As Taxes in Illinois and Chicago Rise, People Continue to Leave

Republicans and conservatives in Illinois continue to fail miserably in the information war. Taxes continue to rise, and taxpayers vote with their feet by leaving. That’s not a complicated message — nevertheless those with the solutions continue to reach enough Illinoisans with the facts and so things just get worse.

Here is one post from City Journal, and then two from the Illinois Policy Institute:

Honey, I Shrunk Chicago
The Illinois Supreme Court refuses to let anyone fix the pension crisis, and people are leaving.
By Aaron M. Renn
Already reeling from a mountain of financial woe, Chicago just got hit again—twice. New Census estimates show that the region’s population is actually shrinking, and yet another pension reform deal has been overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court.

6 Reasons Why Chicago Taxes Will Keep Going Up
By Ted Dabrowski
Even with the city’s record tax hike and massive borrowing, lack of reform means Chicagoans can expect to open up their wallets yet again.
When Chicago City Council passed a record property-tax hike in 2015, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the hike would “eliminate the structural [pension] deficit once and for all within the next four years.” That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Chicago Area Sees Greatest Population Loss of Any Major U.S. City in 2015
By Michael Lucci
Census data are sounding a warning signal that Chicago and Illinois policy leaders don’t necessarily want to hear.
Chicago’s net loss of 80,000 people to other parts of the country ranks second-worst of all metro areas in the U.S., with the much larger New York City metro area losing 164,000 people to other parts of the country on net, and the Los Angeles metro area losing 71,000.

Image credit: Illinois Policy Institute.