Mike Marek

“There’s a class of workers in Illinois that enjoys salaries, benefits – especially defined benefit pensions – not available to those in the private sector. I’m speaking about public sector union members, which account for approximately 7% of the Illinois population.”

“I, like many, had a defined pension, and about three-quarters of the way through my career, it was terminated. So I think that on an overall basis, a small percentage of the working population in our state is being, to a great extent, subsidized by the rest of us. There’s an issue of fairness involved.”

“Not only does Amendment 1 make what should be negotiated and subject to legislative approval and modification into a constitutional amendment, but it also expands bargaining in areas that are indeterminate regarding what the amendment means and what the impact is going to be.”

“Look at the result of putting the pension clause in the constitution and making benefits ‘not able to be diminished or impaired,’ which makes them virtually untouchable. And the result is that pension contributions are 25% of our budget and growing. And because they are grossly underfunded, the pension clause is the primary cause of our state’s dismal fiscal situation. It seems inevitable that Amendment 1 is going to do the same thing and make it worse.”

“Anything that enhances or expands the roles of public sector unions in our state, is from a financial standpoint at a minimum, likely to result in a higher cost of living for Illinois residents, regardless of your class, retired or working. I think this amendment will negatively affect anyone who is a taxpayer.”

“Property taxes are my largest single expense living in the state of Illinois, and roughly 75% of my property tax goes to the local school districts. Now, I think they’ve done a terrific job with my kids. But, the primary issue is that the cost-benefit relationship between what we pay taxes for and the level of service we receive is way out of whack across the board.”

“In the state of Illinois, when examining public sector workers, not all of them but in many cases, you don’t have to go far to find where their pay and benefits package, especially pensions, are significantly different compared to the private sector. And I would say, their benefits are out of line relative to the people that pay the tax bills.”

“Illinois property taxes are roughly twice the national average. I pay around 2% and others pay a lot more than that. Obviously, given the outmigration of both individuals and businesses, there’s a price to be paid for high property taxes.”

“Amendment 1 would worsen the situation because as your tax base leaves, what’s left keeps going up for those left behind.”

Mike Marek
Retired financial representative
Western Springs, Illinois