Rock Island Today

Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA) recently commented on TUA's study of Rock Island County's government employee pensions.

TUA published the top 200 pensions for several of the county's funds, including the Rock Island County Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, the Teachers' Retirement Fund and the State University Retirement System.

 Rock Island County local governments "are ripping taxpayers out of their homes," Tobin said in a statement.

"As property taxes increase in the area, more people are forced out of their homes through foreclosure," he continued. "The quad cities still rank in the top 20 metropolitan areas in the country for foreclosures. Rock Island homeowners pay crushing property taxes in comparison to other cities in the country."

Tobin said in the statement that property taxes in Rock Island went up 9 percent in 2018.

"The city of Moline has a 2019 budget that increases property taxes 2.5 percent," he said. "Foreclosure rates can’t improve when the government sucks up so much of our hard-earned cash."

Tobin's charged in his statement that municipal retirement fund pensions are funded by property taxes but politicians are more concerned with fulfilling promises they made to union bosses instead of taking care of those who live in the county.

Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker and House Speaker Michael Madigan have plans to increase state income taxes, he said.

"Priztker advocates for an immediate income tax increase and also supports the Income Tax Increase Amendment, which would change the current flat-rate state income tax to a graduated state income tax," the statement reads. "He and his buddy Madigan plan on placing the amendment on the November 2020 statewide ballot."

Tobin continued that Illinois taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for people who choose to retire in their early 50s and 60s.

"It is just unreasonable to allow people to retire in their 50s and early 60s and expect taxpayers to foot the bill, but if Madigan gets his way and Pritzker wins the governor’s race, government pension reform won’t occur anytime soon," he said..