Posted on 05/08/2015 7:36:14 PM PDT by TurboZamboni
The Illinois Supreme Court struck down the state’s 2013 pension overhaul, unraveling an effort by lawmakers to rein in benefits for the consistently underfunded public-sector system. The current pension shortfall is estimated at $111 billion, one of the largest nationally. The high court affirmed a decision in November by a state circuit court that the legislative changes violated pension protections written into the state constitution. The decision is a victory for a consortium of public-sector unions while creating a huge challenge for new Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who already faces a yawning budget deficit for the coming fiscal year.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
It's unfortunate that my charming and delightful wife of almost 30 years shares the same birthday as the worthless POC sitting in the White House.
We're leaving Illinois. Gone. Bye bye, Sayonara.
Congrats. We saved enough to do the same, retire early to escape a socialist state.
Watch out for one thing in Texas - property taxes. They are some of the highest in the nation. When we moved there for a short time, we actually paid more in property taxes than we paid in both property and state income taxes in California. I think it does depend on which county you are in. We were in Corpus Christi and our property taxes were over 3% (and rising every year), and this was 12 years ago. Some areas aren’t as bad though. It does seem to keep property prices down though, since people can’t afford both the confiscatory taxes AND a high sales price. I’m guessing that’s why property values there are lower than a lot of places, even in the big cities.
Everywhere I looked in Texas, property taxes were a small fraction of what I'm paying now.
I live in a 2,900SF house on 1/3 of an acre. My property taxes are nearing $9k/yr. That's outrageous, especially considering we have income tax and one of the highest state sales taxes in the country to boot.
The last house I looked at about 70 miles west of Austin was near 4,000SF and sitting on about 10 acres of land. Property taxes: $1,750/year.
Texas is a DEAL compared to Illinois.
Then you’ll be happy in comparison. Illinois sounds like NY, where every tax is confiscatory.
Sounds like you found an area with lower property tax rates. They are a percentage of house value, though, so I’d rather know house values than size, etch, to compare apples to apples. One good thing in Texas - get some goats or cows, and your taxes on the land drops considerably.
Just out of curiosity I looked up our old house in Corpus. The new owners are paying $8500 in property taxes now. We were paying $5700 12 years ago. Ouch! Glad we left. That, and I love hearing English spoken.
“I don’t agree with that.”
You don’t have to agree with it, nor does the court, nor do pension-promised workers, nor does anyone.
When there isn’t the money to pay, the pensions won’t be paid.
It doesn’t matter why there isn’t money. It’s not there, nor will it ever be.
It's astounding that any state Constitution would include state protections for the benefit of a "special" small group at the expense of all the remaining citizens whom they presumably also benefit and protect.
Just exactly how can the Illinois Constitution be amended? If the legislature can't do it on its own and the citizenry at large can't do it by initiative, every working citizen and working legal resident in the state is royally screwed.
It's inconceivable that any Constitution would contain the poison pill of slowly forcing their net taxpaying residents, followed by the entire state, to slowly sink into bankruptcy by law.
How will they resolve that? When the unfunded obligations exceed the capacity of taxes to service, then what? Foreclose on every working taxpayer's property? Seize all their bank accounts and retirement accounts?
If the federal system allows the legislature to do exactly that, why aren't the citizens all states similarly protected through the same legislative empowerment? Why isn't it unconstitutional for the states to lack the protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution?
Could you possibly repeat that in proper English?
And who enabled and allowed it?
Every criminal legislator that did so, should have their pension terminated, among the first steps to a resolution. Let them sue the people of Illinois to restore their ill-gotten booty and make sure the process lasts years...
And if pigs had wings....
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