About your tax bill…

It’s officially more expensive to live, work and shop in Illinois. The sun will rise tomorrow. We will be further in debt. And the sun will rise tomorrow.

So what’s everyone angry about? When you spend more than you take in you are in debt. The taxes had to be raised even if cuts in operations and programs were made because of our debt obligations.

Besides cuts were made. Comparing numbers from the Illinois Commission on Governmental Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) it looks like the state made $2.3 billion in cuts over those past two years. The FY2011 enacted operating budget was $26 billion. The FY2009 enacted operating budget was $28.3 billion. Now those figures don’t include the Illinois recovery money spent from the video poker revenues that were projected but never collected because the counties and municipalities never bought into the program. That spending just added to the $14-or-so billion dollars the state needs to borrow to pay some bills this year. And next year. And, well, adding more years just adds to the redundancy.

COGFA also is reporting some rather alarming trends and statistics on the Illinois public pensions system. A recent report examined 10 downstate and suburban municipal police and fire fighter pension funds between the years 2004-2008. Each of the local governments included in the analysis experienced a decline in their funded ratio despite significant increases in the annual employer contribution. This inverse relationship between employer contributions and the funded ratios raises a serious question concerning the long-term sustainability of these pension funds and the ability of local governments and taxpayers to meet the growing contribution required.

The unaffordable pension obligations were not met with the largest tax increase in Illinois history. That issue was definitely not addressed in the so called pension reform legislation. The matter was deferred and kicked back down stairs to the local governmental units to figure out how to pay for it. According to those COGFA figures the local governments and their taxpayers might be screwed. That’s in part because they’re all having to make operating cuts because their debt obligations, including pensions and health care provisions, are growing faster than their revenue streams.

In the evolving spirit of the Woodstock Generation, I guess, our fearless leaders defended status quo (and their pensions) and reduced and eliminated the abusive policies for the next generation. The problem is the problem is so enormous that local government can’t afford any new hires because they need to cut operating expenses even after they’ve raised taxes, fines and fees. There’s not enough employees feeding the system compared to those feeding from it. It’s gotten so bad that the city of DeKalb had to borrow money to lay off employees.

Many of those dependent upon the government payroll in Illinois think the business community should have stepped up and kicked in more long ago. Having well educated employees is more important than any tax rate. That’s right any tax rate for any of the 6,000 or so governmental units in Illinois. More taxes. More fees. More regulations. More fines. That’s how you end up losing more than a half a million jobs over the last decade and a 48-out-of-50 ranking in job creation.

Its all connected.

So most middle class families in Illinois in 2011 only need to cough up another $1000-or-so for their state income tax. They probably only need to fork out another $300 or $500 in property taxes this year. College tuition went up. The water bill went up. License fees (pick any) up. Books and school fees cost more. Fuel is always going up. The doctor needs more money, too. Just cut back on that discretionary spending. Give less to your church. Cut back on charitable donations. Cancel that weekend getaway. Eat at home. Watch the game on TV not in the stands. Defer some maintenance at home. And so goes the local economy, local charities and small businesses, too.

This the largest tax increase in Illinois history. Yet how to pay the insurmountable costs of medicaid/medicare/All Kids is still unanswered. Those experienced in local government knew the State wouldn’t be sharing those increased funds with them. They just need to raise their taxes.

Here’s hoping the new kids on the General Assembly block have fresh minds and new ideas with the backbone needed to tell the status quo to take a hike. American ingenuity is a trademark of Illinois.

Boy, we need it.