WSJ reports:
Anyone who still thinks unfunded government pension liabilities are a free lunch, please consult Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. On Tuesday he proposed a gigantic tax increase for a city that already carries a heavy tax burden.
At Chicago’s City Hall, Mr. Emanuel proposed what he says are some $600 million in annual tax and fee increases, including $588 million in property tax increases phased in over four years. The Illinois Policy Institute says the real total in new property tax revenue over four years will be $1.768 billion in a fiscal 2016 budget of $9.3 billion.But that is not the worst of it. WSJ continues:
All that cash will do little or nothing to improve city services. Mr. Emanuel says $543 million will fund pensions for firemen and police. The remaining $45 million by his calculation will go to cover capital improvements for public-school buildings.
Mr. Emanuel also proposed a potpourri of other new taxes on Tuesday, including $60 million on ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft, charging city residents about $10 a month for garbage collection, a tax on e-cigarettes and $13 million in higher building permit fees.
Chicago edging out NY and LA to become the next Detroit it seems.
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A policy change of Wenzel Inc. or of the server system?
What I have been predicting is coming true. The private sector retirees making, say, $30k per year on modest retirement savings, Social Security, and part time jobs are being taxed up the wazoo to pay for the triple digit pensions and benefits of public sector retirees.
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