When Mayor Brandon Johnson announced an earlier version of a city budget that included plans — that went back on a campaign promise — to raise Chicago property taxes, resistance was high. “Cook County and Illinois have governments that are too reliant on property tax revenue,” says Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax & Budget Accountability. While property tax discontent isn’t new, large jumps in assessed values and tax bills are what’s driving it now. But it’s not just the increases. It’s the decreasing ability to pay those taxes, many say.
Ralph Martire explains why taxing services would be start to fixing state’s structural deficit, in his column in the Daily Herald.
CTBA's Ralph Martire answers the question of whether investing in a quality education for every child is the right thing to do, but how to fund it, in his column in the Daily herald.
Experts say failing to pass a budget in time could quickly threaten the city government’s ability to carry out many services, pay its workers, and it could harm the city’s credit rating. “Those pricey pitfalls should serve as a warning as the mayor and aldermen start to work out a budget in earnest, said Ralph Martire in an interview with Jake Sheridan at the Chicago Tribune
Former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger had the facts on his side in his speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Today, Chicago’s four defined benefit plans for public employees have about $45 billion in liabilities, but only about $11 billion in assets, making the systems uniquely dysfunctional among American cities. CTBA’s Executive Director Ralph Martire sat down with Chicago Magazine to shed some light on the tricky issues.
Fully funding the EBF would materially benefit the entire state, not just CPS. Ralph Martire explains in his column.
A little more than a week into the new Illinois fiscal year, CNI Broadcast Director Jennifer Fuller talks with Center for Tax and Budget Accountability Executive Director Ralph Martire. The discussion includes a look at the high points, the low points, and what Martire and others are keeping an eye on for future budget negotiations.
According to the governor's office, there has been a $1.8 billion aggregate increase in EBF funding during the Pritzker administration which started in 2019. The State Journal Register cites to CTBA’s recent report supporting a funding increase to $500 million per fiscal year to hasten the timeline to fully fund schools from fiscal year 2034 up to fiscal year 2030.
Illinois public school districts benefited from an uptick in a local tax on corporate profits in recent years.