Suburbs protest plan to cut their share of income tax
Several Northwest suburban communities and their Springfield representatives voiced strong opposition Monday to Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to cut municipalities' share of state income tax from 10 percent to 7 percent.
Democratic state Rep. Mark Walker of Arlington Heights was joined in a news conference at Rolling Meadows City Hall by Rolling Meadows Mayor Ken Nelson, Arlington Heights Village President Arlene Mulder, Schaumburg Village Trustee George Dunham, and Mount Prospect trustees John Korn and Steven Polit.
"I got so concerned by the broken relationship between local government and the state," Walker said of why he organized the news conference.
Nelson said he was stunned by the governor's announcement of the plan as Quinn had previously pledged not to interfere with cities and villages' share of the income tax.
Dunham said Schaumburg already had to impose the first property tax in its history in December to deal with an existing budget shortfall, but this move would add another $1.8 million.
"For this to be sprung on us, and sprung on us at this time, is unconscionable," Dunham said. "I don't know the answer, I just know the frustration."
Service cuts in recent years are the way Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg have continued to make ends meet. Mount Prospect has managed to avoid layoffs by dipping into its reserves and has received much appreciated help from its unions, Korn said.
"There are municipalities out there that are in far worse shape than the ones sitting around this table," Korn said. "They're not going to be able to put services out on the street."
The seven member villages of the Barrington Area Council of Government also jointly declared their opposition to the cuts.
BACOG Executive Director Janet Agnoletti said taking money away from the local governments that have been managing themselves responsibly isn't the way for the state to solve its own financial problems.
Like the support Walker is showing the municipalities he represents, the Barrington area is also being joined by its state legislators in opposing the reduction, Agnoletti said.
Mulder suggested the state get financial advice from experts in the private sector to build a long-term plan for recovery.
"Maybe in 15 years we won't be the laughing stock of the United States, we can be a respected state," she said.
Walker said Illinois still has plenty of good reasons that continue to attract both residents and businesses, but agreed that the uncertainty of its long-term financial forecast is something that needs fixing.
Pension reform is something Walker believes most legislators are seriously thinking about, and he personally considers a two-tier system for both current retirees and new workers to be inevitable.
"People love to give good pensions, especially when they're not paying for them," Walker said.
"We have to figure out how to get government back to 1999 and 1998 sizes," Polit said. "Governments get big easily, but we have to learn how to contract them."
But James McNamee, president of the Illinois Public Pension Fund Association, said public safety pensions are unfairly becoming the scapegoat and perceived cure-all for the state's budget crisis.
He said such pensions represent only 3 percent of a homeowner's property tax bill, and that they have proven a more resilient and reliable retirement plan than other market-driven ones.
Mulder said a public perception problem remains in explaining to residents why their taxes are going up for pensions when they've lost as much as 70 percent of their own 401(k) funds from the stock market crash.