, what am I saying?
Only constitutional amendments that the PEOPLE voted on, those are OK to overturn.
If it's a "public" UNION, there is absolutely no way to get around it, as nobody has "standing".
“Chicago - will be the next Detroit soon...”
Democrats destroy everything they touch. They are a cancer on the body politic.
72 / 7% expected Annual Growth = 10 years for your investment to Double, ALL Public Pensions expect this Mathematically Impossibility in perpetuity. That WHich is Mathematically impossible WILL NOT HAPPEN, no matter what Anyone says.
It will officially be the next Detroit when the Police Chief tells the public, like the Chief in Detroit, to arm themselves because Police can’t get there in time. It appears they are in denial currently. Crime substantially dropped in the Motor City after that.
Here in the Houston suburbs our basic bill is pennies more than $50 most of the year and rises to close to $60 month when it is dry and we have to run the sprinklers three times a week. Seems like you are paying a lot more than we are.
Not sure what Chicago is complaining about either.
And it's some of the best water in the world. I never even thought of drinking bottled water when I lived there. I've even drank water straight from the lake a few miles out.
Chicago was once the greatest city in America. now it just another rat hole.
BTW Did you know Chicago is the 3d largest Mexican city in the world? It comes after L.A and Mexico City (DF).
Build that wall!
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