Emanuel has run into opposition-in the courts and in Springfield-to his efforts to cut pensions costs, and he pointed out that the city has already raised taxes several times, including a huge property-tax increase in 2016, just to cover the growing pension costs.
In Illinois local courts have interpreted pension protections in the state constitution to mean that government can never change the terms on which workers earn pension credits, even for work not yet performed.
The result is that hundreds of thousands of state and local employees in Illinois have continued accruing expensive pension benefits, even as the state and its municipalities struggle to pay for the system.
Many states have subsequently eliminated or trimmed these annual increases, but in 2016 the Illinois Supreme Court overturned pension savings that Emanuel negotiated with many of the city's unions, whose members were worried about the system running out of money.
Among the fixes that Emanuel proposed in his speech last week was a change to the state's constitution that would allow Illinois governments to alter pensions in the same way other employers around the country do.
As a result, many Illinois municipalities are turning to tax increases and service cuts to pay pension bills-Chicago increased property taxes by $588 million in 2016-while others are laying off workers.
Back in 2012, as Chicago and the state wrestled with its pension woes, Emanuel warned that unless Illinois found a way to cut the costs of its pensions, taxes could soar.
https://www.city-journal.org/rahm-emanuel-illinois-fiscal-nightmare
In Illinois local courts have interpreted pension protections in the state constitution to mean that government can never change the terms on which workers earn pension credits, even for work not yet performed.
The result is that hundreds of thousands of state and local employees in Illinois have continued accruing expensive pension benefits, even as the state and its municipalities struggle to pay for the system.
Many states have subsequently eliminated or trimmed these annual increases, but in 2016 the Illinois Supreme Court overturned pension savings that Emanuel negotiated with many of the city's unions, whose members were worried about the system running out of money.
Among the fixes that Emanuel proposed in his speech last week was a change to the state's constitution that would allow Illinois governments to alter pensions in the same way other employers around the country do.
As a result, many Illinois municipalities are turning to tax increases and service cuts to pay pension bills-Chicago increased property taxes by $588 million in 2016-while others are laying off workers.
Back in 2012, as Chicago and the state wrestled with its pension woes, Emanuel warned that unless Illinois found a way to cut the costs of its pensions, taxes could soar.
https://www.city-journal.org/rahm-emanuel-illinois-fiscal-nightmare
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