Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger (left) and opponent Susana Mendoza (right).
Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger (left) and opponent Susana Mendoza (right).
After a 20 year career in the private sector, Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger saved and will be paying for her own retirement.
And as a property owner in Illinois, she’ll also be paying for the retirements of public employees like her opponent, Susana Mendoza of Chicago.
Mendoza’s 26 years in state and City of Chicago government, her anticipated multi-million dollar pension and how taxpayers are going to pay for it is at issue the 2016 race to be the State of Illinois’ elected bookkeeper.
Like all public employees in Illinois, Mendoza herself will contribute less than five percent of what she will collect in retirement due to her work for the City of Chicago and in the General Assembly. She says she deserves it, and that the money has been promised to her.
But hefty bills for such promises have come due for local governments, which are hiking property tax bills across the state. Some taxpayers are paying more than others.
In Lincolnshire, Munger’s home on Duke Lane has a bill of $14,945, according to the Lake County Assessor. That’s 2.3 percent of her home’s market value of $635,441, according to Zillow.com.
According to the Cook County Assessor, Mendoza’s home on North Mason Avenue in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood has a bill of $5,072, or 1.0 percent of her home’s market value of $561,391.
If Mendoza paid the same property tax rate on her Chicago home as Munger does in Lincolnshire, her bill would be more than twice as much-- or $12,911.
Spending her career exclusively on public payrolls, how can Mendoza afford a home worth more than half a million dollars?
An Illinois Policy Institute study released in May found Illinois State workers are the highest-paid in the nation. Salaries have increased 41 percent since 2005.
Last month, Munger called on Mendoza, who has spent her career in state and local government, to forfeit one of her multiple taxpayer-funded pensions.
Mendoza countered that "very wealthy and doesn’t have to worry about a safety net when she retires.”
“Susana Mendoza voted for the unbalanced budgets, tax increases and pension holidays that put Illinois in fiscal crisis,” Munger Campaign Manager Phil Rodriguez said in a press release last month. “At the same time, she picked up two paychecks and sweetened her two pensions. It embodies all the problems that have led us to this place.”
Last month, Munger called on Mendoza, who has spent her career in state and local government, to forfeit one of her multiple taxpayer-funded pensions.
Mendoza countered that "very wealthy and doesn’t have to worry about a safety net when she retires.”
| Candidate | Home Size | Home Value | Tax Bill | Tax % | Adjusted |
| Munger | 3,400 sq. feet | $635,442 | $14,945 | 2.4 percent | $14,945 |
| Mendoza | 3,500 sq. feet | $561,391 | $5,072 | 1.0 percent | $12,911 |
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