Budget Buster: Living in IL

[mookie]

This whole situation just makes me sick. All of it.

 

[averysmom]

11% provincial income tax, 7% provincial sales tax, 5% federal sales tax. I win (I mean lose) My property tax on my house, which is assessed at 340 000 is 4900/year. My federal tax rate, after deductions is 35% - I am in one of the middle tax brackets - nowhere near the top.

 

[Soben]

11% provincial income tax, 7% provincial sales tax, 5% federal sales tax. I win (I mean lose) My property tax on my house, which is assessed at 340 000 is 4900/year. My federal tax rate, after deductions is 35% - I am in one of the middle tax brackets - nowhere near the top.

You do win...I'm making a mental note to cross you off the list of places to move.

 

[maggiew]

He was actually impeached.

Blago was impeached. I think what the previous poster was implying was that now that we have the ability to recall a governor, we should think about doing that to Quinn.

Maggie

 

[FINFAN]

we get paid once a month, the last day of the month (don't ask how we both landed that )sooooo, this will be a nasty amount pulled out of our checks this month, DH way more brutal than mine. He turns 50 at the end of the month...nice gift, not. (assuming it gets signed today)

 

[chicagoshannon]

My hubby figured that the this tax increase will pretty much mean we don't see any of the federal tax break that started Jan 1st. So this year our overall paycheck will stay the same as last year BUT next year we'll see a decrease.

For those complaining about children not getting some governmental help, I"m sorry. I don't think we should be given a handout like that. It's not the governments responsibility to pay for our children BUT I do make an exception to my personal beliefs in this instance. If they are going to have these programs and charge us for them through taxes you SHOULD be able to get the assistance. We're never going to have a ballenced budget if they keep adding more and more government programs.

As for CA, yes they are raising taxes BUT they have finally seen the light and are also cutting spending. I never thought I"d see the day when I'd say IL needs to take a lesson from CA!

They should just impose this tax on the one and only county in IL that actually voted for the moron.. Cook.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

There were actually 3 of the 102 counties voted for him based on the map I saw.. Cook by a huge margin and St Clair (E St Louis, Belleville) and Alexander (Cairo) by small margins.. So basically the areas of the state with large % of low income residents, they want to protect their freebies..

 

[FINFAN]

My hubby figured that the this tax increase will pretty much mean we don't see any of the federal tax break that started Jan 1st. So this year our overall paycheck will stay the same as last year BUT next year we'll see a decrease.

For those complaining about children not getting some governmental help, I"m sorry. I don't think we should be given a handout like that. It's not the governments responsibility to pay for our children BUT I do make an exception to my personal beliefs in this instance. If they are going to have these programs and charge us for them through taxes you SHOULD be able to get the assistance. We're never going to have a ballenced budget if they keep adding more and more government programs.

As for CA, yes they are raising taxes BUT they have finally seen the light and are also cutting spending. I never thought I"d see the day when I'd say IL needs to take a lesson from CA!

They should just impose this tax on the one and only county in IL that actually voted for the moron.. Cook.

yeah, the SSI "break" is in it's last year, convenient timing eh? It's not like Quinn won by a landslide, under 100,00 votes and this being Il, well,,, so .
Honestly, the whole country is a mess but I just do not see how continually beating on those who play by the rules and rewarding thsoe that don't is going to create success in anything.
I am guessing when the President of China arrives here for his visit (based on "business ties" with Chicago) we will see his smiling face w/Daley in all the photo ops,,,and you can bet tax break and incentives will be offered all over the place, just not for the residents and current business owners.

 

[FINFAN]

well, the taxes were enough for Jimmy Johns sandwich business. The owner applied for his license in Fl, enrolled his kids in school there and is outta il A.S.A.P. This is who the tax is really hurting, the average and small business owner, and to be honest Jimmy Johns is not that small of a chain. Enjoy getting them Fl., they have pretty decent food.
The recall option of a Gov takes a minimum of 6 months, 1/2 way thru the year where unsuspecting people will not notice too much pain from this while they have the SS credit going on, but 2012? Unless companies up salaries (which they will have a real hard time doing, they will have to charge more, pay less to cover their losses) it's going to hurt..and more and more Jimmie Johns are going to go.
ETA: His headquarters are in Champaign emplys about 100 people...while he states he can absorb the costs, he feels why should he? There will be a vote o his decision, but there you go, at least 100 people stressing on their jobs, families etc.

 

[preschoolmom]

well, the taxes were enough for Jimmie Johns sandwich business. The owner applied for his license in Fl, enrolled his kids in school there and is outta il A.S.A.P. This is who the tax is really hurting, the average and small business owner, and to be honest Jimmie Johns is not that small of a chain. Enjoy getting them Fl., they have pretty decent food.
The recall option of a Gov takes a minimum of 6 months, 1/2 way thru the year where unsuspecting people will not notice too much pain from this while they have the SS credit going on, but 2012? Unless companies up salaries (which they will have a real hard time doing, they will have to charge more, pay less to cover their losses) it's going to hurt..and more and more Jimmie Johns are going to go.

Oh, that makes me so sad! I love Jimmy Johns...

 

[Trixie15]

Another scared Cook County, IL resident here. I honestly don't know how we are going to make it. We certainly aren't planning any vacations anywhere, that is for sure. Haven't for years.

I do own a very small business and I'm honestly scared of all the new tax changes. I don't even know where to begin to make sure that I do everything right.

Also, I'm sad that I am going to probably lose my Amazon Affiliate program - I was just starting to make a tiny bit of money off of it. I was hoping it would pay for Christmas this year.

I despise living here. I just want to move but we can't. And dh has a state employee job. It's really stressful hearing people talking about cutting his pension - it's not that great to start with!

 

[FINFAN]

and now New Jersey is starting a campaign to lure businesses from IL...


http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/new...inois-business-ad-campaign-tax-taxes-20110124

However, cost of housing is working against THAT one in my book, but interesting that they are spending on a campaign. Didn't Jersey just let a ton of police/emergency workers go? I would think any $$$ should go toward that

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

and now New Jersey is starting a campaign to lure businesses from IL...


http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/new...inois-business-ad-campaign-tax-taxes-20110124

However, cost of housing is working against THAT one in my book, but interesting that they are spending on a campaign. Didn't Jersey just let a ton of police/emergency workers go? I would think any $$$ should go toward that

Isn't NJ like one of the most expensive places in the US to live? I don't know if anyone would be improving their financial lot in life by relocating there

 

[FINFAN]

Isn't NJ like one of the most expensive places in the US to live? I don't know if anyone would be improving their financial lot in life by relocating there

well, I know housing is higher, not sure about the general COL, but it is interesting that other states are offering lower tax incentives...kinda just solidifies that IL went a little overboard

 

[Virgderon]

My parents both collect state pensions. The pay rate for state jobs was lower than what they could have made in the private sector- they took the state jobs because they knew they would get pensions someday. No fair to take it away when the pension plans were compromised by the state- and were garanteed to those employees.

 

[PainInIL]

Ok, so if we are going to keep the pensions there will have to be a new influx of money? Where is that money going to come from. I am just saying you can't complain about the tax increase while you are a direct benefactor of it. People talk about cutting costs, but don't want to deal with the impact it may have on them.

 

[RitaE]

Well - we have several Public School teachers as clients in our office and given that they have no Social Security benefits I'm not sure I agree that their Pensions as promised are all that lucrative. Frankly, I'm worried about them because if the State of Illinois fails them their futures are bleak.

But it is what it is. There was a trial balloon floated last week in a couple of major publications to explore the option of allowing states to declare bankruptcy. That obviously has the power to totally decimate many of the business owners that the state of Illinois owes millions of dollars to as well as put the public pensions at risk. I suspect the federal government will be bailing out a couple of states. Welcome to our pain the rest of the US! We spent all our money and now we want to spend yours.

My husband's company is beginning to explore moving the company out of state. It is on the agenda for discussion at the next Board Meeting. I'm hopeful that they wait until my son is out of High School.

 

[PainInIL]

People who don't think the pension system is broken should really do some reading. I know in my school district there are a number of school administrators that earn over $120,000 a year. When they retire they will get that salary in full plus a cost of living increase each year. The system is currently set up to give you above cost of living increases in the last 5 years of your employment to boost your retirement package. So let's say you are an Administrator that makes $80,000 a year and will retire in 5 years. You will start to get raises in those last few years can average somewhere around 8% a year. Now when you retire your pay is $117,000 and you will now receive that amount for the rest of your life plus get a cost of living increase. So in the last 5 years of working you increased your pay by almost 50%.

This is one reason why the pension system in IL is in the state it is in. I'm sorry, but anyone who thinks that boosting your salary that much simply to raise your pension payout is a good system has no right to complain about a tax increase.

 

[RitaE]

Well - I think eventually the State will either have to throw their teachers back into the Social Security system for at least new hires - or move to a defined contribution or 401k/403b type of Retirement just like nearly everybody else.

But still, we will have a huge chunk of aging public employees who are heavily dependent upon their promised pensions. I can't say I'm all that much in favor of feeding them to the wolves after the state removed them from social security and promised to take care of them.

And btw, what "broke" our State pension system is not fraud by the Teachers or other employees. It is the State legislature who could never come to any sort of budget agreement in light of declining revenue and deliberately chose to balance the budget by underfunding the Pension obligations.

I have to think that if it is in the State Constitution that the citizens are going to be paying $XXXX in pensions, it should also be in the State Constitution that the State Budget MUST fund the pension investment system adequately. Otherwise what you get is a disaster such as the one we are now facing.

 

[HHSTigerFan]

The state over spent for decades, balanced the budget by not funding the pension plans in the way they should have, didn't worry about 20-30 years ago, just the current year..

But now the pension plans are the lightening rod of all criticism?