Monday, March 21, 2011

Long-Time Illinois State Senator Moves To Texas And Unloads On State And Chicago

Long-time state senator and the Republican candidate for County County Board President in 2010 Roger Keats is fed up with the corruption and high taxes and is moving to Texas. Keats penned a scathing goodbye letter in the Illinois Review blog in which he trashes the current Democratic leadership of Illinois and Chicago that have put both near financial ruin. Keats says not to blame the weather for him and his family leaving the state after 60 years. Blame the "corruption tax" he writes.

The leaders of Illinois refuse to see we can’t continue going in the direction we are and expect people who have options to stay here . . .

Illinois just sold still more bonds and our credit rating is so bad we pay higher interest rates than junk bonds! Junk Bonds! Illinois is ranked 50th for fiscal policy; 47th in job creation; 1st in unfunded pension liabilities; 2nd largest budget deficit; 1st in failing schools; 1st in bonded indebtedness; highest sales tax in the nation; most judges indicted (Operations Greylord and Gambat); and 5 of our last 9 elected governors have been indicted. That is more than the other 49 states added together! Then add 32 Chicago Aldermen and (according to the Chicago Tribune) over 1000 state and municipal employees indicted. The corruption tax is a real cost of doing business. We are the butt of jokes for stand up comics.


We live in the most corrupt big city, in the most corrupt big county in the most corrupt state in America. I am sick and tired of subsidizing crooks. A day rarely passes without an article about the corruption and incompetence. Chicago even got caught rigging the tests to hire police and fire! Our Crook County CORPORATE property tax system is intentionally corrupt. The Democrat State Chairman who is also the Speaker of the Illinois House and the most senior alderman in Chicago each make well over a million dollars a year putting the fix in for their client’s tax assessments.
Keats offers a stark contrast in the tax situation he will face in  the Texas Hill Country compared to his home in Wilmette, Illinois in Chicago's north suburbs:
We are moving to Texas where there is no income tax while Illinois’ just went up 67%. Texas’ sales tax is ½ of ours, which is the highest in the nation. Southern states are supportive of job producers, tax payers and folks who offer opportunities to their residents. Illinois shakes them down for every penny that can be extorted from them.


In The Hill Country of Texas (near Austin and San Antonio) we bought a gracious home on almost 2 acres with a swimming pool. It is new, will cost us around 40% of what our home in Wilmette just sold for and the property taxes are 1/3rd of what they are here. Crook County’s property tax system is a disaster: Wilmette homes near ours sell for 50% more and their property taxes are ½ of ours. Our assessed home value was 50% higher than the sales price. The system is unfair and incompetent.

Our home value is down 40%, our property taxes are up 20% and our local schools have still another referendum on the ballot to increase taxes over 20% in one year. I could go on, but enough is enough. I feel as if we are standing on the deck of the Titanic and I can see the icebergs right in front of us. I will miss our friends a great deal. I have called Illinois home for essentially my entire life. But it is time to go where there is honest, competent and cost effective government. We have chosen to vote with our feet and our wallets. My best to all of you and Good luck!

1 comment:

Mike Kole said...

Good for him! It's amazing to think an elected official from a really, really nice suburb would have this reaction, because the schools there are excellent and the crime rate almost nil. But the taxes are so crushing that it becomes a financial no-brainer.

I experienced the same thing when I left Ohio nine years ago for Indiana. Same points he raised- comparison of the income tax, property tax, and sales taxes. For me, the improvement from OH to IN ended up being around 8-9% of my income. Figuring around $5k/year, now times 9 years? That's a heck of a lot of money to save just for moving.

Ohio lost a seat in the US House because of population shift. I think Illinois and some other states (NY & CA) are going to see similar loss in representation in 10 years unless they change policies radically and quickly.