Ralph Martire

If folks want Illinois and Chicago to invest in core public services to build a decent quality of life for everyone, they must support elected officials willing to raise tax revenue to get the job done, a fiscal expert argues.

The mayor and his team filled the 2024 deficit with one-time fixes. Odds are that next year will start with a budget shortfall similar to this year’s, and the available tax fixes are all regressive.

The five state pension systems collectively have a staggering unfunded liability of $139 billion, and Chicago’s unfunded liability of $35.4 billion.

Illinois, for instance, has over-relied on local property taxes to fund K-12 education, effectively tying educational quality to local property wealth that is markedly lower in segregated Black communities.

if Illinois wants to get the best student achievement bang for its taxpayer buck, it should stop subsidizing the choice to send children to a private school.

Chicago’s fiscal challenges can’t be solved with smoke and mirrors

The state’s ‘evidence-based formula,’ created in 2018 with bipartisan legislation, is sending more money to under-resourced schools, including some Downstate schools. But Illinois is behind schedule on providing the full funding the legislation calls for.

All four pension programs are vastly underfunded. There’s no meeting of minds around resolving the issue. But Chicagoans deserve to hear more about solutions as the municipal election approaches.