A new study shows 13 percent of Chicago-area homeowners with mortgages owed at least 25 percent more than their homes were worth.
If an Illinois worker takes a pay cut during a recession, she knows the state isn’t going to take an even bigger chunk out of her paycheck. That’s because the state income tax rate stays the same. But if her home loses value, too, she could still see her property tax bill go up. Government...
Residents of DuPage County pay some of the highest property taxes in the state - and the country. As taxpayers feel the pinch, compensation remains generous for many local officials - some have even enjoyed a boost.
The defined-benefit pension system threatens the retirement security of government workers, as well as the pocketbooks of overburdened taxpayers.
A proposal to tie state spending to what taxpayers can afford is earning bipartisan support in Springfield.
Mandating more reasonable spending growth is the first step in a journey back to solvency for Illinois. The cap provides certainty today for a more responsible state government tomorrow.
A District 211 board member is sitting in on negotiations with the same teachers union that bought her campaign signs during the 2017 District 211 school board election. But much more than yard signs, Illinois' collective bargaining laws for government worker unions stack the deck against local taxpayers.
Even after a 32 percent income tax hike, the Illinois General Assembly passed a state budget in 2017 that will generate an estimated $1.5 billion deficit in fiscal year 2018. That deficit is projected to grow to $2.15 billion in fiscal year 2019, according to the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, or GOMB. The...
Spending has consistently outpaced state tax revenues in Illinois for more than a decade. To avoid future tax hikes, Illinois must impose real fiscal discipline on state lawmakers.
A number of state and local lawmakers in Illinois practice property tax appeals litigation. But a pair of bills recently filed in the General Assembly would end their ability to benefit at the expense of taxpayers.