Will County Gazette

Will County Board member and Homer Township Supervisor Steve Balich is calling out Gov. J.B. Pritzker for trying to paint a rosier picture on the state’s budget shortfall.

“The Illinois governor can say whatever he wants but the people are not stupid,” Balich told Will County Gazette. “The property tax bills for Cook County had to be held until the 2022 election was over so JB could stop the anti-tax anger which he expected. The Amendment 1 garbage passed and the result is increases in property tax from most all taxing bodies. Lockport H.S. in Will County levied 6% and District 33C over 7%. Will County Board wanted to raise to the max but Republicans managed a hard fought battle despite being outnumbered 14 to 12 in getting it down to 2 1/2%.”

Balich said money from the federal government was not even enough to pull Illinois out of economic chaos.

“The Democrat hold on public sector unions is a huge problem brought on by overwhelming support by the Union. Public sector pensions are underfunded with no end in sight. Property tax is on a never-ending yearly increase. Crime is out of control with the SAFE-T Act tacking over giving increased crime. The cost to all this is more and more people leaving the great state of Illinois. The more people that leave, the higher the bill for those remaining becomes,” he said.

Mark Glennon said Pritzker’s legacy on Illinois will be one of increased tax rates, Wirepoints reported.

Glennon criticized Pritzker’s opinion that his administration should be thanked for a projection showing Illinois' budget shortfall.

“Here’s the question that’s key: What has Pritzker or the General Assembly done to improve Illinois’ finances, other than tax increases?” Glennon asked, according to Wirepoints. “Nothing material. For Pritzker to include the higher estimates in the context of his claim that 'we celebrate the tremendous progress' they have made is unfounded for the simple reason that he has nothing to point to.”

The governor’s comments were taken at face value by many media outlets that did not provide analysis.

Others have noted that the projection is based on a budget the state is obscuring.

"The people continue to be misled by the state's finances,” Sheila Weinberg of Truth in Accounting told The Center Square. "Can [Illinoisans] knowledgeably participate in their government if they are not being told the truth about their finances?"

Illinois’ budgets under Pritzker have routinely ignored structural problems.

“Instead, it’s a budget that gives billions more to a political class that has proven to be the most corrupt in the nation,” a Wirepoints report said of Pritzker’s 2021 budget. “That will only invite more abuse.”