Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Illinois, Worst for Retirement
The list, with Illinois leading the pack, comes from website TopRetirements.com. According to John Brady, president of TopRetirements.com, the 10 states earn this dubious distinction largely because of three factors: fiscal health, taxation and climate. (Full story here.) Fiscal health? We’re bankrupt. Taxation? We’re taxed to death. Climate? We’re heading into 5-6 days below freezing.…
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Little do to in Property Tax Battle?
In an article with technical problems over at the Sun-Times, Terry Savage writes under a headline, “Little you can do in property tax battle”: While home values are down, many homeowners are shocked by the increases in second-half-of-the year tax bills. Fingers are pointing at the assessor’s office, the Cook County Board and the state’s…
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Berrios Puts Family on Payroll
Just days into his tenure as Cook County assessor, Joseph Berrios has hired his son and sister to work for him. … Carmen Berrios, the assessor’s sister, is director of taxpayer services at Berrios’ new office. She is making about $86,000, the same salary she made at the Board of Tax Review, where she headed…
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Fioretti Anti-Building Protection
Powered by a solar-powered device akin to a car battery, the fences send 7,000 volt jolts every 1.3 seconds into the hands of people who touch the fences, which have never proved fatal in the states and cities that allow them…. The systems are allowed in California, other major cities and Illinois suburbs including Bolingbrook,…
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Post Objection Blogging
I’m back!! Had a little hiatus from posting there. Turns out that Alderman Fioretti’s guy objected to my petitions so I had to get some legal work done in order to stay on the ballot. But I think I have all that behind me now; we should be rolling full steam ahead. Also, just as…
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Media on TIF does not understand TIF
Media tries, fails to explain why TIF is so confusing: [E]ven Mr. Orr and top aides [are] unsure exactly how much money is in Chicago’s TIF coffers. … There are now 158 TIF districts in Chicago, and they generated $519 million last year, Mr. Orr said. In all, there may be a shade over $1…
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Rahm on Education: Not Daley’s Fault
Rahm Emanuel made a campaign promise last week that if elected mayor, he would install a new math and English language curriculum in Chicago’s public schools by the end of his first term. … Mr. Emanuel made clear that he meant no disrespect to Mayor Richard M. Daley, who assumed control of the city’s public…
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June 11, 2008
Alderman Fioretti send two very dangerous messages with one vote: campaign and other donations to the city get results for the donors, and what the citizens want doesn’t matter, the city should always get its way. Bob Fioretti believes that if your names sounds like Crown or Pritzker and you donate lots of money to…
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Emanuel’s Foolish TIF for Police Plan
Over the weekend Rahm Emanuel became the latest local politician to propose tapping funds from the city’s tax increment financing districts to help pay for city services. Emanuel said that if he is elected mayor he would use $25 million in TIF money to pay for 250 new officers that could be dispatched around the…
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CPD Considers Reallocation of Officers
Police districts on Chicago’s North Side would lose beat officers to South Side and West Side districts if the city were to reallocate cops based on the volume of 911 calls and backups for police service, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis has found. (Full story here.) The Second Ward is on both ends of this; Weis…
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