Thursday, September 29, 2011

A Boatload of Bad Ideas

  • With the mayor and City Council preparing to begin the annual budget process next month, city Inspector General Joe Ferguson has suggested a host of revenue-generating and cost-saving ideas, including a city income tax and toll booths on Lake Shore Drive.

    But Mayor Rahm Emanuel said higher taxes and charging tolls on Lake Shore Drive are non-starters, although some of Ferguson’s dozens of other ideas are worth a closer look.

Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. So what are they looking at?
  • In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Emanuel – who must present his budget plan next month – said several of Ferguson’s ideas are “promising” and will be given serious consideration. But the mayor said “raising property taxes, income taxes or the sales taxes is off the table. And asking drivers on Lake Shore Drive to pay a toll is also a non-starter.”
A good start.
  • Ferguson’s report also suggests imposing a $5 London-style congestion fee on for driving in the downtown area during rush hours. The fee would be collected in an area bounded roughly from North Avenue south to the Stevenson Expressway, and from Halsted Street east to Lake Michigan, although it extends as far west as Ashland Avenue between Lake Street and the Eisenhower Expressway.
We would definitely start looking into buying parking garages just outside those borders then.
  • In addition, Ferguson also suggests creating a 1 percent Chicago city income tax, much as New York City imposes, for new revenues of $500 million per year. In suggesting the tax, Ferguson’s report points out that the State of Illinois increased its income tax to 5 percent last year, but froze the amount distributed to municipal governments, thus effectively reducing the percentage of the tax that cities receive.

    But such a tax might also prompt people to move away. The report conceded that it might lead city residents to move to the suburbs to avoid the tax.

Gee, you think? People are already fleeing the city in droves. You think they need another reason to go?
  • Ferguson also suggested an income tax for non-Chicago residents who work in the city, which he said is done in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit.

    Oak Lawn resident Jack Cummings said “I don’t think that’s right. … We need to work somewhere. We’re coming here to work. I don’t think you should tax us. We’re already paying to come down here. We’re paying to eat. We’re paying to do our jobs. I don’t think that’s right.”

    Taxing suburbanites is the goal of several options presented by Inspector General Joe Ferguson.

    “Folks from the suburbs come in and work in the city, take their money back home, come back into the city so they can enjoy high cultural events or otherwise,” Ferguson said. “So who bears the burden for the cost of the roads and the lights and the police protection and all that sort of stuff?”

Wow. Maybe no one has told Ferguson, but the suburbs are developing or have developed "high culture" events for the past twenty years or so. And have you noticed the newest multiplex theaters? Mostly in the suburbs. Big name music acts? Excluding the giant "stadium acts" like U2, they've been hitting the suburban venues for years to avoid Chicago's onerous labor rules and excessive tax rate. And as Illinois is shedding jobs and has an unemployment rate among the highest in the nation, any additional tax burden will cause employers to shut down operations here.

Democrats - always with the "higher taxes will solve everything" mantra.

Labels:

60 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

no mention of reducing the aldercreatures?

9/29/2011 12:05:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

a good idea- look under iad's chiefs desk and get the 7 yr back pack police and send him back to the streets.

9/29/2011 12:15:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How about no one ever vote, again.....Pols would effectivley be put out of their jobs....they have stolen the money and have relyed on doing it, legally....

9/29/2011 12:17:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Heard somewhere about 20 years ago that if a city had an income tax it could not have a residency requirement, too.

Can anyone verify this??

9/29/2011 12:21:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

when did the IG's office become the office of revenue generating ideas???? for a brief, VERY BRIEF, moment, Ferguson seemed a promising replacement for Hoffman.

FFS! somebody remind him what the mission of the IG's office is. or, is there suddenly no more corruption in the City? he's got to go!

9/29/2011 12:44:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Corporations, like the CPD, the Government, etc., have a bunch of idiots at the top.

In this age of the internet, high speed computers, etc., there really is not much reason for the massive amount of people heading to an office to work downtown.

Working from home would be much more efficient for a large number of people.

Start taxing the suburbanites to work in the city and working from home will quickly increase.

9/29/2011 12:46:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Politicians shouldn't be allowed to ask taxpayers to pay more if they pissed away all our money to begin with. Its the democrat way. Thanks cook county voters.

9/29/2011 12:59:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You see this little ditty right here :

"..Ferguson’s report points out that the State of Illinois increased its income tax to 5 percent last year, but froze the amount distributed to municipal governments, thus effectively reducing the percentage of the tax that cities receive"

==========================

That's right..

The city would of had more money coming in from the Obama FICA social security payroll tax break stimulus but the State of Illinois immediately raised the State income tax and that took away every single dime of it away.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not praising the Obama campers. The FICA stimulus money payroll tax break was just another way to steal from our future...well the futures of the people that are forced into paying into the FICA system.

What a transfer of wealth it all is.

A Washington illusion that no-one in Chicago or the State of Illinois realized

Out of the social security and medicare of individual taxpayers and into Governor Quinn's State of Illinois coffers -- to eventually be handed out as tax breaks for the corporations and overseas travel expenses while using the guise of job creation.

BTW. The Motorola Mobility purchase by Google is now being reviewed by the DOJ. Maybe they can tell Illinoisans where the jobs are and the Illinois tax break money Quinn gave Motorola

9/29/2011 01:28:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka on Monday said she fears what will happen in Illinois should the nation slip back into recession, warning the state’s finances are so bad there’s nothing to fall back on.

The veteran Republican statewide politician said she’s “very, very nervous” about recent economic signs that include growing unemployment, an erratic stock market and weak housing sales. State government already is trying to get out from under billions of dollars of debt accumulated in recent years, she said.

“Illinois just could not handle it, and we’d have serious consequences,” Topinka said while addressing the City Club of Chicago. “Unfortunately, I think we’re holding our breath right now.”

more >> http://capitolfax.com/2011/09/27/more-needless-hype/

9/29/2011 01:46:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How about a "Didn't get shot tax". Meaning if you come to the city and dont get shot you pay 5 bucks.

9/29/2011 02:02:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

YES, tax the outsiders, city residents are paying enough already!

These people could not get their HIGH salaries in the burbs and thus they come to the big city.

Everyday thousands come in on the South Shore Electric Line from Indiana (Michigan City & as far away as South Bend) because they cannot get work out there that pays more than $6 an hour, if any job at all.

They should kick in a little extra to the city or take jobs at McD's in the far burbs.

p.s. City Residents should get free city stickers and the suburb people should have to buy an expensive sticker to drive in and use our fine city.

It's time to turn it around and let the city folk take a break from taxes!!!!!

9/29/2011 02:50:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

bring in the river boats already. save the city

9/29/2011 02:57:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"But such a tax might also prompt people to move away. The report conceded that it might lead city residents to move to the suburbs to avoid the tax"


Isn't there a residency requirement that city residents cannot reside in the suburbs?

9/29/2011 03:57:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it is a good Idea to tax people that work in the city and live out out of the city.
We pay hi rates to use our boat in Lake county if that is where we want to go. We pay a tax to use their beaches,If our own is over run with bangers etc. Why not tax them!

9/29/2011 04:02:00 AM  
Anonymous Taxpayer in Suburbs said...

If they start taxing suburbanites - 1% City Work Tax and a Commuter Tax, they better think twice.

NO taxation without representation.

If I am taxed, I want to be able to vote. Cut 25 aldermen off the city council and add 25 aldermen representing suburbanites. Make the Mayor's office a position that has to be voted on by anyone working in Chicago.

Need new revenues? Start charging people for a LINK CARD. Cut out all the freebies to those who don't work.

9/29/2011 04:43:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

“Folks from the suburbs come in and work in the city, take their money back home, come back into the city so they can enjoy high cultural events or otherwise,” Ferguson said. “So who bears the burden for the cost of the roads and the lights and the police protection and all that sort of stuff?"
----------------------------------
Is this moron for real??

Maybe we should put a tax on anyone driving out of the city. Maybe we should put a wall up.

Stop all the free programs and have people work for the money they are getting.

Get rid of all the illegals in the city.

Don't lean on the suburbs to clean up the political mess you have been growing for decades.

9/29/2011 04:50:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

U should read page 74, the section about public safety. It could be found on Chicago breaking news.

9/29/2011 05:04:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You can vote on many of these ideas on Rahm's website

www.chicagobudget.org

you need to scroll through a lot of BS to find the appropriate thoughts to vote on and comment.

9/29/2011 05:05:00 AM  
Anonymous We can tax our way out of this? said...

Yet not one word on how much it is COSTS to be a SANCTUARY CITY.

9/29/2011 05:38:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

IDIOTS! How much more do they expect people to have to pay for shit service.

How about stopping the bullshit TIF where you steal millions in taxes and the mayor gets to spend it wherever he wants like it's his personal banking account.

Maybe if they stopped that bullshit, the higher taxes people pay would go toward, oh, I don't know, fucking services!

Keep voting these democrat assholes in.

9/29/2011 05:58:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Multiplexes and U2 are high culture? Wow, you really don't get out much. Do you?

9/29/2011 06:11:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The more money corrupt Illinois politicians get from higher taxes and fees the more these Bastards spend. It never ends.

9/29/2011 06:32:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We already moved away ~ to another state!! Fuck Rahm and the aldermen who like to screw with the middle class & working/retired city workers!

9/29/2011 06:43:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Detroit, Detroit. It's a wonderful town!

9/29/2011 07:05:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lets tax the productive that work in Chicago so they move their offices someplace where they do not have to pay the tax. Given there is little in the way of any need to be in Chicago in the first place, there is little to stop employers from leaving the city.

As for the cultural amenities - don't they have admission fees to cover those costs? If not, they should. The people using them should pay for them. Not the taxpayer at large.

I am less offended by the toll idea. The plain fact is that there are just too many vehicles for the downtown streets to handle effectively. There is no place to build new roads, and no place to park any more cars anyway. Tolls will discourage traffic. It may be the least offensive of the options to dealing with traffic congestion in downtown Chicago. There do not appear to be any good options for dealing with that problem.

9/29/2011 07:34:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is Rahm's message to the ward superintendents also a message to the alderpersons - "Get the job done" or else?

9/29/2011 08:01:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Multiplexes and U2 are high culture? Wow, you really don't get out much. Do you?

9/29/2011 06:11:00 AM

Suburbs offer a safe enviorment, free and available parking and some great restuarants. I work for the city but never spend a dime on food or gas in this city. I enjoy everything the suburbs have to offer and one day I can retire and move.

9/29/2011 08:48:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We should be modeling our finances on the success of cities like Philly, Cleveland and Detroit?!! Someone hasn't thought this through. The parking meters have already driven so much business from downtown. It'll just be packs of feral children and the few unsuspecting tourists left eventually.

9/29/2011 08:49:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I take full responsibility as a municipal employee for all these useless management jobs, gold braided multi pensions, wasted money on do nothing studies, free health care for drug addicts and murders who put nothing back in the system, mismanagement of our pension funds and of course sweet heart deals which always seem to go 100 of millions of dollars over budget every time.
Yes that's all my fault.

9/29/2011 09:02:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tax suburbanites because they earn money in the city but spend it in the suburbs? This is a sanctuary city. Illegals are earning money here and sending it out of the country. Why don't they crack down on them. Cowardly politicians will let the city go to hell as long as they get reelected.

9/29/2011 09:11:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Another bad idea overhead at the Pre-ComStat meeting is that they are floating to disband both airport units and public transportation and then replace them with a non-bid Counter-Terrorism Unit which would then annex the Marine Unit. Utilizing DHS, Dept of Transportation, and FAA grant money. Getting ready for G-8.

9/29/2011 09:15:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When added to the $635.7 million operating deficit, the $555 million increase in pension funding puts the City’s effective annual operating deficit at $1.2 billion, not including the increased funding required to adequately fund the Municipal Employees and Laborers’ pension funds.
------------------------
This is the meat of the report. Nothing else really matters.

In other words, besides finding $700+ million a year for the deficit spending already going on, an additional 1/2 a billion plus needs to be found to fund pensions that are already owed.

In rough numbers, the city has about a $6.1 billion a year budget. About $1.2 billion is debt service. That leaves about $4.9 billion to work with. Roughly 75% of that $4.9 billion is personnel costs.

Say you need to find about $1.3 billion to deal with the current deficit and the pension plans. That is probably low, but lets call it that. That is already more than all the non-personnel and non-debt service costs combined.

If you just did an across the board cut of non-debt service expenses, you would need to cut by about 26% to get the $1.3 billion (which remember is probably a low ball number).

According to the report, more than 60% of employees are in the police, fire, and OEMC departments. That would seem to imply that those departments are roughly 60% of the personnel budget. About 39% being the PD.

39% of the personnel budget is about $1.5 billion. 26% of that is $384 million. Rahm is suggesting only a $200 million cut in the PD budget. That means he is going to have to find $200 million more out of the other departments. You think the PD is unpopular now, wait until there are cuts in the 40-50% range in other departments to keep the cuts in the PD to the $200 million range.

What is about to happen to Chicago is going to be VERY unpleasant. Rahm is not responsible for the dire financial situation Chicago is in. He is the guy who has to deal with it, and soon, or it will just get progressively worse.

9/29/2011 10:02:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Has this Liberal State, County or City considered charging the convicted felon/offenders for services. Charge for processing (guns, drugs, rape kits), bording, transportation, hospital/medical treatment, repeat offender fee. Money should be collected from bond or liens placed against any future earning.(ie property,law suits, link card, ssi, or rap career earnings.) I forgot his is CHICAGO/COOK COUNTY/ILLINOIS! That will never happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9/29/2011 10:12:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, they want to charge the suburbanites who come here to work? Are you shitting me. How about charging the illegals who come here and don't work. They'll get more revenue for sure.

9/29/2011 10:13:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's funny how people(politician) can always ask for a tax increases. I assume these same taxes apply to them also at the same rate they want the citizens to pay. Maybe not! Time to check their tax bills.

9/29/2011 10:19:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Always vote Republican. There is no other choice.

9/29/2011 10:30:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Let me first state that any tax on income is paying for freeloaders to live that is better then the one I have. I have been on c.p.d. for over twenty years, I have never seen a person in third conditions. They have food, heat and for many air conditioning. They drive nicer cars and have better clothes on their backs then my family wears.

I believe people should be taxed for the services society needs. My pay comes from such taxes. however, letting people live off these taxes IS wrong. For every dollar of new tax made dollar, the same should be reduced in entitlements.

Whenever you say yes to a new tax it will turn around and bite you in the ass.

9/29/2011 10:49:00 AM  
Anonymous a rash of good ideas said...

One innovative idea Rahm has floated is for toilet paper recycling: reroll soiled one-ply so the other side can be used. Savings: $16 million. Now that's money saving Rahm can personally embrace.

9/29/2011 11:06:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
YES, tax the outsiders, city residents are paying enough already!

These people could not get their HIGH salaries in the burbs and thus they come to the big city.

Everyday thousands come in on the South Shore Electric Line from Indiana (Michigan City & as far away as South Bend) because they cannot get work out there that pays more than $6 an hour, if any job at all.

They should kick in a little extra to the city or take jobs at McD's in the far burbs.

p.s. City Residents should get free city stickers and the suburb people should have to buy an expensive sticker to drive in and use our fine city.

It's time to turn it around and let the city folk take a break from taxes!!!!!

9/29/2011 02:50:00 AM

Another former CPS student heard from.

So by arguing to lift the residency rule you are in fact agreeing to pay an additional Tax to live in the burbs.

Not to mention that the well paying jobs may up and leave. Chicago can not supply a qualified workforce so the employers will follow the workforce.

Keep the ideas coming sport.

9/29/2011 11:11:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I got it, start taxing Chicago residents that live in Chicago but work in the burbs. That way everyone but residents that work and live in Chicago get taxed.

And begin charging tolls on all cars driving out of the city.
tax everything!

More to the "poor."

9/29/2011 11:18:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

He is talking about getting rid of the whole marine unit not just helicopter!!!

9/29/2011 11:22:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Doesn't matter where you save money or raise more revenue. Our greedy corrupt fucking politicians will find even more ways to piss the new dollars away. This state is so corrupt there is no way to reign in the spending. We went over the cliff years ago and their ain't no coming back folks.

9/29/2011 12:23:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it is a good Idea to tax people that work in the city and live out out of the city.
We pay hi rates to use our boat in Lake county if that is where we want to go. We pay a tax to use their beaches,If our own is over run with bangers etc. Why not tax them!

9/29/2011 04:02:00 AM

Suburbanites ARE already taxed for working in the city.

Have you seen the outrageously high parking fees in downtown lots and garages? Are you aware there's a one-percent hike in the sales tax in the Loop? Do you know the difference in gas prices inside and outside of the city, due to taxes?

They buy breakfast and lunches here, and office supplies and they plan parties at 'convenient' City locations for their workers.

They, however, are in a better situation than we captives are; they don't own real estate here, so they aren't tied to this location. Be careful what you wish for; if they find employment elsewhere, or their company decides to head for the hills instead of allowing their employees to be pillaged and overtaxed, we lose them altogether, which just hastens Chicago's decline.

9/29/2011 01:02:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I like how Chicago is looking to Cleveland, Philidelphia, and Detroit...yes, Detroit, for an idea on how to generate revenue. That's like being the CEO of a failing corporation, and to get ideas how to save your business, you look at other similar failing corporations to see how they are generating revenue.

9/29/2011 01:29:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Multiplexes and U2 are high culture? Wow, you really don't get out much. Do you?

9/29/2011 06:11:00 AM\

Wow the Waste of Chicago, a giant ferris wheel and some fireworks. I guess that is cultural. Guess you don't get out much either. Keep paying those high taxes and getting screwed by your mayor and politicians.

9/29/2011 01:58:00 PM  
Blogger John Northen said...

Then and now, Joseph Ferguson is the Inspector General for the City of Chicago. I filed a complaint (CR#) with IPRA/IAD versus then Supt. Jody P. Weis for his "gotta run" act of COWARDICE on Good Friday, April 2, 2010 when he fled the scene of a (still unsolved) murder which just occurred only 45 seconds away from him in Englewood. Rather than backing up his officers going into harm's way, it was Mr. Ferguson's office that put the kibosh on any public investigation of this most damning of charges against "J-FLED".

I submit that both Mr. Ferguson and the office of Inspector General have a serious credibility issue.

The results of my investigation of J-Fled's despicable cowardice remain available. The evidence is incontrovertible and overwhelming. Any objective factfinder would arrive at the same inescapable conclusion:

J-FLED IS A COWARD!

Had a blueshirt been proven guilty of this same craven act, the CPD would have suspended the officer for 30 days pending separation.

Like combat military, good police leadership and cowardice are mutually exclusive.

What say you, Mr. Ferguson?

9/29/2011 02:26:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really like this quote:


“A lot of his ideas have the potential to produce revenue, if they worked – you know, assuming people would not revolt and turn against us in mass numbers and, you know, tar and feather us for proposing such ideas,” Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) said.

That's just funny.

Personally I like how the LSD tolls and the downtown tax both represent taxes to my commute from the area where I like to live to the area the department says I have to work.

9/29/2011 02:54:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

2:02AM: Fucking Hilarius!!!

9/29/2011 03:43:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can anyone verify this??

9/29/2011 12:21:00 AM

No.

9/29/2011 06:06:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

.....Another former CPS student heard from.

So by arguing to lift the residency rule you are in fact agreeing to pay an additional Tax to live in the burbs.....


You sir/madam are really a tool!
(read before you write)

Nowhere in my proposal did I say to lift the residency rule, get your facts straight before you comment.
(if you want to live outside the city, you will pay extra bud).

9/29/2011 06:33:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Northside, give it a rest about J=FLED! No one cares anymore but you. Holding a grudge is letting someone live in your head rent FREE!

9/29/2011 07:02:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Toll roads in chicago? Ah a nu law enforcement agency is born. CTAP Chicago Tollroad Authority Police. Tapping into your pockets to move around in Chicago. Where would you places the booths at Balbo and the drive?

9/29/2011 07:04:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

He is talking about getting rid of the whole marine unit not just helicopter!!!

----------------

aND WHO WOULD MISS IT?

9/29/2011 07:04:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's an idea , send rodent control with the 3 guys changing light bulbs in alley .
Better yet , give the driver and laborer a few containers of rat poison to spread around instead of resting in truck or lawn chair .

there ya go rahm , you have to think like a worker not a politician

9/29/2011 10:48:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

7:02 pm

Speak for yourself, asshat. You sure don't know Northside. When he is right, he is relentless. J-Fled got off scott free with a million dollars. J-Fled was the worst ever and he's still in Chicago. Ferguson did the cover-up. Sic the coward, Northside.

Free Cozzi.

9/30/2011 02:10:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

J-FLED IS A COWARD!

--------------------

he is gone. move on and worry about the current clown in charge. he is just as bad (maybe worse) in other ways.

9/30/2011 08:46:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

7:02 pm

Speak for yourself, asshat. You sure don't know Northside. When he is right, he is relentless. J-Fled got off scott free with a million dollars. J-Fled was the worst ever and he's still in Chicago. Ferguson did the cover-up. Sic the coward, Northside.

Free Cozzi.

9/30/2011 02:10:00 AM

He's no asshat and he speaks for more of us than you seem to think.

If relentless means 'beating the dead horse to extend your personal fifteen minutes of fame', then you have JN pegged.

9/30/2011 01:24:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Does anyone really think Racoon Eyes, and his band of cut throats, look at any of these "ideas"? These bottom feeders already have their agenda mapped out. They will do exactly what benefits them and the corrupt zombie politicians who lick their asses every day for favors. Citizen input is a JOKE!

10/01/2011 04:17:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why do we need a marine unit ? We are only the 3rd largest city in the country and the largest one on the Great Lakes! The Coast Guard does not have enough resources and the Conservation Police are stretched a lot thinner then our shitty dept. People can say what they want but every major occurrence the marine unit has been involved in has been a newsworthy event.

10/01/2011 08:10:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ferguson also suggested an income tax for non-Chicago residents who work in the city, which he said is done in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit.
Now those are places you want to emulate.

10/01/2011 03:28:00 PM  

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