We haven’t tackled our local governments’ unrepentantly voracious taxation entitlement mentality for quite some time. This omission hasn’t been due to a lack of opportunity, because, just like the swallows’ prompt return to Capistrano, the occasion to expose these elected hypocrites rolls around on a regular basis. And the best part about this predictable cycle is those suburban mayors are always more than eager to prove my point.
The proximate cause for the latest round of impending municipal bankruptcy shrieking and howling is Governor J.B. Pritzker’s February State-of-the-State address in which he proposed eliminating the State’s 1 percent grocery tax. More specifically:
It’s the most regressive tax you could have, really. You think about all the regressive taxes that exist in the state of Illinois, this one goes after people who are just trying to buy food. A $1 savings on $100 of food may not seem like much but that could be hundreds of dollars for a family across a year. That matters to many people.
So, there you go! Proof positive of the proverbial broken clock being right twice a day.
All gubernatorial kidding aside, considering how forgoing food can become a problem, NO state should tax it. As the Guv aptly noted, it disproportionally affects the folks who can afford it least. It’s not rocket science, which is probably why J.B. gets it.
But do you think his accurate assessment put a dent in those REPUBLICAN mayors’ it’s-all-about-me mien for at least an hour or perhaps two? Of course, not! Without any consideration for how their petty proclamations might echo the press-o-sphere, they swiftly started ranting about Governor Meanie’s propensity to pick on their poor upscale municipalities seconds after he issued that statement.
Per the Daily Herald report, the “my precious” festivities commenced with current GOP State Rep and former Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin whining “This is not a tax cut. It’s a political shell game.”
Please note the automatic assumption that this tax money is his. And if you read between the lines, what he really means is, “If the Guv gets his way, we’re just gonna have to levy some other village tax.” Then these good Republicans have the nerve to claim Social Security is an “entitlement”
Moving on to Algonquin Village President Debby Sosine, who petulantly pouted thusly over the potential loss of revenue; “Two million dollars pays for my police. It pays for my public works. It pays for water, sewer, and infrastructure and roads.”
Ain’t it funny how, out of a $77 million municipal budget, she knows EXACTLY where every penny of that two million goes. And it always goes towards truth, justice, and the American way. And apparently, the lack of that grocery lucre will send the village stumbling into a desperate Third World status within days. C’mon! We’re talking 2.5 percent of Algonquin’s total expenditures here.
What did Mark Twain say about “opening your mouth and removing all doubt?” Apparently Mayor Sosine cut English class that day.
You mean to tell me there’s no pork in the Algonquin budget? It took less than five minutes to determine the village has, or will shortly, spend $150,000 on a brand spanking new Ford F150 pickup truck. The previous iteration had “exceeded its useful life.”
Right!
An eminently serviceable used vehicle would’ve cost half that, and having owned a Ford F150, I know if you take care of them, they last forever. Thank you for playing, Mayor Sosine, we have some lovely parting gifts for you on your way out.
Cary Mayor Mark Kownick impertinently added, “This last-minute jockeying around with our money and our budgets is hurtful to our communities.” Poor baby! I’m sure it’s beyond daunting, but I’d be willing to bet that having to pay a a grocery tax on top of rising food prices is even more hurtful to those Cary senior citizens figuring out how to live on a fixed income.
Aside from the fact those seniors vote far more frequently than their younger counterparts, who gives a flying bleep about ‘em? We need our 1 percent!
At least Libertyville Mayor Donna Johnson had the good sense to admit Pritzker wasn’t being nefarious, he was simply trying to ease the burden on lower-income Illinoisans. But then she proceeded to undo that reasonable intent by insisting the loss of that $850,000, or 0.8 percent of their budget, would cause the sky to fall.
So much for the slightest application of a reasonable compassion for your constituents.
But when it comes to the kind of mayoral entitlement mentalities that make Ebeneezer Scrooge look generous by comparison, Barrington Village President Karen Darch takes the German chocolate cake. Ah yes! Barrington! Where rich people go to be stupid.
Darch actually had the callous cojones to tell the Daily Herald this:
That’s the road program ($600,000) for the year. But for somebody spending $150 on groceries, it’s a savings for them of $1.50. That insignificant amount for one person shopping becomes a huge amount for all our communities.
The only elected official who’s issued a more poorly considered tone-deaf declaration is South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. And she openly discussed killing her dog.
First, Darch’s “road fund” is a massive 1.3 percent of Barrington’s $46 million budget. Second, let’s assume that a financially strapped family of four can somehow get by with spending just $150 a week at Jewel. Pritzker’s plan would save them $78 a year, which may well be the difference between calling in that prescription or letting it go.
Oh! I forgot! That analogy falls flat on the grounds that Barrington has statutorily banned poor people from appearing within the city limits.
Meanwhile, let’s compare the average $67,000 Barrington employee salary to the eminently more reasonable $44,000 for the same Roselle, Illinois, staffer. It seems like there’s more than a bit of fat in your budget, doesn’t it Mayor Darch? If you need me to come up with more cuts, I’d be more than happy to help for my regular fee of a Bon Jovi CD and a 12-pack of Guinness Stout.
They’re so shameless, self-promoting, and self-absorbed, that even the lowly Sun-Times caught onto their greed-is-good antics in a recent editorial:
‘Mayors slam Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate grocery tax’ was the Daily Herald’s headline above a story last week about several mayors of upper-income suburban communities complaining about a proposed tax cut.
I don’t know if the mayors quite understand this, but headlines like that are basically an in-kind campaign contribution to the governor and the Democratic supermajority. The fact that Rep. Marty McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) was the center of that press conference arguing against a tax cut, even though he will face a hard-charging Tier One opponent this fall, just makes it even weirder. McLaughlin walked it back later in the week, but the damage was done.
This grocery tax elimination proposal is a pretty darned solid play by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on multiple political and legislative levels. Whether it’ll become an actual law is, at this early stage, almost beside the point. And whether it’s wise is quite another story.
That blatantly bilious tax entitlement mentality is so chronically impenetrable that these mayoral mopes are willing to risk their ongoing electoral chances without giving it a second thought. It’s called thinking before you speak honorable village presidents. You really oughtta give it a shot sometime.
But despite what they clearly believe, these – and all – local elected officials need to come to the realization that IT’S NOT THEIR MONEY! It’s our money that we willingly trade for good governance – something that’s seriously missing from this equation. And until these bleeps, and every government official right down to the mundane-est of alderman, starts leading with that reality, our already absurd Illinois taxes and fees will continue to go right through the roof.
Nothing is stopping them from implementing their own food tax especially if they are home rule. Heck if the tax is that great why not tax at 15 percent and not n Batavia case maybe they could throw in a couple of damn grocery bags