PILOT This

Today’s Sun-Times had a fascinating story on the Bears, and it wasn’t in the sports’ section. Instead, the Munsters made news by pushing for a change in state tax law to allow a PILOT program, as in payment in lieu of taxes. Wait, there’s more. In essence, the idea would allow the Bears to negotiate their tax bill, a power most of us peasants would just love, provided we had the Bears’ level of clout, which, sadly, we don’t. There must be more generations of McCaskeys out there in need of cushy trust funds than I realized. If the Bears want to pay for their new digs, that’s fine by me, only the thing is, they don’t, not really, and this shows it. Basically, the team is saying they’re going to bring so much prosperity to the area they deserve a nice big tax break for their efforts. How big? As big as they can get away with. For area businesses and schools, a Bears’ stadium and whatnot is a Trojan Horse on steroids. Choke roads and highways on game day; attack established restaurants and bars with your own entertainment district; and build commercial space in a region full of it. Oh, and dictate what you’ll pay in taxes. And if public officials object? Why, then the president of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce warns that “other states [will] make their cases on why the Chicago Bears should be the St. Louis Bears.” Correct me if I’m wrong here, but St. Louis has lost two NFL teams so far, yes? The Chamber is pretty much Phil Sheridan reincarnated—the only good unions and taxes are non-existent unions and taxes. A tax break for working people? Not their concern. A tax break for the fumbling, bumbling McCasekys, whose team, according to the Times and Forbes, generated $520 million in revenue in 2021? That’s a different story. But not one I care to hear.