The next big tax threat is coming from your state capital

[mystery-ak]

The next big tax threat is coming from your state capital

Mismanaged funds leave retirement systems massively short nationwide

 By Kenneth Blackwell Fox News

Published August 12, 2025 5:00am EDT | Updated August 11, 2025 5:00am EDT

If you are one of the millions of people celebrating the trimming of federal fat, you’ll want to know that a new taxpayer threat of stunning proportions is rising, fast. This time it’s not coming from Washington, D.C.; it’s coming from your state capital.

A $1.3 trillion pension crisis is barreling toward American taxpayers, and common-sense solutions are being actively ignored. The most likely result: You will no sooner enjoy the federal tax and spending breaks of the Trump years than you will be forced to bail out state employee pension funds, which are insolvent after having been mismanaged for decades. Unless urgent reforms are made, your state property tax tab will increase by a percentage that one shudders to calculate.

My own state of Ohio is, regrettably, at the center of this crisis. According to a new report by the nonpartisan Equable Institute, the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) is between $20 and $30 billion in debt and will be unable to fully pay back the teachers who funded it throughout their careers. Equable also noted in its report that a stunning 44% of unfunded liabilities are from underperforming investments.

How could this happen? How could a $90+ billion fund be so poorly managed as to be at a loss? The short answer is ugly: bureaucratic hubris and a sense of entitlement.

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https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/next-big-tax-threat-coming-from-your-state-capital

[Wingnut]

Jelly Belly Prickster wants to impose and exit tax on people selling their homes fleeing the state. It affects the counties surrounding Chicago. He says it will help fund their bankrupt pension funds.

Blue state Rat govs are a cancer, and Prickster is the biggest toomer in the land... maybe with the exception of Greasy Gavin.

[BobfromWB]

Speaking of taxes - the BBBill tax breaks will not take effect until 2026/2027

[Smokin Joe]

We have a small income tax, but no State Property tax. Property taxes are a county/township/city thing.

[berdie]

In Tx they are working to bring property taxes down. Of course the appraisals go up....tricky tricksters.

[Wingnut]

In Tx they are working to bring property taxes down. Of course the appraisals go up....tricky tricksters.

TX has a huge property tax problem.  Before I left keller TX I challenged the tax board in hearings 3 times.  Lost every time.  The system is rigged.

[jafo2010]

The bottom line is that when one takes a look at the total taxes one pays, there is no relief.  Governments continue to spend money they do not have at every level.

The time has come for mandatory balanced budgets at every level of government.  And it is also time that we have a formula that prohibits one from paying more than 50% of their total income to taxes.  When are all the taxes levied considered excessive and abusive?  WHEN?  For me, that moment happened a very long time ago.

And frankly, the Democommies with their rhetoric for dummies worsen this situation every day by demanding wealthy people pay more in taxes.  58% of the people in America pay ZERO DOLLARS in taxes on income.  I object to the amount we are forced to pay, and I very much object to the amount squandered by every form of government.

Why are US taxpayers providing funds for the Ukraine retirement program?  That is not our concern.  We were giving Russia aid to the tune of $160 million per year.  Why?  And we are still providing aid to nations that are very actively supporting Russia today.   Why?

The morons in Washington are out of control.  The time has long come for Congress to abide by TERM LIMITS.  For the life of me, I do not understand why we do not have national referendums.  I am 100% certain if we had a referendum on TERM LIMITS, the American people would support it resoundingly.

Fact is our government no longer functions as it was intended.  Congress does very little.  Most of what we are expected to adhere to regarding laws and regulations are brought forth by non-elected bureaucrats.  This is simply wrong. 

And I have argued our republic died in 2020 with the fixed election.  The corruption is becoming as pervasive as the kind of corruption that exists in Russia.  And in Russia, everything living thing there is corrupt.

[berdie]

TX has a huge property tax problem.  Before I left keller TX I challenged the tax board in hearings 3 times.  Lost every time.  The system is rigged.

I can relate. Many years ago I challenged the county appraisal. They sent someone out that appraised my hovel at more than the original. I have learned to duck and cover.

[jmyrlefuller]

This is what happens when you put taxpayer money into the stock market.

In New York, the pension fund is guaranteed at interest rates that are obscenely high for a guaranteed account (between 7-11%). If the pension fund underperforms, local governments have to pay the state the difference.