The State of the State of Illinois and how it affects the Village of Justice

The financial condition of the State of Illinois has a direct impact on the Village of Justice.  The Village can no longer rely on the State to "bail it out" when times get tough.  The Village must rely on careful monitoring of financial resources, cutting spending, and prudent financial planning. 

According to the Illinois Policy Institute, Illinois ranks 48th in economic performance, doing better than Michigan and Ohio^[103]:

• 42nd in economic outlook. Neighboring Indiana and Missouri rank well ahead in terms of future opportunity, at 12th and 17th respectively.
• 44th in GDP growth, averaging only 3.83% over the last decade. Illinois GDP growth has declined since 1977 at a rate from 7.6% to 5.9%.
• 46th in debt burden. Illinois continues to spend government revenue growth on government expansion rather than funding past debt obligations, including pensions.
• 44th in personal income growth over the past decade, averaging at 3.83% while the U.S. average is 4.19%.
• 47th in employment growth from 1977 till 2006, ranking ahead of only Michigan, Ohio and Louisiana.
• 37th in improving its standard of living, growing at only 1.13% per year over the past decade. While Illinois ranks relatively high in standard of living (18th), the state continues to fall farther down the ranks.
• 48th in net migration, with over 727,150 people having left the state from 1997-2006.
• 7th highest in median property taxes paid.
• 14th highest overall tax burden in the nation.
• 9th highest in property tax burden.
• 4th highest gas tax burden (approximately 40 cents per gallon).
• 1st in sales tax burden (Chicago & Cook County).
• Illinois is shrinking in wealth, once ranking as high as 6th in per capita personal income and dropping to 18th today.
• The growth of the Illinois economy has lagged the rest of the country for each of the last three decades.

Budget Cuts
The state closed 13 of its 15 tourist information centers to save approximately $2 million per year.^[128]
In July, Gov. Quinn said he eliminate $1.4 billion from the budget but did not offer many specifics on where those cuts would be made until early August 2010, when he detailed $891 million in budget cuts.^[129] The August announcement of budget cuts still did not provide details of how the cuts would be made and savings achieved. Many of the cuts were described simply as "efficiencies" and "changes." For example, one $60 million cut was described as: "DHS will achieve operating efficiencies through review of contracts and programmatic changes." No information on programmatic changes was given.^[130]
The governor's cuts include:

• $576 million from the Department of Human Services, or 14%^[130], most of which is the result of cutting $515 million in grants^[129]
• $311 million will be cut from preschool through 12th grade education,^[129] amounting to a loss of 4.3%^[130]
• the State Board of Education budget will lose $10 million from operations, $10 million from principal mentoring and arts and foreign languages and $62 million for student transportation, meaning transportation funding is 42% less than last year.^[129] In addition, the department will lose $68.5 million in reading improvement block grants.^[130]
• $42 million from the Department of Corrections^[129]
• $28.4 million from the Department of Aging^[129]
• $18.2 million from the Department of Public Health^[129]
• $2.4 million from the Department of Natural Resources, wiping out the Wildlife Prairie Park subsidy^[129]
• $2 million from Amtrak^[129]

Not all agencies were cut. Department of Juvenile Justice's budget increases $6.4 million more, and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs received an addition $7.8 million.^[129]

Gov. Quinn's cuts reduce the state's $13 billion deficit, but still leaves a $6 billion gap between expenses and revenue and about $6 billion in unpaid bills from last year. That shortfall amounts to approximately half the budget's general funds, where state officials have broad authority to raise or lower spending.^[130]