OT: Caterpillar threatening to leave Illinois!

[tornado]

Check out the actual numbers that affect the trucking industry - namely the price of diesel fuel...
note also the 20 to 30 cents per gallon difference between diesel prices in Illinois vs. Iowa or Missouri - largely a reflection of taxes in Illinois

http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/

In fact - mostly due to higher tax rates, the price of diesel fuel currently is higher in Illinois than in 42 other states....and higher than virtually every other midwestern state..
there are only 3 other states, as you can see, that tax diesel fuel higher than Illinois (CA, CT, PA)

http://www.truckmiles.com/FuelPrices.asp

***btw it wasn't my main intent to start a political debate - only to present some interesting news that everyone else missed about Star Trucking -
a firm that almost everyone in Central Illinois knows and drives right by when passing thru Morton, and every Bradley fan has "fond" memories of because of the NCAA sanctions in 2005.
BUT - it is interesting that the news people make a big deal if a trivial issue occurs with a Bradley student-athlete employed there, or if gas prices skyrocket - or even if the tax situation causes a flurry of billboards as the Governor drives jobs out of Illinois into Indiana or Wisconsin --
yet the local news media totally missed this story of Star Transport shifting all their operations out of state and closing their entire business inside the state if IL down - even moving every one of 1000 trucks to another base of operations in another state.

[tornado]

interesting read about taxes/finances in Illinois

http://www.mystateline.com/fulltext-news/d/story/illinois-ranked-as-worst-run-state-in-nation/41319/Uh6sjuSAC0-kNfgDWBv2dQ

[tornado]

Even more-
msn Business compiles a list of the worst run states and the best run states...

Guess which state is the WORST RUN STATE by far

Yup - it is Illinois

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/the-5-best-run-states-in-america-and-the-5-worst/ss-BBgvqGl#image=11

[LongTimeFan]

How did it beat CA?

[tornado]

more great news - the outgoing Illinois Treasurer gives out gobs of money to friends and comrades before he leaves office

http://thesouthern.com/ap/politics/report-illinois-treasurer-ok-d-raises-for-dozens/article_88070c79-2445-5475-b2dc-0e77dc1de55d.html

[AZ BU Fan]

Setting aside corporate tax issues of Illinois, Cat could decide to move Peoria HQ and WW marketing staff somewhere else where:

• Weather is better
• Newer infastructure
• State, County and local personal taxes are way less
• No dysfunctional small town city and regional govs
• There is more to do than catch Asian Carp in a dirty river or go to Civic Center productions

If you want to hire and retain top talent from around the world, who have to work/live at the WW HQ to climb the corporate ladder,
better have the HQ in a place that your potential talent pool WANT TO live in long term. They have choices.

Frankly, I am amazed Cat has kept HQ in Peoria for as long as it has. Not exactly top 10 for Millennials, "Net" Generation, or Gen Z folks.


.

[BuB]

Setting aside corporate tax issues of Illinois, Cat could decide to move Peoria HQ and WW marketing staff somewhere else where:

• Weather is better
• Newer infastructure
• State, County and local personal taxes are way less
• No dysfunctional small town city and regional govs
• There is more to do than catch Asian Carp in a dirty river or go to Civic Center productions

If you want to hire and retain top talent from around the world, who have to work/live at the WW HQ to climb the corporate ladder,
better have the HQ in a place that your potential talent pool WANT TO live in long term. They have choices.

Frankly, I am amazed Cat has kept HQ in Peoria for as long as it has. Not exactly top 10 for Millennials, "Net" Generation, or Gen Z folks.


.

Peoria, Arizona perhaps??

How are the State, County and local personal taxes there?

[AZ BU Fan]

Well, since you asked....

Property taxes (city, county, schools, misc) on a similarly priced home

Dunlap ILL area home $13,500 last year I lived there (2009)

Buckeye Az area home $4,100 in 2013

State Income Tax Rates
ILL 5% on Federal Adjusted Gross Income

AZ 2.9% on Federal Net Income
I also get to take a income deduction on my Az State Tax Return for all medical/health expenditures.

Sales Taxes
Peoria ILL 8.25%
Buckeye Az 8.30%

I live 25 minutes from Peoria Az and their taxes would be similar to
where I live...

Hate to say it, but weather here is better, even with hot summers. Mountain/Desert scenery is great vs Midwest plains. I am 45 min from downtown Phoenix (6th largest city in US), vs 3 hr from Peoria to downtown Chicago. I have major league baseball, basketball, football, hockey, PGA golf tournament, NASCAR, ASU Pac 12 sports, MLB Spring Training, and National Parks/Monuments all within an 60-90 minutes of my home. Have largest university in US (Arizona State) here as well. Did I mention near by Scottsdale? Grand Canyon? Snow skiing in Flagstaff on 11,500 ft Mt Humphrey? Vegas 3 hours away, LA & SD 5.5 hours away.

Great roads, great schools (don't believe what you hear/read in media - middle/upper middle class neighborhood schools in metro/suburban areas are first rate).

Tough gig here.

This is what Cat is up against when recruiting global college grads to come to Peoria IL for their careers or retaining top Cat execs in Peoria area vs them looking at other major metro areas in the South, South West, and West.

[tornado]

Some very good news for our area

CAT is staying in Peoria and building a whole new world corporate headquarter

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/ct-caterpillar-rauner-announcement-0221-biz-20150220-story.html

some people believe this news is directly linked to the election loss of Gov. Quinn and his greedy plans to hit corporations like CAT with new taxes.
If so, then thanks to people from Illinois who selected the pro-business governor.

[Chico]

Did anyone actually think they were going to move out of Peoria? They had many fooled by this big show. They announce a press conference 10 days ago to be held in Peoria. If that wasn't a clue to what they had planned then they had a lot of so-called smart people fooled.

[tornado]

but Cat does have operations in many states, and could have considered a move of their corporate headquarters if the tax situation wasn't right...
can't blame then for playing their cards to get a better atmosphere and some future guarantees...

[Chico]

but Cat does have operations in many states, and could have considered a move of their corporate headquarters if the tax situation wasn't right...
can't blame then for playing their cards to get a better atmosphere and some future guarantees...

Good to have a new Guv, but anybody who thought they were leaving Peoria probably picked the Braves to beat NIU today.

[BUBalum05]

The new headquarters project has been years in planning already but not formally announced, long before anyone at CAT knew who the next governor would be.

It is going to be a great facility, looking forward to seeing it come out of the ground.

[AZ BU Fan]

Great for local construction trades as well
Where will everyone move to temporarily while old building torn down and new one built?

This will be one huge logistics challenge!

[sam hannam]

The current building probably won't come down until the new one is built. The new one is one block closer to the river.